The German startup aims to sell its first products in Singapore, then the US © Wim Jansen
The Berlin-based company will use the latest funding to try to achieve regulatory approval of its first products, in addition to expanding its research work and initiating pilot production, it said in a press release.
The main focus will be on hybrid products such as fish balls and fish fingers made from fish cells grown in fermenters.
The company aims to launch in Singapore, the world’s first country to approve lab-grown meat. It is also looking towards the US market, after recent US Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals for cultivated protein startups Good Meat and Upside Foods.
Bluu is currently preparing to open its pilot production plant, which will enable the company to move up from lab scale to production into larger fermenters of up to 500 litres.
Bluu currently uses Atlantic salmon, rainbow trout, and common carp cell lines and has produced fish fingers and fish balls, along with prototype sashimi salmon.
The Series A funding was led by Sparkfood, a subsidiary of Portugal-headquartered multinational business group Sonae, and by LBBW VC.
The company’s co-founder and chief executive, Dr Sebastian Rakers, said the new raise: “Underlines the strong scientific development that Bluu Seafood and our excellent team have delivered so far. Together with our strong, international investor base, we can start the next stage of development and bring our first products to market."
