Show. me. the money! — in aquaculture
You have just the right idea to revolutionise the way we do seafood? Here’s 10 places to find the cash to get going.
Getting an idea off the ground can be tough, especially when you are not exactly riding the latest Silicon Valley trend. Sustainability is the big topic of our day, however the ones who think all the way up the chain to where our resources actually come from are still the exemption. While reusable coffee cups certainly come with their justification, their impact is dwarfed by the potential seismic changes going on in food production.
But aquaculture is a niche you feel? Try 53% of the world’s seafood production.
66 200 000 tons of seafood are farmed annually, excluding the seaweed that keeps your toothpaste and face cream silky-smooth. Predicted to become a $224 billion market by 2020, the mainstream money world is starting to take note.
The opportunity for tech startups to take a significant share of what is still a very fragmented market is huge — inefficiencies in farm production are still a real topic, automated data collection and modulation still in its infancy.
Now, you have the idea, the grit and the team to pull it all together. You might have an amazing sustainable feed solution for all the fish in the world, the greatest sensor tech that would be perfect for the gazillion shrimp ponds out there or just the right diagnostic tool to make salmon blush. You might even be mad enough to have figured out how to use satellites for making farmer’s life that little bit easier.
All you need now is some cash. Now, who you gonna call? These guys:
Wavemaker
Stage: Early
Type: Classic VC
Assets under management: $335M
Portfolio: +300 companies Focus: Non-specific
Wavemaker is the regional partner for Southern California and Southeast Asia of the Draper Venture Network (DVN), the world’s leading VC collective comprising 10 firms across 5 continents. They have moved into aquaculture recently and are seeking out profitable and sustainable opportunities.
Omnivore Ventures
Stage: Stage-Agnostic
Type: Classic VC
Assets under management: $130M
Portfolio: 17 companies
Focus: Agritech, mainly India
Omnivore is a venture capital firm, based in India, which funds entrepreneurs building the future of agriculture and food systems. Omnivore pioneered agritech investing in India.
Conservation International Ventures
Stage: Growth Stage
Type: Impact Investor, Non-profit
Assets under management: $200M
Portfolio: 5 companies
Focus: Impact businesses around the world
CI Ventures is an investment fund that provides loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises that operate in the forests, oceans and grasslands where Conservation International works. Whether in sustainable agriculture or forestry, ecotourism or wild fisheries, these businesses share a commitment to practices that benefit ecosystems and human well-being at the same time.
HATCH
Stage: Early Stage
Type: Accelerator with fund
Assets under management: $9M
Portfolio: 30 companies
Focus: Technology and biotech for aquaculture sustainability globally
Hatch has made 30 investments in 2 years, which catapulted it on the list of world’s most active food tech investors and won it an award for international impact within its first two years of existence. The 15-week accelerator program takes you from Hawaii to Norway to Singapore, opening access to key industry players while giving you €50k in cash and €50k in kind, also opening access to testing grounds for free or very discounted rates, helping to develop very early stage products further.
500 startups
Stage: Early Stage
Type: VC with accelerator program
Assets under management: $454M
Portfolio: +2500 companies
500 Startups is a legend in the accelerator business at this point, having a truly global footprint and an incredibly diverse portfolio. If these guys start getting involved in aquaculture, you know it’s serious. And they are not just filling up rounds, but leading them.
AgFunder
Stage: Early Stage
Type: VC with investment platform
Assets under management: $10M
Portfolio: 17 companies
Focus: Technology companies in food and agriculture
AgFunder is a new kind of venture capital firm. Their mission is to invest in technologies to transform our food and agriculture system.
Founded in 2013 and based in Silicon Valley, they’re one of the most active agri-foodtech venture capitalists.
The Yield Lab
Stage: Early Stage
Type: Accelerator program
Assets under management: $2M
Portfolio: 30 companies
Focus: High impact, early stage agritech companies
The Yield Lab provides semi-onsite programs and $100k investment in the USA, LATAM, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. They provide mentorship and access to their industry network as well as their global affinity network.
Aqua Spark
Stage: Later stage
Type: Long-term VC, evergreen fund
Assets under management: $80,88M
Portfolio: 18 companies
Focus: Mainly sustainable and innovative farming operations in aquaculture
Aqua Spark is the first real VC that dedicated itself fully to the sustainable aquaculture industry and has since gained recognition around the world for its efforts. The fund has a long-term focus and invests mainly in later stage companies that can prove a profitable business model with sustainable resource treatment while contributing to food security.
SOSV
Stage: Seed, venture and growth stage
Type: VC with accelerator program
Assets under management: $700M
Portfolio: +680 companies
Focus: Hardware, Software, Biotechnology, Food
SOSV runs six different global accelerator programs all aimed at their own niche. They are one of the most active programs in the world and are actively investing in “positive change”, providing a 3–6 months long program depending on their individual accelerators. Access to hundreds of mentors and industry players is part of the deal.
Encourage Capital
Stage: Growth stage
Type: Impact VC
Assets under management: +$300M
Portfolio: 13 companies
Focus: Financial inclusion, low-carbon energy, food, solar
Encourage capital is a merger of different funds and has a strong impact focus while still securing profit for its investors. They have a dedicated sustainable seafood strategy and actively seek the combination of profit and sustainability in the seafood sector.
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