Memo #13: Ocean Data

 🌊 Why do we need to better understand our oceans?

• Why do we need to better understand our Oceans?

  • The Ocean, and its biodiversity, regulate our climate. Marine phytoplankton produce ~50% of oxygen on Earth.  Oceans have absorbed half of carbon emissions humans have produced over the past two centuries. Mangroves, seagrass beds and tidal marshes are among the most intense carbon sinks we have.

  • The Ocean also provides critical Ecosystem services: The annual economic value of the ocean is estimated at USD $2.5 trillion, equivalent to the world’s 8th largest economy. Ocean habitats provide nutrition, medicines, and flood defense. Oceans also support jobs in fishing, seafood and leisure. Over 3 billion people are reliant on marine resources for their livelihoods. 

  • A resilient, net zero and economically secure world is not possible without a healthy, regenerating ocean but we’re in crisis. 2023 was the ocean’s warmest year on record and almost 90 percent of global marine fish stocks are now fully exploited or overfished.

  • … and the Ocean is underfunded: Of all the UN’s sustainable development goals, SDG 14 ‘Life Below Water’ suffers from the largest relative funding gap. A 2020 study found that we must spend $174.5bn to reach SDG 14’s targets by 2030, yet we are achieving only 6% of that.

  • Better Data on our Oceans, delivered in a way that investors can understand, is critical to drive more funding to the Ocean. Ocean data is critical, both for assessing the effectiveness of ocean investments and for attracting larger financial institutions to consider the ocean as an investable asset. 

    

 🦞 What is the problem with Ocean Data today?

• Data scarcity - The vast majority of our oceans remain unexplored and under-monitored. Only 23.4% of the ocean floor has been mapped to modern standards as of 2023 and less than 5% of the ocean is monitored for biodiversity

• Collection challenges - Traditional ocean data collection methods are costly and limited in scope. A single day of ship time for oceanographic research can cost upwards of $60,000. 90% of ocean observation systems are expected to fail within 5 years of deployment due to harsh conditions.

• Data fragmentation - Ocean data is often siloed and not easily accessible. It’s estimated that 80-90% of marine data collected is never made publicly available (European Marine Board, 2023).

• Thought on-land Biodiversity data was tough? Ha! Unlike most terrestrial animals, Marine species also move vertically. Sperm whales can dive to depths of over 2,000 meters. Many marine species travel incredibly long distances. Leatherback turtles can travel over 10,000 km across the Pacific Ocean in a single year. 91 per cent of marine species remain undescribed.

💬 What approaches are being taken?

A range of different approaches are being taken to gathering ocean data:

• Autonomous Surface Vehicles: Unmanned vessels that collect data on the ocean surface, like Saildrone's wind-powered drones that can stay at sea for months.

• Autonomous Underwater Vehicles: Robotic submersibles that gather data beneath the waves, such as Hydroid's REMUS AUVs used for deep-sea exploration and mapping.

• Fixed and Drifting Buoys and Floats: Stationary devices that collect oceanic data over time, exemplified by Sofar Ocean's Spotter buoys that provide real-time ocean insights.

• Remote Sensing (Satellite & Airborne): Collecting ocean data from space or aircraft like Planet Labs' constellation of small satellites imaging the Earth's oceans daily.

• Citizen Science: Engaging the public in collecting ocean data through everyday activities, such as Smartfin that equips surfers' boards with sensors 

• Animal-Bourne Sensors: Attaching data collection devices to marine animals to gather information

• Networked sensors / IoT:Interconnected devices that collect and transmit ocean data in real-time, such as XPRIZE-winning Hydronet's underwater Internet of Things network.

  

🗺️ Four start-ups to watch

1. Ocean Ledger (London, GBR) Provides high-resolution geospatial analytics for coastal risk assessment using satellite imagery, machine learning, and site-level data. Their proprietary models detect anomalies in shoreline movement, underwater topography, and natural defenses to forecast localized coastal threats.

   Latest Round: Pre-Seed; March 2025; €900K
   Investors: Ananda Impact Ventures; Silverstrand Capital
   News: Recently partnered with Planet Labs PBC and is developing long-term catastrophe bonds with insurers while exploring collaborations with marine drone and sensor companies. (Read)

2. Planblue (Bremen, DEU) Pioneers underwater hyperspectral imaging technology that conducts detailed seafloor surveys. Incl. a cloud-based AI-driven data analysis platform, to monitor seagrass meadows and quantify carbon storage.
   Latest Round: Preparing for Series A; Prior funding undisclosed Investors: Information not provided
   News: Recently selected as the World Economic Forum's UpLink Ocean Data Challenge at the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, recognizing their innovative approach to ocean data collection (Read more)

