Three Irish aquatech companies using technology to develop sustainable seafood farming are finalists in the BIM (Bord Iascaigh Mhara) Aquatech Business of the Year award.
The winning company will be announced tomorrow (October 11) at a conference titled “Blue Ambition 24 – Exploring investment and growth opportunities in the blue bioeconomy” in The Complex, Smithfield, Dublin.
The three finalists in the Aquatech Business of the Year award are:
- Auranta, a Dublin biotech company that makes ground-breaking fish feed products which boosts the immunity and gut health of shrimp, salmon and other fish species
- Celtic Sea Minerals, a Cork animal nutrition company leading in the field of marine minerals derived from red seaweed algae
- Impact-9, a Dublin-based company which develops flexible marine structural technology for offshore food and biomass production
Auranta is a Dublin biotech company that makes ground-breaking fish feed products which boosts the immunity and gut health of shrimp, salmon and other fish species
The conference will hear how Ireland’s developing aquatech sector is poised to make an impression in the €300 billion global aquaculture opportunity, BIM says.
Global expertise speakers will address the conference, which takes place at the end of the BIM Innovation Studio, an intensive two week no-fee programme that aims to “develop the technological readiness, industry fitness and commercial scalability of emerging aquatech startups”.
Funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) and now in its seventh year, the initiative seeks out projects that aim to upscale aquaculture or alt-seafood industries.
BIM chief executive Caroline Bocquel said that the Irish aquatech sector “has gone from strength to strength in recent years with huge potential for further industry growth, sustainable ventures and market expansion”.
“Ireland now has some 69 companies working in the aquatech sector which is worth €226 million,”she has said.
“BIM has again partnered with aquatech venture capital firm Hatch Blue to support Irish aquatech companies to turn their ideas into businesses, scale up and become investor ready,”she said.
“Companies that participated in the BIM Innovation Studio have gone on to great success securing significant investments and market opportunities in the €300 billion global aquaculture sector,”she said.
BIM’s Development and Innovation Services Director Richard Donnelly chairs a conference panel discussion on scaling Ireland’s blue bioeconomy through industry development, sustainable ventures and market expansion.
Global speakers include blue investment expert Jan Yoshioka, Vice President, Conservation International; Kendra MacDonald, CEO of Canada’s Ocean Supercluster; and pioneering Irish aquatech company founder Brian Quinn, CEO of WellFish Tech, along with a host of Irish aquatech entrepreneurs.
Aquatech is any technology or innovation driving sustainable seafood farming, and it can be applied progressively to the breeding, raising, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants.
The BIM Innovation Studio offers opportunities for companies in areas such as pharmaceuticals, marine engineering, genetics, feed additives and artificial intelligence.
World aquaculture production in 2022 achieved a record of 130.9 million tonnes with an estimated farm-gate value of €300 billion in 2022, according to The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 report (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations).
