Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund is taking a minority equity stake in seaweed farming company Ocean Rainforest as part of a €2.5 million fundraise. This the first investment in sustainable aquaculture for the Dutch investment company and contributes to its Nature based Solutions targets.
Founded in 2007, Faroe Islands-based Ocean Rainforest produced 240 tons of seaweed biomass in 2023 and expects to produce 400 tons in 2024. The company said hitting that goal would make it the largest cultivated seaweed producer in Europe. Key market segments where its seaweed is being used are cosmetics, food ingredients, animal feed, bio stimulants and nutraceuticals.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), seaweed is the fastest-growing aquaculture sector. Based on biomass, seaweed pulls more greenhouse gas (GHG) from the water than all other blue carbon sources such as mangroves and salt marshes. So it can aid against ocean acidification. It also consumes nitrogen and phosphorus, which cause algal blooms that deplete the ocean’s oxygen when they decompose.
Triodos Food Transition Fund focuses on companies that produce food that offers sustainable, nutritious diets; is nature-positive and with carbon-negative farming practices; transparent, with true pricing and living wages; and connects consumers to producers.
Adam Kybird, Fund Manager of Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund said, “Ocean Rainforest addresses three impact pillars: from an environmental perspective, cultivating seaweed at scale is associated with significant enhancement of marine biodiversity and water quality. Seaweed-based fertilisers and animal feed also contribute to the sustainable agriculture transition.”
Other investors include Grantham Foundation, Builders Vision, Katapult Ocean, Twynam and WWF.
Olavur Gregersen, CEO and co-founder of Ocean Rainforest said, “We see the investment by Triodos Food Transition Europe Fund as a confirmation of our business strategy and our purpose to improve people’s wellbeing and make a unique contribution to our blue planet. With the funding provided by Triodos we will be able to further scale our production and capitalize on the huge potential of this global growth market while contributing even more to our sustainability goals.”
In addition to its activities in the Faroe Islands, Ocean Rainforest is also growing giant kelp in the US offshore Santa Barbara, California under the first R&D permit for seaweed cultivation in federal U.S. waters. The company recently filed a permit application to grow seaweed for commercial purposes offshore California. If granted, Ocean Rainforest said this would enable it to scale up to the largest open ocean seaweed cultivator in the U.S.
