Podcast
James Hone on BlueSana: Connecting Investors with Climate Impact Assets to Decarbonise the Planet
Steve sits down with James Hone, the Founder and CEO of BlueSana, a platform born out of a promise James made to his daughters to make a real difference for the planet.
About the guest
James Hone
Founder and CEO at BlueSana
James Hone is a serial entrepreneur who built and scaled Bluefin, a recruitment business he founded in 2003 and sold to a Tokyo-listed firm in 2015, then exited fully in 2022. He founded BlueSana after a family dinner in which his teenage daughters asked how adults had allowed climate change to happen, a question he turned into a commitment. BlueSana is a technology investment platform connecting investors with climate impact assets, with ambitions to help direct a portion of the $7 trillion a year estimated to be needed to meet Paris Agreement targets.
Episode overview
Steve Grace catches up with an old friend and fellow recruitment industry alumnus, James Hone, who after selling his recruitment firm Bluefin has turned his energy toward one of the most consequential investment categories of the decade. The conversation covers the founding moment for BlueSana, the lessons James carries from surviving the GFC as a recruitment business owner, what climate impact investment actually means in practice, and the seed round he was actively raising at the time of recording.
The family dinner that changed direction
Two years before the episode was recorded, James sat down for a family dinner with his daughters, then 15 and 13. Instead of the usual complaints about school, both girls began talking about climate change, deforestation, and biodiversity depletion in detail. His eldest looked at him and asked: how did the adults allow this to happen? James describes that question as the single most motivating force behind BlueSana. He committed at that dinner to do whatever he could to make a change, and held to that commitment through the entire founding process.
“My eldest daughter said, ‘How did the adults allow this to happen?’ I basically said, ‘Look, I’ll do whatever I can to try and make a change and create a better planet for you in the future.’ That commitment is my driving force.”
James Hone 5:00
From Bluefin to BlueSana: lessons from 12 years in recruitment
James founded Bluefin from a spare bedroom in 2003 with no staff and one computer. He built it over 12 years as sole founder and shareholder before selling to an Outsourcing Inc, a Tokyo-listed global recruitment firm, in 2015. He exited fully in 2022. The journey included the GFC, during which James had just expanded into new office space and was heavily focused on financial services recruitment, the company went from profitable to loss-making almost overnight. He credits those years with building the resilience and leadership clarity that now underpins how he approaches BlueSana.
What BlueSana does and why it is needed
BlueSana is a technology investment platform that connects investors with assets designed to decarbonise the planet and reduce climate risk. James identified a gap after trying to invest the proceeds from the Bluefin sale: financial advisers and private wealth managers had very little visibility into what was actually impactful in the climate and ESG investment space. BlueSana aims to solve that through curation, education, and ease of access. The company also plans to create its own investment products to provide direct exposure to climate-focused assets.
“Currently impact investment is a very, very minute portion of global funds under management. If that can be shifted a few percentages, that money can go into amazing businesses and projects that can have real impact.”
James Hone 10:00
The seed round and what funding will build
At the time of recording James was raising a $3 million to $5 million seed round and actively looking for both investors and founding employees with backgrounds in investment management and ESG. The capital would go to completing the tech platform, hiring key personnel, marketing, and legal work. He estimated that with funding secured in the following few months, an advanced MVP could be live by end of 2023. His ideal investors were those aligned to the purpose and capable of advocacy, not just capital.
Key takeaways
Chapters
0:00Introduction and guest welcome2:00What is BlueSana and what problem does it solve5:00The family dinner that sparked the idea8:00Bluefin: founding a recruitment firm from scratch in 200310:00The GFC, resilience, and leadership lessons13:00The $7 trillion climate investment opportunity15:00BlueSana’s seed round and what funding will build17:00Global expansion plans: Australia first, then Singapore, UK, and US
Mentioned in this episode
Frequently asked questions
What does BlueSana do?
BlueSana is a technology investment platform that connects investors with climate-focused assets designed to decarbonise the planet. It aims to solve the information and access problem in impact investing: financial advisers and private wealth managers currently have very limited visibility into what is genuinely impactful in the ESG and climate investment space. BlueSana curates and evaluates climate impact opportunities, provides investor education, and plans to create its own investment products to give direct access to the asset class.
What was James Hone’s previous company, Bluefin?
Bluefin was a technology recruitment firm James founded in 2003 from a home office as sole founder and shareholder. He built it over 12 years, navigating the GFC in 2008 when the business was heavily exposed to financial services recruitment and had just expanded. He sold Bluefin to Outsourcing Inc, a Tokyo-listed global recruitment company, in 2015 and exited the business fully in 2022. The proceeds from the sale became the capital he tried to invest in the climate space, which led directly to identifying the gap BlueSana addresses.
