Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance
News
Investable sustainable blue economy projects in “Big Ocean States” boosted through Outrigger Impact
- Outrigger Impact’s new technical assistance facility poised to deploy first grants in Small Island Developing States
- Largest single investment in one of ORRAA’s initiatives by the UK’s Blue Planet Fund
- Anchor investment as part of USD$5m bundle of projects in latest wave
NICE, 9 June 2025 — Outrigger Impact – a new first-of-its-kind fund designed to deploy catalytic capital into the regenerative and sustainable blue economy in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) – is poised to start investing in the first wave of companies through its multi-million-dollar technical assistance facility.
It was announced today at the Third UN Ocean Conference that the Outrigger Technical Assistance Facility (OTAF) will start deploying more than $USD3m in investment readiness grants and repayable loans to further develop the investable pipeline of island-based projects.
The OTAF is a grant making facility that has been designed to support early-stage regenerative and sustainable blue economy businesses across 35 SIDS with an aim to help them strengthen their capacities and capabilities so that potential projects can become eligible for further investment either by the Outrigger Impact Fund or other available catalytic funding.
Outrigger is one of the initiatives of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance (ORRAA) and its Sea Change Impact Financing Facility (SCIFF). The announcement today marks the largest single investment of the UK’s Blue Planet Fund into one of ORRAA’s initiatives.
Emma Hardy MP,Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs of the UK Government said: “Precious marine resources and the communities who depend on them have been under threat for too long. Our investment will fund projects that support the ocean’s sustainable recovery, as well as the coastal communities in developing states that rely on it.”
Simon Dent, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Outrigger Impact, said: “Outrigger has been designed to provide much missed catalytic investments into small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and Nature-based Solutions in SIDS, to develop more sustainable and resilient communities, and conserve and enhance biodiversity and ecosystems. It’s both exciting and crucial to start deploying these first investments from the Outrigger Technical Assistance Facility in the coming months.”
The UK’s Blue Planet Fund backing of Outrigger Impact is part of a broader platform of a new wave of USD$5m of support to ORRAA. This investment also includes:
- Nautilus, the Blue Guarantee Company– the first guarantee facility focused on the regenerative and sustainable blue economy designed to derisk investments.
- Guinea – West Africa Blue is pioneering a high-integrity blue carbon initiative in Guinea to restore mangrove forests while generating high quality carbon credits, creating a long-term, sustainable revenue stream for local communities and other stakeholders.
- Indonesia – Blue Alliance is building a scalable financial model for large-scale Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in Indonesia, through investment in four bankable reef-positive businesses. These include community-based aquaculture, sustainable fisheries, ecotourism, and blue carbon credit initiatives, all designed to curb coral reef degradation, uplift coastal livelihoods, and generate sustainable revenue streams for the MPAs.
- Philippines – Asian Development Bank is piloting a blended finance platform supporting blue SMEs across Asia-Pacific, with targeted capacity building and technical assistance in key marine biodiversity corridors in the Philippines.
Outrigger and Nautilus are both initiatives under the SCIFF – ORRAA’s collaborative effort to develop an open ocean financing architecture designed to drive at least USD$1 billion of private investment into coastal and ocean ecosystems, with a focus on the Global South, by 2030. This will provide a springboard from which to mobilise at least USD$2.5 billion of broader finance capital.
Karen Sack, Executive Director of the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance, said: “The UK’s Blue Planet Fund has been instrumental in supporting ORRAA’s work in developing an investable finance and insurance product pipeline. These additional investments take us from the beachfront to the boardroom, backing the financial instruments that bridge the gap from grant funding to investable opportunities and build a capital market for the Ocean.”
