aquaflow by aquablurb | Apr 1 - 16, 2023
Industry titans establish new aquaculture fund, $10 million investment into seaweed startups and more...
Happy Monday fellow readers.
In the past two weeks, we’ve seen a flurry of funding activities in the trendy seaweed and alternative seafood sectors. Looking ahead, with the newly established AquaFounders Capital along with S2G’s USD300m Special Opportunities Fund, capital-intensive verticals - for example RAS operations - will receive a much needed cash boost.
Have a great week ahead… we’ll be back in a fortnight!
Spotlight
🥒 The Aquaculture Group’s ambitious plan to establish the world’s largest sea cucumber farm - a 250-hectare sandfish (Holothuria scabra) farm in the Philippines.
Brandon Hargraves, the 26-year-old Founder and CEO of The Aquaculture Group, dropped out of college and moved to a fishing village in rural Philippines in mid-2021 to gain first hand sea cucumber farming experiences.
I wanted to make a company that was not only commercially significant, but would also would have a meaningful impact. I didn’t want to just make a sea cucumber farm, I wanted to challenge the status quo, set high standards, and make The Aquaculture Group an recognized world leader for all things sea cucumber, paving the way for a global industry to emerge.
The 250-hectare farm will be supported by an advanced indoor hatchery and a processing factory.
Detailed interview with Brandon Hargraves here.
Deals
🍣 Aqua Cultured Foods, whole-muscle cut seafood alternatives producer, secures USD 5.5m in seed funding from Stray Dog Capital, H Venture Partners, Aztec Capital Management, CJ CheilJedang, Amplifica Capital and follow-ons from current investors to bring seafood alternatives to market
🐠 Victory Farms, East African tilapia producer, raises USD 25m Series B from Creadev, Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund, DOB Equity, Endeavor Catalyst Fund, and Hesabu Capital to expand operations in Kenya and Rwanda with entry into new regions
🌿 Carbonwave, leader in upcycling the largest seaweed bloom, announces initial close of USD 5m Series A funding from Mirova, Viridios Capital, Popular Impact Fund, and Katapult Ocean
🌱 Macro Oceans, San Francisco-based biotech startup that transforms seaweed into low-carbon chemicals, raises USD 5m in seed financing from Refactor Capital, Lowercarbon Capital and McKinley Capital and completes West Sacramento facility
🌱 Alga Bioscience, California-based algae feed additive startup, secures USD 4m in seed funding from Collaborative Fund, Cool Climate Collective, Day One Ventures, Overview, Pioneer Fund, and Y Combinator
Acquisitions
💵 Norwegian investment firm BEWI Invest, with real estate, seafood and industrial technology operations, acquires 44.4% stake in Norwegian salmon farmer SinkabergHansen (SBH) at NOK 2.2 billion
🥼 Aquabench acquires 50% ownership of the Chilean Center for Applied Biological Research to establish benchmark for analytical services and research for salmon health
🐙 Cooke sets to acquire 80% of Nueva Pescanova, the Galicia-based company with plans to build an octopus farm, from Spanish bank Abanaca
🧊 Reykjavik, Iceland-based fisheries company Brim completes the acquisition of 50% of Polar Seafood Denmark for DKK 625 million
New Funds Raised
💰 Ohad Maiman, founder of The Kingfish Company, Thue Holm, founder of Atlantic Sapphire joins forces to establish investment firm AquaFounders Capital to invest in land-based aquaculture
💸 S2G Ventures launches its USD 300m Special Opportunities Fund to provide flexible financing for startups working in capital-intensive, asset-oriented industries including agriculture, energy and oceans
Grant Funding
🌊 The Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sets goal of an USD 100m expansion of Ocean Stewardship Fund to end overfishing, supply sustainable seafood and improve fisheries management
New Products
🐟 DSM introduces Digital SalmoFan, a portable device that measures and scores the color of salmon fillets
🍔 ISH Company launches plant-based salmon burgers Salmonish
🇺🇸 Mind Blown debuts Mind Blown Shelf Stable Sea Scallops in the US
🍣 Thai Union’s Mareblu launches no-drain tuna products
💉 FishFarmFeeder unveils immersion fish vaccinator for hatcheries which shortens vaccination time by a factor 4-5
🐟 Innovasea launches novel waterborne feeding system FlowFeeder, designed to cause less pellet damage and require less electricity than conventional air-blown feeders
🧪 NOAA launches new data tool that offer insights into ocean acidification
Movements
Pricing & Production Trends
📉 Nasdaq Salmon Index shows Norwegian salmon price dip of NOK 7.16 WoW to NOK 111.24 on the 13th week of 2023 but remained steady this week
📈 Per IFFO, global fishmeal production increases 55% in the first 2 months of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022 mainly driven by the late start of the 2nd fishing season in the Peru
📉 Latest USDA WASDE sees lower corn and soy production estimates for Argentina (official report here)
Feed
🧬 Evonik, German specialty chemicals business, is dividing its amino acids and functional feed additives businesses to capture growing market share
🐛 Fera Science to lead research project for the UK’s Food Standards Agency (FSA) to investigate the risk of using novel, non-approved waste substrates to rear insects with participation from Better Origin and Entec Nutrition
🌱 Researchers at Wageningen University successfully develops method to produce Galdieria sulphuraria, an extremophile micro algae adapted to volcanic hot springs, as source of protein for food and feed
🌾 Louis Dreyfus Company sets to double annual canola crushing capacity to over 2 million metric tons
🫘 Sunnydale Foods develops faba bean protein concentrate at 65% crude protein level with goal to increase to 80%
🦠 Corbion sees continuous growth in aquaculture and rising opportunities in pet food and human nutrition for its omega 3 product AlgaPrime DHA
Seaweed
🌿 Tel Aviv University develops innovative technology to grow super seaweed with enhanced bioactive compounds
🏭 California-based seaweed biotech startup Macro Oceans announces phase 1 completion of its 12,500 sqft bioprocessing pilot facility in Sacramento
Farming
🐟 Kelly Cove Salmon, Cooke’s subsidiary company, receives environmental approval for New Brunswick’s 1st land-based Atlantic salmon post-smolt facility
🐡 Kingfish Maine reports 1st yellowtail harvest from their RAS technology at Center for Cooperative Aquaculture Research
🦐 Homegrown Shrimp USA, a subsidiary of Charoen Pokphand Foods, officially opens RAS shrimp farm in Florida to produce over 60 million shrimp post-larvae per year
🍤 Germany-based Oceanloop plans to expand shrimp farming capacities in Europe to over 2,000 tons of annual volume by 2027 in parallel to shrimp hatchery facility construction
🐟 US State of Washington partners with Canadian RAS firm Sustainable Blue to develop a zero-discharge, land-based salt-water recirculating salmon farm to produce 1,000 MT of Atlantic salmon annually
Regional Commitments
🇸🇦 Cargill, ARASCO, NEOM signs agreement to expand Saudi Arabia's aquaculture capacity and achieve its goal to reach 600,000 metric tons of aquaculture production volume by 2030
Notable Reads
🐟 How salmon feed flowers and flourishing ecosystems by ScienceDaily
Researchers found that the addition of salmon carcasses led to larger leaves, particularly in yarrow and common red paintbrush, and a greater seed set in yarrow in the third year.