DATE OF INVESTMENT | 30 June 2020 |
LOCATION | Bay of Plenty |
SECTOR | Aquaculture |
STAGE/TYPE OF INVESTMENT | Expansion |
IMPACT FOCUS | Social Inequality |
STATUS | Active |

Profile
Whakatōhea Mussels Ōpōtiki Limited (WMOL) is a New Zealand first and world leading open ocean mussel farm and mussel processing plant.
Ōpōtiki is located in one of New Zealand’s most deprived areas. Three decades ago, Iwi and other leaders identified aquaculture as an industry that could bring employment and opportunity back to the region. Building a local factory to process its own Greenshell™ mussels and other aquaculture products was identified as a key lever in creating full time employment at scale in Opotiki and right up the Eastern Bay of Plenty coast. With the help of Purpose Capital’s investment, WMOL completed construction of the processing plant in 2021, enabling processing of live and frozen half shell mussels.
Impact
WMOL’s driving purpose can be summarized by Whakatōhea Māori Trust Board Chairperson Robert Edward’s vision: “The dream of it really is to bring prosperity back to Ōpōtiki and prosperity back to Whakatōhea.” WMOL’s efforts to develop a commercially successful company and a centre of excellence for aquaculture, an environmentally sustainable and future-focused industry, holds enormous impact potential for Ōpōtiki and Whakatōhea. However, it is important to note that over the past 20+ years, since the founders first developed the idea of WMOL, the world’s understanding of prosperity has changed. True prosperity requires inclusive and holistic economic development that supports people and the community, while respecting and protecting the environment. With supportive signalling from Purpose Capital and our impact investment partner investors a clearer and more intentional approach will be developed ensuring we reach impact as well as commercial goals.
Our investment into WMOL has supported the expansion of an existing open ocean mussel farming operation and establishment of a mussel processing plant, enabling local processing of live and frozen half shell mussels.
In FY 2024, approximately 187 people were employed, all earning a living wage or higher. More details are available in our annual impact reports here.
Transaction Summary
In June 2020, the Purpose Capital Impact Fund built an impact investment syndicate which acquired a significant equity stake in Whakatōhea Mussels Ōpōtiki Limited. In 2022 the syndicate provided a follow-on investment. The Fund’s impact investment partners are Bay Trust and Trust Horizon.


