The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) counts itself among a group of investors in Oceanium, a Scottish company specialising in the cultivation and processing of seaweed. The company has announced the first closing of its seed II round led by Green Angel Syndicate, raising around £2 million (equivalent to €2.3 million).
“Oceanium’s groundbreaking expansion of cultivated algae processing capacity is an exciting step for the industry as a whole.”
Oceanium plans to use the fresh capital to scale its proprietary biorefinery and processing model to market to the emerging sustainable algae farming industry.
The company’s technical and innovative refining method has been developed to use marine algae for multiple applications such as plant-based food and sustainable packaging material as an alternative to plastic.
WWF’s Paul Dobbins stated: “Oceanium’s groundbreaking expansion of cultivated algae processing capacity is an exciting step for the industry as a whole. On a large scale, cultivated algae could help achieve conservation goals by providing a nutritious source of food and livestock feed with less land and resource input. The development of an innovative biorefinery process will also help create feedstock for biodegradable packaging alternatives to petroleum-based plastics.”
Oceanium founder Karen Scofield Seal added: “The calibre of investors in this funding round underscores the opportunity and commitment we have to create a market for sustainably farmed seaweed and drive systemic change by providing regenerative sources of food and materials. We will continue to work closely with regional and global conservation partners such as WWF, the Safe Seaweed Coalition and Seaweed for Europe to ensure that we are laying the best possible foundations for an industry that will be transformative in economic, social and environmental terms.”