3. NatureMetrics (Surrey, GBR) Provides nature intelligence and biodiversity monitoring solutions using environmental DNA (eDNA) technology and AI-enhanced analytics. Their platform enables site-level biodiversity assessments across 110 countries through labs in the UK, Canada, and Indonesia.
   Latest Round: Series B; January 2025; €24.3M
   Investors:Just Climate; EDF Pulse Ventures; Monaco ReOcean Fund; 2150; BNP Paribas; Ananda Impact Ventures; SWEN Blue Ocean News: Recently expanded their client base to over 600 organizations including Unilever, Anglo American, WWF, and Fauna & Flora (Read more)

4. ACUA Ocean (Plymouth, GBR) Develops hydrogen-powered autonomous vessels for oceangoing operations, featuring a Swath design hullform that enables stable operations in wave heights exceeding 4m. Their Pioneer-class USVs can support deployment of modular sensors and system payloads up to 6.5 tonnes from a moonpool.
   Latest Round: Pre-seed; December 2024; £5.5M (£4M grant funding + £1.5M investment)
   Investors: StealthPoint; Britbots; Sixth Wave Ventures; Blue Action Accelerator; UK Department for Transport; DEFRA
   News: First prototype USV is nearing completion at AMC shipyard on the Isle of Wight (Read more)

 🌬️ What are the headwinds and tailwinds for Ocean Data startups?

Headwinds:

• Creative revenue opportunities: Emerging use cases for ocean data are creating new market opportunities. Integration of ocean data has improved weather forecast accuracy by up to 40% in coastal areas. Use of real-time ocean data in shipping routes has reduced fuel consumption by up to 10%. What other novel use cases are available?

• An expanding blue economy = a growing customer base: Growth in ocean-based industries is increasing demand for ocean data. The blue economy is projected to reach $3 trillion by 2030 and create 40Mn new jobs.

• Government budget constraints, including cuts to hundreds of positions are creating market gaps that private ocean data companies can fill. Reduction in public sector monitoring capacity due to over 800 firings at NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) under the new administration could create opportunities for startups to fill gaps and provide critical data services.

Tailwinds:

• Who pays? Government and academic institutions still account for 70% of ocean data customers. This can translate into longer sales cycles which can strain cash flows. Where are the problems that long standing ocean industries are already paying to solve. How can ocean data help solve them better?

• Shifting the narrative from compliance to value: The most successful startups will be able to articulate clearly how their offer makes something cheaper or more efficient than current processes. Discretionary spending on ‘nice to haves’ or green premiums will likely remain limited in the current climate.

• Avoiding the red ocean: Competition in the ocean data market is intensifying. The number of ocean technology startups has increased by 60% since 2018, creating a "red ocean" of competition. Ocean data startups face growing challenges in differentiating their offerings and communicating their unique value proposition to potential customers, with surveys indicating that 65% of potential industry clients struggle to distinguish between competing ocean data services.

🌬️ Hear it from the experts

Q: What areas are you most excited about in Ocean data and why?

The oceans remain one of the least understood environments on Earth, and advancing ocean data collection is critical to addressing this knowledge gap. Through our investments in the Blue Action Accelerator, I’m particularly excited about start-ups that:

• Address clear, ongoing need: The businesses achieving strong traction right now are those targeting customers with a clear, ongoing need for ocean data—typically sectors like offshore energy, defence, and oil and gas. While not all of these industries are sustainable, there is a significant opportunity to make meaningful environmental improvements. For example, if ocean data can reduce reliance on diesel-powered support vessels or enable more efficient inspection and monitoring technologies, that's a step toward reducing the environmental footprint.

• Support Biodiversity & Quantification of Blue Carbon: Ocean data plays a pivotal role in biodiversity monitoring, reducing illegal fishing, and minimising harm to marine life. Accurate, real-time data enables more effective conservation efforts, from tracking endangered species to identifying and protecting key habitats. It also enhances our understanding of blue carbon—the carbon stored in ocean ecosystems like mangroves and seagrass beds—crucial for mitigating climate change. However, the challenge remains: how do we incentivize stakeholders to pay for these solutions? Often, urgency is driven by regulatory pressure or financial incentives, but unlocking broader, proactive investment will be key to scaling efforts.

• Provide Infrastructure that supports data solutions: How are all these data solutions powered and maintained? What broader platforms are they integrated with, and how do they fit into the global data ecosystem? As we push for greater ocean intelligence, ensuring the sustainability and scalability of these systems and that the critical infrastructure accompanies them, will be essential for their long-term impact.

Q: Which Startups are you most excited about in the space?

I'm biased, but two of our ocean data investments via the Blue Action Accelerator:

• Acua Ocean - developing a modular, autonomous platform for ocean data collection, focusing on crucial areas like infrastructure monitoring, marine protected area (MPA) protection, and border security. 

• Ocean Ledger - leverages satellite data to monitor blue carbon ecosystems, such as seagrass meadows, which are essential for carbon sequestration and climate resilience.

Another startup I'm closely watching is…

• Dolphin Labs -  Offers wave-powered energy solutions. This could be a game-changer for powering long-term data collection infrastructure in remote areas.