9TH EDITION OF THE OCEAN INNOVATORS PLATFORM IN HONG KONG

On Wednesday, 22 October 2025, the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Sustainable Finance Initiative co-hosted the 9th edition of the Ocean Innovators Platform (OIP) at the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club, bringing together over 100 leading private and institutional impact investors and entrepreneurs for fireside chats, panels, pitch sessions, and interactive workshops, fostering dialogue at the intersection of ocean innovation, finance, and sustainability.

The event featured a distinguished lineup of speakers, including Olivier Wenden, Katy Yung, Dr. Lizzie McLeod, Angel Chia, Ronald Chan, Darryl Tan, Rob Kaplan, Jérémy Genin, and Sébastien Guillaud, offering insights across conservation, investment, and sustainable finance.

Discussions highlighted the economic and ecological possibilities associated with all aspects of the ocean, including how Asia Pacific can sustainably harness the ocean’s economic potential by aligning innovation, investment, and international cooperation. Panels explored the dynamic investable landscape of ocean-related projects, reviewing key opportunities in sustainable fisheries, marine conservation, ocean energy, and plastic waste reduction, whilst emphasising innovative financing models, cross-sector collaboration, and strategies to address overfishing, pollution, and climate impacts.

“Our task is to make the ocean measurable, investible, and restorable. The ReOcean Fund and Ocean Innovators Platform are Monaco’s contribution to that collective effort. From Monaco’s shores to Victoria Harbour, we can turn ambition into tangible, regenerative growth.” said Mr. Olivier Wenden, Vice Chairman and CEO of the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation. “It’s no longer philanthropy alone — it’s finance with purpose, science with scale, and leadership with courage.”

“With 4.2% of its GDP tied to the maritime industry, and home to 25% of China’s marine biodiversity, Hong Kong is uniquely positioned to be Asia Pacific’s leading hub for Blue Economy solutions.” – said Katy Yung, CEO of Sustainable Finance Initiative (SFi). – "This is a defining moment for strategic collaboration. Hong Kong has a key role to play in driving blended finance and mobilising capital to integrate economic development with marine conservation, climate resilience, and sustainable ocean use. At SFi, we're answering the call by acting as a regional bridge for investors seeking credible pathways to scale ocean impact.”

Event Key take aways from discussions include:

1.       Aligning Conservation with Economic Growth: Conservation and economic development can and must go hand in hand. Sustainability initiatives drive innovation, create jobs, and generate economic opportunities. Demonstrating these economic benefits is key to mobilising private and institutional capital for ocean-focused initiatives.

2.      The Role of Metrics and Accountability: Effective ocean conservation requires robust metrics to measure value and impact—"we cannot protect what we don’t measure." Transparency and accountability are critical for building trust and enabling scalable, impactful solutions in the blue economy.

3.      Building an Innovative and Collaborative Blue Finance Ecosystem: A coalition across the capital spectrum—corporates, governments, foundations, family offices, and others—must work together to create a comprehensive blue finance ecosystem. They must be willing to deploy capital into innovative financial mechanisms and incentives critical for bridging the gap between philanthropy and investable capital, ensuring financial support exists to scale solutions at every stage.

A quick audience survey revealed positive sentiment toward capital deployment, with “action,” “innovation,” “momentum,” and “opportunity” as key words associated with impact capital. However, over half of the attendees also expressed a preference for deploying grant or PE/VC capital into blue economy investments. This preference for earlier-stage capital underscores the need for ecosystem support to scale blue economy initiatives, so they may bridge the gap to attract later-stage investors.

Entrepreneurs such as Plastics for Change, Bound4Blue, Katapult Ocean Asia and Shift4Good presented their impact-driven solutions through pitches sessions, which the audience responded to with requests to connect and continue the conversation. 

In an interactive workshop session, the platform also explored critical topics in blue finance, including: financing ocean innovation in Asia Pacific, incubating blue startups, balancing conservation and livelihoods in ocean-dependent communities, decarbonizing ocean-related industries, Hong Kong as a hub for ocean innovation, and leveraging open data and AI for ocean health.

The platform underscored the Foundation’s and SFi’s shared commitment to a sustainable blue economy, demonstrating that responsible investment and innovation can generate both financial returns and positive environmental impact, contributing to a USD 3 trillion ocean economy by 2030.

This edition was co-hosted by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation and Sustainable Finance Initiative, with the support of AVPN, the Hong Kong Academy for Wealth Legacy, and Builders Vision.

© Daniel Murray Studio Ltd