Aquaculture investment firm Hatch Blue move to Cork city centre

Cork’s Republic of Work is set to become the new Irish headquarters for Hatch Blue, a global investment firm specialising in sustainable growth and innovation in aquaculture.

The company operates globally with teams based in Germany, Norway, Singapore, and Ireland.

It will take up a permanent tenancy in the co-working space on South Mall in September.

Founded in 2017, Hatch Blue provides venture capital, venture building programmes, and consulting on aquaculture to businesses and governments.

Aquaculture is the farming of aquatic creatures, like fish, shellfish, and marine plants.

Their flagship fund - the Blue Revolution Fund - targets seed/series A start-ups - those at the beginning of the funding process - working on sustainability and innovation in aquaculture.

This includes next-generation fish farms, regenerative seaweed and bivalve farming, nutrition, enabling technology, health and genetic alternative seafood.

The fund has attracted close to €93 million in commitments to back sustainable aquaculture technology from the European Investment Fund, Irish Strategic Investment Fund, and Germany’s Retenbank.

The move to Republic of Work adds another international company to the co-working space’s growing network of members, which the company said reinforced its position as a leading innovation hub in Ireland’s “startup and SME ecosystem”.

Frank Brenan, CEO and owner of Republic of Work said he “values the expertise which Hatch Blue has in their field, and we believe we are primed to work closely together”.

Barry Mulqueen, Hatch Blue’s Chief Financial Officer said Republic of Work is a hub “built for ambitious, fast-moving companies, and that’s exactly the environment we want around us as we grow. We’re looking forward to being part of the community.”