Meet Robert Kornfeld
From surviving the tsunami to building an Ocean platform for the future
On December 26, 2004, on Phuket Beach in Thailand, Robert Kornfeld faced what he calls “a black wall of death.” It was no breaking wave — it was a twelve-meter-high wall of dark water, carrying cars, debris, and lives in its unstoppable path.
“I only had one choice — to survive. And run, and run, and run,” he recalls. The Boxing Day tsunami severed his connection with the ocean for a year. But a later trip to Hawaii — and a meeting with whales — restored it. Robert made a promise to his daughter: one day, he would save a whale for her. It would take years, but that promise planted the seeds for Your Devocean.
A career in seeing what’s next
Robert’s professional journey has always been defined by innovation and bold ideas. In 2000, he founded Ether Action, building what could be called a predecessor to the iPhone — a combined handheld computer and 3G phone. It was ahead of its time, but speed and ambition outpaced sustainability, and the company filed for bankruptcy after two years. “The best management school there is — with the highest tuition fee,” he says.
A few years later, he founded a B2B marketplace for insurance companies selling salvaged goods. The platform grew to over SEK 1B in GMV and achieved a successful exit. It taught him patience — the kind not taught in university.
As Chief Product Officer at several startups, including three years at Fishbrain, the social network for recreational fishing, Robert embraced the philosophy of product-first thinking. “If you want to be a product-first company, you can’t just give users what they want — you have to give them what they didn’t know they needed.”
The spark for Your Devocean
The idea for Your Devocean came during an ordinary day at the gym — an epiphany to build “an Uber for ocean regeneration.” The mission: to connect people directly with ocean organizations worldwide, getting them physically involved in regeneration work.
Robert’s belief is simple but powerful: “You can only care for something if you feel it. And you have to touch it to feel it.”
Building more than a platform
As Chief Product Officer, Robert is currently focused on two core initiatives:
An open protocol translation engine that aligns NGO efforts and outputs with ESG and climate reporting standards.
A “Who’s Who” in ocean regeneration — mapping and connecting a fragmented community of ocean actors.
To Robert, Your Devocean is more than a tech platform. “It’s an ecosystem with a win–win–win scenario — for NGOs, companies, and individuals. The platform is the product, and the value is in the stakeholders. We all share the same objective: to heal the ocean.”
A Call to Action
Robert’s vision is rooted in urgency and possibility: “We can only do it together. And if we don’t, we are doomed. But we are 100% committed.”
Follow Your Devocean’s journey and be part of the movement to unite, empower, and impact — for the oceans, for nature, and for our shared future.