About Outrigger Impact

• Founded: 2021

• Headquarters: Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

• Strategy: Impact investing in blue economy sectors across Small Island Developing States, using blended equity and debt instruments

• Thesis: Island economies are particularly vulnerable to climate change and ocean degradation, yet possess unique assets in marine resources and ocean-based industries that can drive sustainable economic development when capitalized properly

• Leadership: Founded by Kainoa Horcajo

Outrigger Impact has launched the Outrigger Impact Fund I, a $100m vehicle designed to deploy equity and debt capital into blue economy businesses operating in Small Island Developing States. The fund is structured to strengthen the resilience of island nations through investments in ocean-based industries, including sustainable fisheries, aquaculture, and marine infrastructure.

This is one of the first dedicated blue economy funds to target Small Island Developing States specifically rather than coastal markets broadly. The sector has drawn increased attention from development finance institutions — Blue Finance closed a $100m ocean conservation fund in 2022, and Encourage Capital raised $250m for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture in 2023 — but most vehicles have focused on larger emerging markets like Indonesia and Latin America. Outrigger's geographic mandate creates a narrower pool of potential deals but potentially stronger alignment with climate adaptation priorities that multilateral LPs are directing capital toward.

The fund's blended structure raises questions about deployment pace and return expectations. Pure equity plays in island economies face limited exit paths, while debt requires creditworthy counterparties in regions with thin capital markets. If Outrigger can demonstrate viable returns from this model, it would validate a playbook for climate-focused impact investors looking beyond the established emerging-market blue economy targets. The test will be whether $100m is sufficient scale to build a diversified portfolio across geographies with such fragmented deal flow.

Source: AltAssets