Dive Deeper
Gatekeepers to the blue economy

Ocean 14 Capital is a leading firm in the blue economy because the team understand its natural, operational and financial drivers better than anyone else. O14C’s finance experts work alongside world-leading scientists and marine biologists, impact and industry leaders with decades of experience, environmental engineers, and award-winning creatives.

experienced team blending venture capital, private equity, and impact.

CHRIS GORELL BARNES FOUNDING PARTNER

Chris has over 10 years of ocean conservation experience as the co-Founder of Blue Marine Foundation where he led a number of critical projects. Chris is also an entrepreneur and angel investor. He founded Adjust Your Set a leading brand communications agency and was the executive producer of the award-winning documentary film The End of the Line

FRANCISCO SARAIVA GOMES Founding Partner, Chief Investment Officer

Francisco has over 23 years of operational and investment experience in aquaculture having managed operations in farming, health & nutrition, equipment & engineering, processing & marketing. During his career, Francisco has successfully advised and or led M&A for more than $300 M acquisition in fish farming, feeds, ingredients and equipment.

GEORGE DUFFIELD Founding Partner

George has over 10 years of ocean conservation experience as the co-Founder of Blue Marine Foundation where he led a number of critical projects. George is also an entrepreneur and angel investor. As a movie producer he produced a number of movies including the award-winning documentary film The End of the Line which was awarded the Puma Creative Impact Award in 2011.

MAX GOTTSCHALK Founding Partner

Max has over 25 years of Investment and Venture Capital experience having started, backed, and exited a number of investments across various industries including fin-tech, financial services, fashion, and FMCG. He co-Founded Gottex Fund Management, an alternative investment company which he grew to $16bn of assets under management and took public at a $2.2bn market cap. Max has a business degree from the University of Virginia.

AMBER STRAUSS Analyst

Amber Strauss is a data scientist having worked at a human health technology company called Thriva. She has extensive experience in marine conservation having worked for the Ocean and Human Health Research program in Bermuda, where she assisted in the development of an app that calculates mercury toxicity in fish, and carried out water purity testing. She also worked for 2 years at the Swire Institute of Marine Science in Hong Kong to develop sustainable fishing methods.

ANDRÉ MARTINS SENIOR ASSOCIATE

André has over 6 years of experience in private equity at Oxy Capital, a leading $1,3bn Portuguese firm where he supported investments, portfolio management and exits across multiple industries. André holds a MSc in Engineering Physics from Instituto Superior Técnico.

CAROLINA CHRISTIANSEN Associate

Carolina has a Master’s Degree in Regenerative Economics from Schumacher College (UK) and a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics and Accounting from the University of California. She worked at a venture builder for impact start-ups (contractor of the EIC Fund) and has worked at a climate think tank in London (Dark Matter Labs) working on climate finance for ecosystem restoration. Carolina also worked at a unicorn fintech as FP&A in the USA (Brex).

HANNAH MARTIN Personal Assistant

Started as an Assistant in Buying within Tech at Home Retail Group, then moved on to a PropTech company as a Personal Assistant.

HUGO LE BRETON Head of Impact

22 years of experience in developing and implementing sustainability programmes in a variety of industries, including 15 years with Royal Dutch Shell. Founder of Le Breton Yachts. MSc Environmental Mgmt. at Imperial Coll., and MA Natural Sciences at Cambridge.

JOE BROCKBANK Analyst

Joe holds a BSc in Biology from the University of Bristol and CFA qualifications in Investment management & ESG investing.

LEE TAGG Finance & Operations Director

Lee has over 10 years of experience, having worked in senior finance positions in Europe within private equity and investment management. Previously worked at Deloitte and is a chartered accountant (ACA), Lee holds an MSc in Finance and BA (Hons) in Accounting from the University of Liverpool.

