“Whenever these chicken vs. egg situations arise, in which demand requires scale and scale requires demand, the tried-and-true catalytic answer is public sector support.” — WorkWeek
Dear seaweed and microalgae technologists, operators, and investors, welcome to another edition of the Paxtier Report!
Food for thought this week…
We’ve decided to host a Seaweed Ideathon.
Why?
Because market pull remains a challenge for cultivated seaweed biomass in the West.
And while product development, advocacy and marketing are crucial for solving this problem, a persistent upstream hurdle remains for commodity-type end products: Price.
High cultivation and processing costs, along with energy demands and industry scepticism, loom large. Focusing resources in these upstream areas is essential.
Steven from Phyconomy succinctly articulated this in a recent TFS article:
“Everyone wants to buy seaweed, but not at the price it’s currently offered… If seaweed is to fulfil its potential, the price must decrease.”
Echoing this sentiment, my Hatch Blue colleague Karlotta highlighted a similar insight last year:
“Investing in primary production – either by establishing new farms or enhancing the productivity and efficiency of existing ones – seems pivotal for catalysing the seaweed sector’s growth.”
This issue is often described as a “chicken and egg” problem. Buyers seek a consistent supply of affordable seaweed in large volumes, while suppliers require assurance that scaling up will be met with adequate demand, at a reasonable price. Demand requires scale, and scale requires demand.
That’s why Reiss Jones and I launched the Seaweed Gang Ideathon.
We believe in bringing together minds from completely different areas to resolve these challenges. And we’d like to foster a fun environment where innovative, practical solutions are proposed.
The Ideathon aims to be more than just a problem-solving exercise. It’s an opportunity for professionals from various backgrounds to collaborate and explore new ideas.
If you’d like to join the Ideathon, check it out here. And reach out to Reiss or myself if you have any more questions.
In today’s report…
Markets: 📈 Aker BP launches kelp carbon removal project in Norway.
Deals: 🤝 HutanBio, a microalgae biofuel company, has secured investment from Clean Growth Fund.
Movers and Shakers: 🌊 PhycoWorks and FlexSea announce the completion of a £100,000 microalgae bioplastics feasibility study.
Around the web: 🌿 (Paper) Substantial kelp detritus exported beyond the continental shelf by dense shelf water transport.
Markets and Investing
✂️Algae Market Snippets
Some big moves in recent weeks…
Macroalgae
🌿 Aker BP launches kelp carbon removal project in Norway (Read more HERE).
🌊 Record-setting Atlantic sargassum bloom poses significant environmental challenges (Read more HERE).
🌊 La Paz’s Women in Ocean Food Innovation Studio fosters female leadership in sustainable seafood (Read more HERE).
📈 Japan’s pioneering ‘Blue Carbon’ initiative: Reporting 360,000 tons of seaweed and seagrass carbon absorption to the U.N. (Read more HERE).
💸 Symbrosia receives $1 million grant from the National Science Foundation for innovative seaweed research (Read more HERE).
💸 Berlin-based Vyld secures seven-figure seed to launch the world’s first tampon made from seaweed (Read more HERE).
📈 ‘Wando to the World 237 Co. will expand globally with distinctive seaweed products (Read more HERE).
🤝 Quiksilver and Uluu team up to create innovative seaweed-based wax combs for surfers (Read more HERE).
🌿 Industrial Plankton benefits from the BC Fast Pilot program (Read more HERE).
🌊 Indonesia and Vietnam forge bilateral fishery cooperation, enhancing sustainable seafood trade and combating illegal fishing (Read more HERE).
🌿 Norwegian Marine Restoration (NoMaRe) initiative: A collaborative effort to restore kelp forests along Norway’s coast (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
🟢 PhycoWorks and FlexSea announce the completion of a £100,000 feasibility study to evaluate and optimise the use of microalgae as a biomanufacturing platform for bioplastics (Read more HERE).
🟢 Asteasier consortium unveils microalgae technology breakthrough for astaxanthin production: A step towards sustainable and economical aquaculture feed (Read more HERE).
🟢 Algama SAS introduces algae-based vegan seafood alternative (Read more HERE).
📈 SEANOVA introduce new range of omega-3’s (Read more HERE).
📈 K-water helps startups gain global reach at CES (Read more HERE).
💸 HutanBio, a microalgae biofuel company, has secured investment from Clean Growth Fund (Read more HERE).
📈 Solarvest Transition to NEX (Read more HERE).
🟢 “Too Good to Be Foods” dumplings have been selected for COSTCO distribution (Read more HERE).
💸 DeSantis commits $10M to tackle harmful algae in Florida (Read more HERE).
🤝 Simris secures €2m microalgae biomass offtake agreement (Read more HERE).
💸 Canada invests in portable test for marine biotoxin domoic acid (Read more HERE).
🐦Tweets of the week
🔥 What else was hot in seaweed and microalgae this week?
General
🌊 Europe’s blue bioeconomy: Will it fulfil its potential? (Read more HERE).
Macroalgae
🌿 (VIDEO) Climate change impacts on Japan’s food culture: The challenge facing Nori seaweed cultivation (Read more HERE).
🌿 Umaro and HOPO collaborate on DOE-funded project to extract rare earth elements from seaweed, showcasing innovative use in advanced manufacturing (Read more HERE).
🌿NEW Best Practice Report and Current State Analysis of the Norfolk and UK Seaweed Sector in 2023 (Read more HERE).
🌿(Paper) Substantial kelp detritus exported beyond the continental shelf by dense shelf water transport (Read more HERE).
🌿A bit late, but these seaweed commodities reports from PAIR are always superb: “Sustainable upgrading of the South Sulawesi seaweed industry” (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
🟢 China builds ecological monitoring network to better protect lucid waters, lush mountains (Read more HERE).
🟢 La:Bruket blends biotech and Swedish spa culture for unique skincare line (Read more HERE).
🤖 AI-driven innovations leading the way to greener cement and steel production
(Read more HERE).
🟢 Discover Algae Vertical, a project funded by the PRR and NextGenerationEU. The project is covered in 10 episodes in the TECH3 program (RTP3) (Read more HERE).
🧪 (Paper) Evaluation of Chlorella vulgaris biosorption capacity for phosphate and nitrate removal from wastewater (Read more HERE).
🧪 (Paper) Toxicity of ZnFe-SO4 layered double hydroxide in Tetradesmus obliquus and evaluation of some physiological responses of the microalgae for stress management (Read more HERE).
🟢 Brightseed’s Dr. Jim Flatt sheds light on nutrition’s ‘dark matter’ (Read 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
