The Nekton Network is how ocean exploration becomes a force for progress. Every expedition we lead, every dataset we generate, every cultural moment we create — all of it is co-designed and co-delivered with our partners. Together, we amplify every discovery. Our data belongs to the countries where it is gathered. Our communities drive the action.
190+ partners spanning science, government, civil society, philanthropy, culture, and business. Not supporters of this work — the reason it works.
How you can fund Nekton
Nekton is an independent ocean institute and registered UK charity, funded entirely through philanthropic investment and the collective resource of the Nekton Network. No government grants. No commercial revenue. Every expedition, every dataset, every policy intervention exists because partners chose to back it.
We will work with you to direct your support where it has the greatest impact — a flagship expedition, a specific programme, a new country partnership, or the core operations that make all of it possible.
How you can get involved
The Nekton Network is a permanent, global alliance of organisations who contribute what no funder alone could provide — expertise, vessels, data, scientific capacity, and reach across every ocean and every sector.
Partnership with Nekton is co-creation, not sponsorship. Whether you are a research institute, a government agency, an NGO, a cultural organisation, or a business with ocean ambitions — there is a place in this network for you. And if you do not see yourself in what follows, get in touch. The best partnerships are often the ones we have not yet imagined.
Nekton is an independent ocean institute and registered UK charity, funded entirely through philanthropic investment and the collective resource of the Nekton Network. No government grants. No commercial revenue. Every expedition, every dataset, every policy intervention exists because partners chose to back it.
Your support moves through the whole system — from discovery to protection. We will work with you to direct it where it has the greatest impact.
Sustain the infrastructure that makes everything possible — the permanent team, systems, and institutional capacity that underpin every expedition, every programme, and every partnership. Core funding is the least visible investment Nekton receives and the one that makes all the rest work.
Nekton’s expeditions discover species no scientist has ever seen, maps seafloor no vessel has ever reached, and generates knowledge that changes how the ocean is understood and protected. Fund an expedition and your investment travels to the frontier of ocean discovery.
Nekton generates scientific knowledge that is open, co-designed with host nations, and built for real-world use — moving directly into the marine protected area designs, national strategies, and global biodiversity commitments that sustain ocean life.
Join as an Alliance funder and accelerate the global species discovery programme. Ocean Census is a UN Ocean Decade Programme, a permanent, international effort to find and catalogue the species we are losing before we even know they exist. Your investment funds the expeditions, the science, and the open data infrastructure that makes discovery available to the world.
Fund a nation-led mission to explore and protect the Indian Ocean.. First Descent takes Nekton’s full expedition capability into the least explored and fastest-warming ocean on Earth — co-designed with host nation scientists and built to leave behind open data, trained researchers, and stronger national ocean strategies. Your investment goes directly to the frontier.
Bring the ocean into culture through fashion, art, music, sport, and performance. Ocean Rising is Nekton’s cultural heartbeat – designed on the principle that science changes what we know, but culture changes what we care about. Partner with Ocean Rising and your investment places the ocean at the centre of the conversations, communities, and creative movements that shape how the world sees it.
Fund the programme or sponsor a science research mission aboard a private vessel. Yachts for Science mobilises the global fleet of privately owned vessels as agile ocean research platforms — extending scientific reach opportunities and capabilities globally. A UN Ocean Decade Action, it is one of the most cost-effective ways to fund frontier ocean science.
The Nekton Network is a permanent, global alliance — and one of the most diverse collaborations in ocean exploration. Partners contribute what no single organisation could provide alone: scientific expertise, research vessels, technology, datasets, policy influence, and cultural reach across 85 nations.
Partnership with Nekton is co-creation. Network partners do not sit behind the work — they shape it.
Bring your science to the frontier.
Nekton expeditions go where few research vessels reach, in the regions where the science most needs to be done. We work with scientists and institutes who want to lead or contribute to frontier research, advance open data publication, and build lasting scientific capacity in the nations where we work.
Turn ocean science into national and international action.
Nekton generates the data and evidence that governments need to meet their biodiversity, climate, and development commitments. We work with national governments, ministries, and intergovernmental bodies who want to lead their own ocean exploration, strengthen national science capacity, and demonstrate measurable leadership on ocean protection
Fund the impact the ocean needs — at the scale it demands.
Nekton is built for philanthropic partnership. We are independent, agile, and outcomes- focused — able to direct foundation investment into specific programmes, geographies, or thematic priorities, and to report rigorously on what that investment delivers. Every pound goes further because of how we work: co-designed, co-delivered, and leveraged across a global network of partners and in-kind contributors.
Deploy what you do best in service of the ocean.
Nekton works with businesses whose capabilities — in technology, data, marine operations, media, logistics, or finance — can directly advance ocean exploration, science, and conservation. This is not logo placement or sustainability optics. It is the application of your organisation’s expertise to work that generates real, measurable impact — and that your customers, partners, and people will be proud to be part of.
Turn discoveries into protection.
Nekton generates the science. Civil society partners turn it into action — mobilising communities, accelerating policy uptake, and strengthening the case for ocean protection at national and international levels. We actively seek organisations who can take what we find and use it: in the field, in the policy arena, and in the public conversation.
Give the ocean a voice in the places it has never been heard.
Ocean Rising and Nekton's wider cultural programme are built on partnerships with media organisations, artists, performers, sports bodies, and creative institutions who can carry ocean stories to audiences we could never reach alone. We are not looking for coverage. We are looking for co-creation — and for partners who understand that the ocean’s best advocates are often the ones who have never thought of themselves that way.
The ocean is a key part of each Maldivian. 71% rely on the ocean for their primary source of income. We have committed to a 5-year initiative to advance ocean protection and sustainably develop the blue economy. Our work with Nekton will help us establish the long-term sustainability of our economic growth, livelihoods and jobs through establishing marine protected areas to build ocean resilience.