How big is the climate investment opportunity?
Meeting the Paris Agreement climate targets requires an estimated $7 trillion in new investment per year globally. The current level of impact-focused investment represents a very small fraction of global funds under management. James’s thesis is that even a modest shift in allocation from conventional to climate impact assets, made easier by platforms like BlueSana, could direct enormous capital toward decarbonisation projects and businesses.
Is BlueSana raising investment?
At the time of recording, James was raising a seed round of $3 million to $5 million. His ideal investors were those aligned to BlueSana’s purpose who could also act as advocates and help in some way beyond just providing capital. The funding was intended to complete the technology platform, hire key personnel including investment curation experts with ESG backgrounds, and fund marketing and legal work, with the goal of having an advanced MVP live by end of 2023.
Which markets will BlueSana operate in?
BlueSana’s initial focus is Australia, using it as the foundation before expanding to other markets. Singapore, the UK, and the US are on the near-term radar due to their high concentrations of private wealth. James’s long-term vision is a global business that plays a meaningful role in the systemic shift of capital needed to meet climate targets worldwide.
Topics discussed
Full transcript
Auto-generated, may contain minor errors. Click any timestamp to jump to that point in the video.
Show full transcript (18 minutes, 6 sections)
0:00 Introduction
Welcome to Give It A Nudge. We are very excited today to have one of my oldest friends on the show with his new business. James, welcome. Thanks Steve, great to be here. We have been talking about you coming on the show for some time. My name is James and I’m the founder of BlueSana. BlueSana is a business that will connect investors with assets that will help decarbonise the planet and reduce the risk of climate change. It’s a tech investment platform at its core, and we’ll create our own investment products that lead to impact in the climate space, plus wrap-around services.
4:00 The founding moment: a family dinner
Three key reasons for BlueSana. First, I’ve always been concerned about the planet. But the key thing was a family dinner two years ago during COVID. My daughters were 15 and 13, usually complain about school, but this night they were talking about their concerns about climate change, deforestation, and biodiversity depletion. My eldest daughter said: how did the adults allow this to happen? I committed to my kids right there that I would do something. That is my driving force.
8:00 Bluefin: 2003 to 2022
You and I have known each other a long time, both worked in recruitment. I founded Bluefin from scratch in 2003, sole founder CEO and shareholder, built it up from a study with one monitor. Sold it in 2015 to Outsourcing Inc, a Tokyo-listed global recruitment firm. Exited that business late last year. The GFC was an extraordinary challenge: I had just taken massive office space, we were heavily in financial services recruiting, and we went from making all this profit to making losses. But the darkest times are often the most illuminating. You learn a lot about people and business and resilience.
11:00 The climate investment gap
When I sold Bluefin I was looking to invest the proceeds and it became very clear that financial advisers and private wealth managers had very little visibility over the impact and climate investment space. There’s a lot more opportunity in the market than 18 months ago, but it’s still fragmented and hard to know what is truly impactful. That’s what I want to solve with the BlueSana platform. Currently impact investment is a very minute portion of global funds under management. If that can shift even a few percentage points, enormous amounts of capital go to amazing projects.
14:00 The seed round and what funding builds
I’m raising a seed round of $3-5 million. Going well but always need more. Ideal investors are aligned to the vision and can be advocates. With that capital secured in the next few months, it’s not out of the question to have an advanced MVP by end of this calendar year. Funds go to building the tech, hiring key people, marketing, and legal. On the people side: I’m looking for founding employees with strong backgrounds in investment management with ESG and impact pedigree. That team will be the heart of the curation and assessment process.
17:00 Global ambitions and the daughters’ Christmas cards
Build the core foundations in Australia first, then grow globally. Singapore has a very high concentration of private wealth. Then UK, US. To create truly systemic change this has to be a global business. To hit Paris Agreement targets the number that gets thrown around is $7 trillion US dollars a year. An immense amount. BlueSana wants to be a critical part of that system. My daughters’ every Christmas card and birthday card says: I hope you can save the planet. It’s embedded in them. That doesn’t stop them being naughty teenagers but it’s why this is the most motivating thing I can ever think of.
About the host
Steve Grace is the founder and CEO of The Nudge Group, a technology-focused recruitment and advisory business. He has built and scaled companies across Australia and the US, and hosts Give It A Nudge to spotlight founders and operators building something meaningful.
More Episodes
View All
Podcast
How Lawpath Reached 600,000 Customers: Tom Willis on Co-Founder Dynamics
Podcast
800 Billion Behaviour Changes: Mick Liubinskas on Commercialising Climate Tech
Podcast
Angel Investing in Australia with Aussie Angels CEO Cheryl Mack
