Earthshot Prize Finalist, Coast 4C, a regenerative seaweed company working with coastal communities in the Philippines, has secured an oversubscribed US$2.5 million seed round to scale its regenerative seaweed farming model across Southeast Asia, helping smallholders farmers increase productivity, improve access to markets and finance, and strengthen marine conservation. This milestone reflects growing investor confidence at a time when global demand for seaweed is rising across food, agriculture, biomaterials, and climate-related applications, creating an increasing need for resilient and traceable supply chains.
Coast 4C was named as a Finalist in the Review our Oceans category of The Earthshot Prize in 2024 and has seen a period of significant growth since its selection.
The announcement was made on stage at The Earthshot Prize Impact Assembly, co-hosted with Bloomberg Philanthropies during London Climate Action Week, as The Earthshot Prize marks five years of scaling and replicating solutions to repair our planet.
The funding round has been led by Hatch Blue’s Blue Revolution Fund (BRF), with participation from Conservation International Ventures, elea, RS Group, Potato Impact Partners, Minderoo Foundation, Kibo Invest and other mission-aligned investors. Combined with recent support through its partnership with Wise, the capital secured is the largest amount of funding raised by Coast 4C since its inception in 2020.
Nick Hill, Co-founder and CEO of Earthshot Prize Finalist Coast 4C, said: “I co-founded Coast 4C on a strong belief that smallholder farmers are an investible proposition and a key route to scaling seaweed production and coastal protection. For too long, smallholder farmers have been viewed as beneficiaries rather than investment opportunities. The calibre and diversity of investors backing this round demonstrates growing confidence in coastal farming communities’ ability to generate both measurable impact and commercial value when supported by the right digital inclusion, market access and community infrastructure.”
Sol Park, Principal, Blue Revolution Fund, said: “Having supported Coast 4C through our accelerator and pre-seed fund, Hatch Blue has seen first hand what this company is capable of. BRF’s investment is our way of proving that impact-oriented companies can sustain institutional capital, and that the sector is ready for it.”
Coast 4C has directly engaged more than 360 farms, building deep relationships with farming communities driving long-term improvements in productivity and livelihoods, whilst increasing sales volumes by more than 12 times over the past two years, demonstrating the commercial potential of a model built around smallholder seaweed farmers.
Coast 4C’s progress has also led to a partnership with global financial technology company Wise, reflecting a shared commitment to expanding financial inclusion in remote coastal communities. By helping address the “last mile” barriers that often limit access to payments and financial services, the partnership aims to strengthen the systems that enable smallholder farmers to participate more effectively in global supply chains.
Together, the funding round and partnership with Wise have positioned Coast 4C for its next phase of growth. The company now aims to further scale its operations across Southeast Asia, home to an estimated 500,000 seaweed farms, before expanding into other regions, ahead of a future Series A round. A key focus will be the continued development of the company’s digital tools, enabling it to support a rapidly growing network of farmers across remote coastal communities more efficiently and at greater scale.
