“Creating a sustainable future is a core part of Câr Y Môr’s aim, and we’re very excited about the potential to provide farms and domestic customers in the UK and Ireland with a natural and sustainable biostimulant produced just off our coast.”— Owen Haines, Câr Y Môr
Dear seaweed and microalgae investors, buyers, operators, and technologists, welcome to another edition of the Paxtier Report. Sorry for the delay – it took a while to pull this one together!
Food for thought this week…
In this seaweed bulletin episode, Reiss Jones and I explore some key themes in the seaweed space over the past few weeks.
These include:
→ The results of our new Seaweed Gang Ideathon,
→ Asparagopsis market updates,
→ Reiss’s fundraising efforts for Macro Supplies®,
And much more… You can check out the bulletin on:
Spotify:
Or YouTube:
In this episode, we specifically cover:
0:45 Intro to Reiss, Macro Supplies and Seaweed Gang.
2:17 Productivity gains and cost reductions expected using Macro Autofarmer.
4:00 Next steps for Macro Supplies.
6:15 Seaweed Ideathon backstory.
9:40 Winners of the event: Seatropic.
13:10 News updates in the seaweed industry.
Here’s some more info on the Ideathon winning team, composed of PhD. José Salles, PhD. Patrick Astarita, PhD. Raul Rincones, and Mrs. Eng. Rodrigo Cano:
🌊 Seatropic: Advanced Tropical Seaweed Domestication Program in LATAM
Seatropic aims to domesticate tropical seaweed species through selective breeding and other cutting-edge biotechnological approaches.
The project is focused on developing high-yield seaweed strains, tailored to the unique climatic conditions of LATAM’s coastal waters and suitable for a wide range of uses, from hydrocolloid production to plant biostimulants and biomaterials.
The project aims to partner with leading Asian producers and researchers to exchange advancements and cultivate a globally cooperative seaweed industry, as well as enhance the resilience of the global red seaweed supply chain.
To find out more about the team, get in touch with me through LinkedIn or respond to this email.
Additional links:
Reiss: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reissjones/
Seaweed Gang: https://chat.whatsapp.com/KWy4vUNkQGjIPJI33j4qJb
Hope you enjoy!
In today’s report…
Markets: 📈 Investors ride aquaculture tech wave.
Deals: 🤝 Sway introduces seaweed-derived thermoplastic seaweed resin and announces $5 million seed round raise.
Movers and Shakers: 🌊 Algae domestication program wins our inaugural Seaweed Ideathon.
Around the web: 🟢 Check out this Industrial Plankton video of freshly inoculated algae bioreactors.
Jobs: 🟢 PhycoWorks and GreenWave are hiring for micro and macroalgae positions.
Markets and Investing
✂️Algae Market Snippets
Some big moves in recent weeks…
General
🌊 A new plan to ramp up open ocean and restorative aquaculture production in Hawai’i has just been published (Read more HERE).
💸 Investors ride aquaculture tech wave (Read more HERE).
Seaweed
💸 Dominican Republic invests $1 million to tackle sargassum invasion (Read more HERE)
🌿 Biosourced seed treatment: Olmix obtains European PFC6 validation for its biostimulant ingredient LINEW® (Read more HERE)
🌊 Ngāti Manuhiri Settlement Trust calls for collective action to tackle kina barrens in New Zealand, integrating traditional and contemporary marine management practices (Read more HERE).
💸 Around $6 million will fund projects combatting sargassum this year in Mexico (Read more HERE)
💸 Sway introduces seaweed-derived thermoplastic seaweed resin and announces $5 million seed round raise (Read more HERE).
💸 NYK Group supports environmental protection in Sakushima, Aichi Prefecture, with a 1.5 million yen donation to Nishio City for seaweed bed restoration (Read more HERE)
🌿 Univar Solutions and Gelymar strike an exclusive distribution agreement for carrageenan in the beauty and personal care sector (Read more HERE).
🌿 Wales to gain a new seaweed processing facility and Câr Y Môr invites farmers to test new biostimulant (Read more HERE).
💸 DOE to fund up to $18.8M for mixed algae and wet waste feedstocks R&D for biofuels and bioproducts (Read more HERE).
🌊 Indonesia’s plan to ban seaweed exports could backfire (Read more HERE)
🌿 Philippines: Dinagat Islands’ farmers and fisherfolk receive specialised training in seaweed processing (Read more HERE).
