Private equity investor Ocean 14 Capital Fund (O14C) has entered into an agreement to invest in MITO, a European clam breeder and hatchery.
MITO, created through the O14C transaction, is the consolidation of a clam hatchery and nurseries in Italy and the Netherlands. The company was co-founded by Gianluigi Lago, Paola Landri, and Maurizio Varagnolo, industry veterans with deep expertise in breeding and farming of Veneridae clams, according to an O14C press release.
Resulting from the merger of Societá Agricola Ecotapes Italia S.r.L, Delta Futuro Societá Agricola S.r.L, and Ecotapes Zeeland B.V., MITO is capable of producing more than 300 million clam seed juveniles ready for stocking for the Italian market. Supported by O14C, it plans to increase its operational capacity to two billion seeds annually over the next few years.
Founded in 2019 in London, U.K., O14C has announced its intention to build a portfolio of 20 to 25 holdings “that offer both environmental benefits for oceans and competitive financial gains for investors.” It previously invested in Singapore-based shrimp genetics company SyAqua and in plastic waste recycling firm AION, jointly with Aker Biomarine.
The fund plans to invest an additional EUR 5 million (USD 5 million) to scale and grow the business further, as part of its European bivalve strategy, Ocean 14 Capital Investment Analyst and MITO Co-Investment Lead Katherine Elbert said.
“It is incredibly exciting to begin this journey with MITO – benefiting from and simultaneously accelerating the great and highly impactful work that Gianluigi, Paola, and Maurizio have developed for years,” Elbert said. “We couldn’t have arranged a better starting investment for the fund’s European bivalves strategy. Similar to what happened to oysters, a strong supply of viable hatchery seed is key for the sustainable development of the industry.”
In recent years, European production of clams has declined due to lack of wild-sourced seed, as well as the abiotic stress and disease, resulting in a spat mortality rate of over 50 percent. O14C said its dedicated investment strategy for the European bivalve industry aims to bring capital, technology, and best practices to the “often-overlooked sector” of the European coastal economies.
“With a total aquaculture production of more than 30,000 metric tons (MT), the clam industry in Europe is one of the best opportunities for the fund to invest in. It shows well who the fund is as O14C, and its purpose,” Ocean 14 Capital Founding Partner and Chief Investment Officer Francisco Saraiva Gomes said. “It’s a great protein, with a superior production system, highly leverageable through technology, and convergent with coastal conservation, of which we know a lot, and where we are able to develop superior partnerships with the industry leaders. It’s a great impact growth thesis: the team is fantastic, we’re building at book value, and MITO’s sales are overbooked.”
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