MAX HOLTZMAN PRINCIPAL / PORTFOLIO GOVERNANCE

Senior Advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture appointed by President Obama, investment Principal at Pontos Aqua, Vice Chairman Capitol Peak Asset Management, Attorney for 25 years, University of Miami and a BS in Agricultural Economics, University of Florida.

NIKI NATARAJAN Communications

Niki has been a financial journalist and investment writer for nearly 30 years, covering the institutional asset management spectrum from mutual funds to hedge funds with a focus on their investors for publications including Institutional Investor, Financial News and InvestHedge. More recently, her focus has shifted to impact investing, occasionally freelancing for publications such as Investments & Pensions Europe and Impact Investor. Niki is an experienced moderator, regularly hosting sessions for Phenix Capital’s Impact Summit Europe.

PIERS LAKIN Principal

Piers has over 10 years of experience in sustainable finance and private equity including at Development Finance Asia and at ADM Capital, a $2.5bn Private Credit and Equity Group. At Ocean 14 Capital Piers is responsible for deal sourcing, execution and asset management. Piers has a Masters in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Imperial College London.

RICARDO CIRES Senior Analyst

10 years experience in financial consulting on a variety of industries and markets  Specialized in financial modelling and controlling  Experience in M&A transactions, due diligence, valuation, budgeting and business planning at S&H, Tempreand Carollo.

SARAH AKANDE Accountant

Sarah has 14 years experience working within finance in a variety of industries including investment advisory services. Her roles within finance have included Management Accountant and Finance Manager.

SHEILA GUNGADIN Head of Investor Relations

Sheila has over 15 years of project management, business development, and investor relations experience in the private equity, international development and consulting space. She has worked across Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. Sheila holds a Master in Economics and Policy from University College London and completed the London Business School Private Equity programme. She received a BA from the National University of Singapore.

TIM RONIGER Risk Director

27 years in financial services. Oversees accounting & administration for group and family members. Ex E&Y and CFO at Gottex Fund Management. Chartered Accountant (SAICA), Honors Degree in Accounting and Finance.

Advisory Board

DR. ALBERT TACON

40 years of professional experience in aquaculture research and development, including 14 years of in-house experience with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

AMANDA FELDMAN

Amanda focuses on maximizing impact with funds, corporations, policymakers and entrepreneurs. She co-developed the Impact Management Project to make it easier to talk about, measure and manage impact.

DR. BEN CALDECOTT

Founding Director of the Oxford Sustainable Finance Programme and an Associate Professor at the University of Oxford. Previously worked as the Research Director for Environment and Energy at the think tank Policy Exchange, as a Vice President at investment bank Climate Change Capital, as Head of Government Advisory at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.

BILL KENTRUP

17 years of environmental and infrastructure markets experience, first as a director of Noble Environmental Solutions and later as Head of Asia Environmental  Financial Products at  Macquarie Bank. MSc. in Marine & Atmospheric Biogeochemistry

PROF. CALLUM ROBERTS

Callum Michael Roberts is Europe’s leading marine conservation biologist, oceanographer, author, research scholar at the University of Exeter, England.

CARLOS MONREAL

An experienced entrepreneur and leader in the sustainability and emerging technology sectors for the past 30 years. Currently the Founder and CEO of Plastic Energy, the industry leader in chemical recycling technology, and the President of Chemical Recycling Europe.

CLARE BROOK

Clare Brook joined BLUE as CFO in 2014 and then became CEO in March 2015.  Prior to that she was a pioneer of environmental investing, managing sustainable investment funds at Jupiter, NPI and Henderson.  She established the sustainable investment division of Aviva in 2000 and co-founded WHEB Asset Management in 2008.

CRAIG LEESON

Award-winning filmmaker, television presenter, news correspondent and entrepreneur. He is the global evangelist for the Plastic Oceans Foundation, a charity dedicated to ending humanity’s single-use plastic addiction within a generation.

DAVID KNIGHT

Principal advisor to the Premier of Alberta. Prior to working for the Canadian Government, he was the Global Head of Strategic Initiatives and Partnerships at Commonwealth Bank. He also was the head of GLG (Europe / Asia) from 2003 to 2015.