🐄 Updates on Symbrosia’s seaweed additive carbon insetting program on organic dairy farms (Read more HERE).
🌊 Locals in North Cornwall oppose a large seaweed farm proposed for Port Quin Bay, citing concerns about its impact on wildlife and the natural beauty of the area (Read more HERE).
🌿 Philippines: seaweed industry demonstrates resilience amid limited government support, continuing to contribute significantly to the country’s export earnings (Read more HERE).
🌊 The New Zealand government injects $5 million to combat the spread of exotic Caulerpa seaweed, employing new technologies for marine ecosystem protection (Read more HERE).
🌊 Cultured Supply announces partnership with Macro Oceans for seaweed and micro-algae lab testing and analytical services (Read more HERE)
🌿 Kaly Group has deployed its first farming test lines in Loch Bay, Northwest Skye (Read more HERE)
🌿 New national collaboration established to save Australia’s endangered giant kelp forests using AI (Read more HERE)
💸 Algapelago seaweed consortium awarded £500k to research kelp for agricultural markets (Read more HERE)
💸 Ocean OS awarded £250k in grant funding from Innovate UK for ‘Improving Marine Observation of Biodiversity in UK Waters: Phase 2’ (Read more HERE).
🌿 Vietnam: Ninh Thuan fishermen enjoy bumper seaweed harvest (Read more HERE).
🟢 Protein Industries Canada announces a new project with Konscious Foods, Avena Foods, and Canadian Pacifico Seaweeds (CPS) to bring new and improved plant-based products to the marketplace (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
🟢 MiAlgae prepares for commercialisation (Read more HERE).
🟢 AECOM’s Algae Harvesting Program has won the 2024 National Association of Environmental Professionals (NAEP) Environmental Excellence Award for Innovative Technology (Read more HERE).
💸 Gross-Wen Technologies receives $2 million grant for new algae project, focusing on carbon capture and sustainable biomass production (Read more HERE).
💸 Aker BioMarine explores the potential sale of its feed division, indicating strategic shifts in the aquaculture industry (Read more HERE).
🤝 BPC Instruments AB receives purchase order from US national laboratory for the development of biogas technology (Read more HERE).
💸 UC Santa Cruz’s Assistant Professor Andy Yeh receives a $2.5M grant from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for developing bioluminescent protein for deep tissue imaging (Read more HERE).
🛰️ The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched NASA’s newest Earth-observation satellite, the PACE (Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, Ocean Ecosystem) mission (Read more HERE).
🟢 DOE releases a summary workshop report on deploying purpose-grown energy crops for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) (Read more HERE).
🟢 The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science develops a biomanufacturing process to capture carbon and support human health (Read more HERE).
🌿 Algae Cooking Club teams up with Michelin-starred chef Daniel Humm to launch a unique algae oil (Read more HERE).
🐦Tweets of the week
🔥 What else was hot in seaweed and microalgae this week?
Seaweed
🌿 Can the seaweed resurgence survive the bottlenecks? (Read more HERE).
🌿 South American seaweed biostimulants market “growing fast” (Read more HERE).
🌿 Exploring seaweed-eating marine worms as a sustainable alternative for aquafeeds (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
🟢 Algae-based omega-3 supplements, as per a clinical trial, may offer greater cardiovascular benefits compared to traditional fish oils, including a significant reduction in triglycerides and remnant cholesterol (Read more HERE).
🧪 (Paper) Colonial Microcystis’ biomass affects its shift to diatom aggregates under aeration mixing (Read more HERE).
🟢 Chlorella supplementation shows potential to relieve constipation in pregnant women (Read more HERE).
🟢 NutraCast: Remaining selective in sourcing amid limited fish oil supply (Read more HERE).
📈 Sandy Almendarez offers 5 omega-3 takeaways from GOED Exchange 2024 (Read more HERE).
🟢 Check out this Industrial Plankton video of freshly inoculated algae bioreactors (Read more HERE).
💼 Jobs
🌿 GreenWave is hiring a Kelp Seed Production Coordinator (Find out more HERE).
🟢 Phycoworks looks to hire a Laboratory Manager, Algae Microbiologist & Molecular Biologist (Find out more HERE).
That’s all folks!
Thanks again for joining us this week. Hope you have a great day and stay tuned for more seaweed and microalgae updates soon!
Best,
Peter
