HATCH shows off its first brood
The first group of companies to take part in HATCH, an aquaculture-focused start-up accelerator programme launched by early-stage investment firm Alimentos Ventures, has been announced today.
The eight companies taking part in the three-month programme come from seven different countries – India Thailand, Indonesia, Norway, Portugal, the US and the UK.
HATCH’s programme aims to bridge the gap between innovative ideas and their commercialisation by helping start-ups become investment and market ready via the rapid development of their aquaculture market entry.
The first programme is being delivered in Bergen, Norway, from now until the end of June, together with HATCH’s local partners, Bergen Teknologioverføring AS (BTO), where the accelerator space is located, and the Seafood Innovation Cluster.
HATCH chief executive Carsten Krome said: “This is truly a global programme with the teams selected originating from seven different countries. We are so excited to be working with these eight exceptionally talented teams, all seeking to deliver on their global ambitions. For some, their technologies are complementary too, so we are anticipating significant synergies being achieved between the cohort companies.”
Wayne Murphy, HATCH chief operating officer, said: “We have an ambitious schedule to get through over the next three months with the teams. Over that time we will welcome many of the world’s leading aquaculture experts, successful entrepreneurs and investors to Bergen in order to add significant value and accelerate the development of the teams by providing technical expertise, focus and incredible business experience.”
The eight companies involved are:
AlgaePro, Norway: The Bergen area firm promotes industrial production of microalgae and sales of the algal biomass for end products, such as nutritional supplements, animal feed, cosmetics, feedstock, bio-plastic and fertiliser.
Aqua Connect, India: Its Omni channel marketplace provides market access to Indian aqua-farmers to enable increased access to quality hatcheries, export markets & allied farm input products. Currently, about 3,000 Vannamei shrimp farmers are working with Aqua Connect.
Finless Foods, USA: The firm is intending to produce fish meat using cellular biology. A small sample of cells from a living marine animal will be cultured and structured in a brewery-like environment in the same shape as a fish fillet.
Jala, Indonesia: A shrimp farm monitoring device and software platform allowing farmers to, among other things, monitor the water condition of their farm and get actionable insight then execute the appropriate treatment for their pond.
Manolin, USA: The start-up says it is bringing a digital solution to accelerate the sharing of resources between companies to better treat, manage, and prevent sea lice outbreaks in the salmon industry. “We’re creating a platform that streamlines the coordination between salmon producers and service providers to provide faster responses towards the prevention and treatment of health outbreaks. Using digital tools (mobile devices, dashboards), our platform will notify farmers of activities occurring throughout the industry and accelerate the communication available across farms, the government, and service entities.”
Sensaway, Portugal: The company says Sensaway will allow aquaculture companies to add sensors to their current network, aiming to improve sensor data quality, reduce maintenance costs and empower the end-user with an easy-to-maintain solution. It says its product gives sensors Wi-Fi connectivity while being energy efficient, portable and guarantees high quality data.
Tradeit, UK: An online seafood marketplace connecting the seafood industry by providing a full-end trading platform to allow importers and exporters to interact through a collaborative business model, and allowing both to leverage their brand identity.
VerifiK8, Thailand: A transparency tool to connect all stakeholders of the supply chains to make sustainable sourcing efficient, affordable and credible in Asia, where 80% of farmers are small-holders and don’t have access to sustainable income streams.
HATCH’s next cohort will be located in Cork, Ireland in Q3/Q4 2018 and HATCH will further expand to South East Asia in 2019.
