Coastal protection usually means building against nature. Jaime Ascencio is taking a different approach. As Co-founder and CEO of Reefy, he is developing marine infrastructure that protects shorelines while helping underwater ecosystems recover and thrive.

For Jaime, Reefy started with a personal connection to the ocean. Growing up in Mexico, he spent countless hours in the water and saw the decline of reefs first-hand. Determined to be part of the solution, he moved to the Netherlands to study Coastal Engineering at TU Delft, where he later co-founded Reefy.

5 Founder Facts.

1. ENGINEERING WITH NATURE.

Reefy integrates nature into shoreline protection to restore underwater biodiversity while reducing emissions and costs.

Instead of treating ecology and engineering as separate challenges, Reefy brings them together from the start.

2. MODULAR REEFS, BUILT TO SCALE.

Reefy develops modular “LEGO-like” reef structures designed to protect coastlines and create underwater habitats.

Its ReefBlock technology is designed to combat coastal erosion and flooding while creating a net-positive effect on marine ecosystems.

3. THE OCEAN MADE IT PERSONAL.

Jaime’s passion for diving and the ocean became the starting point for Reefy after he witnessed marine ecosystem decline in Mexico.

We’ll never be ready. We have to risk it and iterate.

4. FROM ROTTERDAM TO THE WORLD.

Reefy’s solutions are already being applied internationally, including projects and installations in the Netherlands, Mexico, Thailand and Kenya.

The company has already built projects such as the Rotterdam Reef Breakwater and the ReefBlocks dam in Buggenum, while expanding into international markets.

5. READY FOR THE NEXT GROWTH PHASE.

Reefy is scaling internationally, expanding its team and preparing for a new phase of growth.

The company has been closing a new investment round, bringing in new impact investors and preparing key hires as it expands its nature-inclusive infrastructure solutions.

Beyond the five facts.

Jaime’s story is not only about marine technology. It is also about starting before everything feels perfect. Building Reefy meant moving from concern about what he saw underwater to actually developing a solution, testing it and improving it along the way.

That mindset became central to his founder journey. Rather than waiting until every detail was solved, Jaime learned to move forward, take calculated risks and iterate based on what happened next.

In the Founded. podcast, he goes deeper into that journey, from growing up around the ocean in Mexico to studying at TU Delft and building Reefy into a company combining coastal protection with ecosystem restoration.