The partnership brings systemic impact expertise into an ocean investment platform that plans to back more than 30 companies while addressing a $5.5 trillion regional financing gap linked to SDG 14.
The Japan Social Innovation and Investment Foundation (SIIF) has entered a strategic partnership with Asia Ocean Fund (AOF) aimed at strengthening investment and systemic change across the Asia-Pacific ocean economy.
Under the agreement, Tokyo-based SIIF will become AOF’s Systemic Impact Advisor, helping develop the fund’s systems change strategy and its approach to measuring and managing impact.
SIIF will also participate independently in AOF’s planned Ocean Systems & Impact Committee, without authority over investment decisions, fiduciary responsibilities or fund management.
The partnership is built around a broader argument: climate change, biodiversity loss and marine pollution are connected problems, and financing individual companies alone may not be enough to address them.
RELEVANT SUSTAINABLE GOALS
Asia Ocean Fund Targets a $5.5 Trillion Financing Gap
AOF is an ocean-focused impact investment fund established by Singapore-based OCTAVE Capital Pte. Ltd. and Katapult Ocean Asia Pte. Ltd.
It aims to help address an estimated $5.5 trillion financing gap in Asia-Pacific associated with achieving United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 14, Life Below Water.
The fund intends to invest in more than 30 companies across the region, from early-stage businesses through scale-up.
Its investments span four connected areas: Maritime and Energy, Materials and Circularity, Blue Food and Water, and Ocean Data and Intelligence.
AOF combines a venture fund with an accelerator platform, investing from seed through Series A and B. Its model brings together catalytic capital, a dedicated accelerator program and market access to support ocean innovation.
The fund seeks commercially compelling solutions while generating positive impact and attractive risk-adjusted financial returns.
A Systems Approach to Ocean Investment
Rather than treating companies, industries and environmental problems separately, AOF considers how solutions interact across value chains and contribute to a more resilient ocean economy.
That approach reflects the interconnected nature of the challenges facing oceans and the communities and markets that depend on them.
Systems change, in this context, means looking beyond the direct results produced by an individual company. It also considers the market, institutional, social and environmental conditions that determine whether change can last.
AOF plans to identify leverage points where investments could create wider effects, including opportunities for replication, collaboration and broader market transformation.
The objective is to strengthen the collective contribution of its portfolio across Asia-Pacific rather than assess each investment only in isolation.
SIIF to Advise on Impact Strategy and Measurement
SIIF will work with AOF across the fund’s investment lifecycle from a systemic impact perspective.
Its role includes helping design and refine AOF’s ocean systems change strategy, advising on alignment with relevant global impact standards, and reviewing key performance indicators, impact measurement methods and reporting frameworks.
SIIF will also support implementation of the Ocean Impact Navigator, provide input on AOF’s annual impact report and take part in the Ocean Systems & Impact Committee.
The committee is intended to serve as an advisory forum for reviewing systemic impact strategy, performance and outcomes.
AOF will retain full responsibility for all investment decisions and related fiduciary duties.
SIIF has separately provided catalytic capital to Katapult Ocean Asia to support the fund’s foundation during its early formation stage.
Connecting Japan With Asia-Pacific’s Ocean Impact Ecosystem
The partnership combines AOF’s investment platform and ocean expertise with SIIF’s experience in systemic impact design and governance.
AOF draws on the global ocean impact investing experience of Norway-founded Katapult Ocean and OCTAVE Capital’s regional investment execution capabilities and maritime expertise.
Katapult Ocean has invested in and accelerated technology companies working on ocean health, including sustainable aquaculture, maritime and ocean decarbonisation, circular resources, marine plastic solutions, and ocean data and monitoring technologies.
Its Asia-Pacific expansion through AOF builds on its European network and ocean technology investment experience.
OCTAVE Capital, meanwhile, is a Singapore-based impact investment firm backed by the purpose-led family business TPC (Tsao Pao Chee). Building on a heritage in global maritime innovation and sustainable ocean development, it provides catalytic and scale-up capital across environmental and social sectors in Asia and beyond.
SIIF Brings Systems Change Experience To The Fund
Headquartered in Minato-ku, Tokyo, and led by President Shuichi Ohno, SIIF is a Japan-based foundation focused on impact investing and systems change.
Its work includes impact strategy design, evaluation frameworks and governance structures.
The foundation works with investors, entrepreneurs, research institutions and policymakers, and has contributed to impact measurement and management, impact capital flows and ecosystem development.
Within AOF, its independent advisory role is intended to support systemic impact strategy and governance aligned with international standards while strengthening transparency, accountability and measurement integrity.
Building a Broader Market for Ocean Solutions
The collaboration ultimately seeks to strengthen links between Japan and the wider Asia-Pacific ocean impact ecosystem.
Its premise is that lasting progress on ocean health depends not only on individual technologies or businesses, but also on the markets, capital flows, institutions, regulations and regional ecosystems surrounding them.
By bringing those considerations into the fund’s investment and impact framework, AOF and SIIF aim to support sustainable blue economy development and wider transformation of ocean systems across Asia-Pacific.
