US-based cellular aquaculture start-up BlueNalu has raised $20 million in a Series A funding round, with Griffith Foods, Nutreco, Pulmuone Rich Product Ventures, and Sumitomo Corporation of Americas making strategic investments in the firm.
San Diego-headquartered BlueNalu has developed a method of producing sea-food directly from fish cells, and the company’s primary aim is to create a more stable and sustainable seafood supply chain.
According to a statement from BlueNalu, this latest funding round will allow BlueNalu to open a pilot production facility in San Diego, expand its team, implement strategic alliances for global operations and distribution and prepare for market launch.
As well as the commitments by the five strategic investors, the funding round was co-led by Stray Dog Capital, CPT Capital, New Crop Capital, and Clear Current Capital, each of which participated in BlueNalu’s seed round in 2018.
Lou Cooperhouse, president & CEO of BlueNalu, said: “BlueNalu has made considerable progress toward bringing cell-based seafood products to the world.
“We have designed and executed a platform technology in which we will ultimately offer a broad array of sustainable cell-based seafood products to consumers, and our team has been extremely focused on implementing systems and processes that will be needed for cost-effective, large-scale production.
“We are extremely thankful to the committed group of visionaries who participated in our earlier financing round and have invested again in this round; and we are eager to form partnerships with these five strategic investors, so that we can efficiently commercialise and launch our cell-based seafood products in nations around the world.”
The news comes a month after BlueNalu signed a strategic partnership agreement with Nutreco, a producer of animal nutrition, fish feed and processed meat products.
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