The startup combines the experience and technology of Neomar and Crusta Nova © Oceanloop
The EIB loan will provide funding to expand its existing farm in Kiel from 5 tonnes per year to 60 tonnes of shrimp per year, and to build a 2,000 tonne capacity facility in Gran Canaria,.
Founded in Munich in 2012, Oceanloop currently operates two pilot stage land-based shrimp farms in Kiel and Munich, supplying premium-quality shrimp through its sister company Honest Catch to restaurants, supermarkets and consumers directly.
The company says that it offers “a high-quality, sustainable, traceable and animal welfare compliant alternative to [shrimp] imports from outside the EU”.
Oceanloop technology aims to allow farmers to control every parameter to improve efficiency and the use of natural resources. In addition, Oceanloop is working with digital technologies such as computer vision and AI to detect biomass and stress levels in real time to ensure better animal welfare.
More than 5 million tonnes of vannamei shrimp are produced annually due to its global and beneficial health aspects. The EU is mostly dependent on imports of these from the tropics.
Oceanloop says that its software-controlled artificial ecosystems are modular, scalable, and location-independent. The company’s circular economy efforts aim at reducing waste through vapor-thermal carbonisation to produce a bio-coal based fertiliser, and soil enhancer and anaerobic digestion to produce biogas. The company also plans to produce renewable energy for self-consumption with a wind turbine and solar panels.
“The European Investment Bank supports European tech pioneers with European ambitions that push forward innovative solutions. Oceanloop is a perfect example of our commitment to help start-ups and scale-ups in their growth phase with the right financing solutions,” said EIB vice-president, Nicola Beer.
“Developed here in Europe, their innovative technology opens new ways to produce seafood environmentally friendly by integrating new technologies in their aquaculture-business. The reduction of public water-usage and CO2-emissions supports preserving the environment while producing protein rich high quality seafood on land.”
“While the demand for sustainably produced animal proteins will increase significantly in the coming years, their sources are particularly at risk today. Decades of overfishing and an unsustainable aquaculture industry that cannot be controlled in times of climate change are leading to an increasing risk of supply chain disruptions to Europe. We are thrilled that the EU has recognised this and is helping us to bring our innovative technology to industrial-scale commercialisation.”, said Oceanloop’s founder and CEO Fabian Riedel.
The EIB loan is supported by the InvestEU programme, which aims to trigger more than €372 billion in additional investment in new technologies until 2027.
