World's first Series A funding round for coral restoration will support global expansion, pipeline growth, technology and science development, and community-based programming.
FREEPORT, Bahamas, June 9, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Coral Vita, a company pioneering ecosystem-scale coral reef restoration, today announced it has raised over $8 million in Series A funding, a global milestone for the ecological regeneration industry. The round was led by Builders Vision, with participation from Katapult Ocean, iAlumbra, BDT & MSD, 2050, Rypples, Colorado Coral, Rising Tide, Aureolis Ventures, Wilson Sonsini, Kate James, Mariano Battan, Olavo Mutarelli, Jim Salem, and Christian Nielsen. This investment will accelerate Coral Vita's mission to restore degraded reefs, deploy ecological infrastructure, and help preserve the ocean's biodiversity and prosperity.
Addressing a Global Crisis:
Coral reefs generate $2.7 trillion annually, support 25% of marine life, and provide coastal protection, food security, and economic opportunities for approximately one billion people worldwide. However, scientists project that without intervention, 90% of coral reefs may disappear by 2050 due to climate change, pollution, and other human impacts. Coral Vita addresses this urgent ecological crisis by growing diverse and resilient coral through a commercial model to revitalize the world's invaluable reef systems.
Transformative Restoration Approach:
Founded in 2015 by Sam Teicher and Gator Halpern, Coral Vita uses high-tech, land-based coral farms to grow climate-resilient corals in months instead of the decades they take in nature. Building upon decades of work by NGOs and scientists proving out the field's viability, they've created a unique for-profit for-nature for-good model to finance critically needed, large-scale impact: selling restoration as a service to reef-dependent clients, licensing proprietary tech platforms to ocean stakeholders, utilizing coral farms as eco-tourism attractions and community education hubs, creating individual and brand adopt-a-coral sponsorships, and relocating coral away from coastal development projects.
"We have a job that shouldn't exist, yet is essential in today's world. By becoming the first coral restoration company to raise a Series A, we are proving that the blue economy and ecological infrastructure is investable, profitable, and impactful, and that ecosystem restoration is everyone's responsibility. With planetary health, community wellbeing, and economic viability in the balance, the private sector has the opportunity and responsibility to invest in the technology, workforce, and skills development needed to regenerate coral reefs and for our ocean to thrive and survive" said Sam Teicher, Co-Founder and Chief Reef Officer of Coral Vita.
The Series A funding will enable Coral Vita to:
- Expand their operational footprint and build new large-scale coral farms
- Support research and development in both coral farming technology and restoration methodology
- Build out their team with key hires in brand development, community outreach, engineering, and operations
- Strengthen partnerships with nature-positive corporations, local governments, tourism operators, and conservation organizations
- Continue developing revenue streams, including restoration projects and eco-tourism experiences
"Coral Vita and Builders Vision share the understanding that ocean health and economic health go hand in hand. Coral Vita's pioneering, scalable solution for reef restoration stood out to us as investors because it creates real global market value that extends well beyond their Bahamian home. They employ cutting-edge genetic technology to enhance coral survivability and have an exciting business model that is seeing strong organic growth and sales from a diverse customer base. We are proud to lead the first successful Series A round for a business focused on coral restoration, and while this is still an early stage of growth, we are excited about the opportunity," said Lukas Walton, Founder and CEO of Builders Vision.
This announcement coincides with the launch of Coral Vita's newly redesigned website, coralvita.co, which provides an immersive digital experience to engage supporters, showcase impact, and activate global participation in reef restoration.
Since initiating restoration operations in 2019, Coral Vita has grown over 100,000 corals across 52 species in The Bahamas, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, measured impactful post-restoration KPIs such as 2x growth in fish populations, and generated millions of dollars in revenue. The company, its founders, and their innovative model has earned global recognition, including The Earthshot Prize, Forbes 30 Under 30, the Echoing Green Fellowship, Cleantech Forum's LATAM 25, UN Young Champions of the Earth, and the Travel + Leisure Global Vision Award. Coral Vita commits to solving for nature, scaling for impact, and rallying for good, galvanizing a restoration economy to regenerate ocean ecosystems for generations to come.
About Coral Vita
Coral Vita is a reef restoration solutions company that grows resilient corals at scale to restore threatened reefs. The company's mission is to do everything it can to ensure that coral reef ecosystems survive and thrive in the decades ahead and continue to benefit communities and ocean biodiversity around the world. They utilize bleeding-edge coral restoration techniques with novel technology to grow corals in months instead of decades while boosting their resiliency against the warming oceans that threaten their survival, funding ecosystem-scale impact through a for-profit model.
The company was founded by Sam Teicher and Gator Halpern, who share a lifelong love of nature and the ocean and met at the Yale School for the Environment as grad students. In 2019, Coral Vita established the world's first commercial land-based coral farm for reef restoration in Freeport, Grand Bahama. This state-of-the-art facility also functions as an education center for local communities as well as an immersive eco-tourism attraction, building local capacity through workforce development and partnerships. With operations in The Bahamas, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Saba, and growing, the company's ultimate vision is to create a global network of large-scale commercial coral farms in every nation with reefs powered by a thriving Restoration Economy. Coral Vita's innovative for-profit for-nature for-good model has won numerous awards and accolades, including Prince William's inaugural Revive Our Oceans Earthshot Prize.
For more information, please visit coralvita.co, follow progress on social @coralvitareefs, or contact:
Media Contact
Kelly Vogt Campbell, Intuitive Communications for Coral Vita, 1 3109274537, [email protected], coralvita.co
SOURCE Coral Vita
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