Luke Sawitsky

Biography

Luke Sawitsky is a Senior Investment Associate at SeaAhead whose career has been at the intersection of fisheries, finance, and the blue economy.  Prior to joining SeaAhead, Luke was Vice President and Director of Investments at Catch Invest, an impact investment firm that invests in intangible fisheries assets, such as permits and quota, to support fishing communities and ocean conservation. His work included supporting existing portfolio investments and conducting diligence on prospective permit and quota acquisitions. Luke also oversaw Catch Invest’s COVID-19 pandemic response program, which deployed grant funds to support food banks and mitigate impact on fishing communities that lost business due to restaurant closures.

Previously, Luke worked at several roles within fisheries and the blue economy. He was the Business Development manager at KnipBio, a venture-backed company creating single-cell protein alternatives for aquaculture, and an independent consultant for the New England Aquarium, where he conducted a landscape analysis for innovation opportunities in the blue economy. This work later grew into the Aquarium’s partnership with SeaAhead. Luke has also managed a salmon buying station on the Yukon River in Alaska and has prior experience working in the seafood supply chain.

Luke has an MBA and MS in Sustainable Systems from the University of Michigan, where he was also an Associate at the University of Michigan Social Venture Fund.  He has a BA in Political Science and International Studies from Northwestern University.