PROF. ELLEN PIKITCH

Wide ranging and creative thinker in the fields of fisheries and marine conservation. Has wide geographic experience, including China.

DR. ENRIC SALA

A National Geographic explorer-in-residence actively engaged in exploration, research, communications to advance ocean conservation. He created the Pristine Seas Project to identify, study, and protect the last wild places in the ocean, and also wrote the book, Pristine Seas: Journeys to the Ocean’s Last Wild Places, in 2015.

DR. JAN DAUMAN

40 years experience in international business, corporate finance, emerging markets and ESG. Co-founder/CEO of InterMatrix consultancy with subsidiaries/affiliates in 15 countries and working with Fortune 500 MNCs. Pioneer in ESG and its incorporation into every aspect of company operations. Degrees in engineering (Imperial College), business (Yale). PhD in economics, with thesis on ESG management.

JULIE RAYNAUD

Sustainable finance professional. Responsible for the Valuing Plastics report for UNEP – the world’s first quantification of the impact of plastic on oceans. As part of the Kepler Cheuvreux ESG team (2015-2017), she was ranked #2 in SRI(2017 Extel review). She holds a degree in International Development Studies from McGill Univ. and an MSc in Mgmt. from Imperial College Ldn.

KAREN SACK

Over 25 years of experience working for international non-governmental organisations on environmental issues around the world with a particular focus on protecting marine biodiversity and building resilience to climate change.

KRISTIAN TELEKI

20 years of strategic experience in the areas of ocean policy and science, environment, sustainability and development.

KRISTIN RECHBERGER

Kristin is CEO of Dynamic Planet, which helps build conservation economies that benefit people, nature, and climate – by restoring nature rather than by depleting it, and currently serves as trustee of The King Charles III Charitable Fund, and on the boards of National Geographic Pristine Seas, Mongabay, The Environmental Investigation Agency, the Environmental Film Festival, and Ocean Exploration Trust.

MARCELA NAVARRO

Marcela has over 25 years’ experience in systems change, innovative finance and impact. She is a recognised leader in purpose-led transformation models and execution. Prior to co-founding Project X, a certified bcorp, which mission is to shift $1.3 trillion from unsustainable to sustainable procurement, Marcela was a member of the RBS Corporate Banking Board and a member of the ABN AMRO Bank Senior Leadership Team. Broad international outlook having worked in Colombia, Brazil, USA and UK. Advisor to CEOs.

MARK CAMPANALE

Mark is the Founder of the Carbon Tracker Initiative and the ‘Planet Tracker’, focused on oceans/seafood, water, textiles, land use change and plastics. Mark is a co-founder of some of the first responsible investment funds and is a member of the Advisory Council of ImpactBase.org; a member of the Advisory Board of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation’s ‘Conservation and Markets Initiatives’.

PAUL HOLTHUS

Founder and CEO of the World Ocean Council. Extensive leadership experience in addressing international ocean, coastal and island challenges of sustainable development, conservation, science and stewardship.

PETER WHEELER

34 years of investment banking and capital markets experience. Goldman Sachs Partner and retired Executive Vice President of The Nature Conservancy.

PROF. RICHARD THOMPSON

Expert on ocean plastic pollution and one of the key people who first raised the alarm about microplastics.

PROF. STEPHANE VOISIN

Stephane is the Head of the Green & Sustainable Finance Program – The Green DataLab – The Climate Chain at the Institut Louis Bachelier. He is developing data intelligence solutions to support the Paris Climate Accord and drive green finance.

TOM HILL-NORTON

CFO at Belltown Group and previously worked in private equity investment for the energy sector in emerging markets.

TORSTEN THIELE

Founder of Global Ocean Trust. Immensely knowledgeable about ocean conservation and management financing, including blue carbon. He developed Blue Natural Capital and innovative finance solutions to ocean and coastal governance challenges.