💸 CH4 Global raises $29m for anti-methanogenic scale-up.
PLUS: China halts all Japanese seafood imports, and Kathmandu’s superb algae ink collection.
"We have a maximum of three years to succeed in the seaweed industry" — Norway Seafood Council
Dear algae technologists, operators, and investors, welcome to another edition of the Paxtier Report!
To start the email this week, check out Kathmandu’s superb algae ink collection…
Australian artist — and Kathmandu team member — Annelies Koch's design was inspired by a hike to Aoraki's Mueller Hut in New Zealand’s South Island…
But will algae ink be one of the sector's biggest winners? Let me know what you think…
In today’s report…
Markets: 🤝 China halts all Japanese seafood imports over 'selfish' Fukushima water release.
Deals: 💸 CH4 Global raises $29m for anti-methanogenic scale-up.
Movers and Shakers: 🏆 Veramaris, Manolin partnership identifies optimal omega-3 content in algae-based aquafeed.
Around the web: 🌎 Zooplankton dilemma in the twilight.
Markets and Investing
✂️Algae Market Snippets
Some big moves in recent weeks…
General
🚫 China halts all Japanese seafood imports over 'selfish' Fukushima water release (Read more HERE).
💸 Nitrogen innovator Pivot Bio‘s revenue surpasses the $100 million mark. US farmers are now using Pivot Bio’s microbe-based, nitrogen-fixing product in place of synthetic nitrogen on 5 million acres of corn (Read more HERE).
💸 NatureMetrics raises £10m as biodiversity moves up the ESG agenda (Read more HERE).
Macroalgae
💸 CH4 Global raises $29m in funding for anti-methanogenic scale-up (Read more HERE).
🤝 Ocean’s Balance partners with Aqua Veggies, North America’s largest supplier of Dulse (Read more HERE).
🌱 Arena Querini in Italy has invited the Norwegian Seaweed Association to Venice in October 2023, signalling Italy’s intention to scale-up seaweed? (Read more HERE).
🏆 The Old Mutual Namibia Foundation’s 2023 seed initiative has concluded, and a seaweed skincare project won first prize (Read more HERE).
💳 New Zealand government is looking to wetlands and seaweed for carbon credits (Read more HERE).
💚 Denmark-Korea Blue Biocluster Alliance looks to foster seaweed sector (Read more HERE).
⛔ Waiheke iwi declares restrictions over increasing Caulerpa spread (Read more HERE).
🌱 Cal Poly Humboldt students have been harvesting seaweed following the institutes unique aquaculture program (Read more HERE).
🌱 Seaweed holds great potential in Norway, but more needs to be done quickly to ensure success. "We have a maximum of three years to succeed in the industry," a Norway Seafood Council executive said (Read more HERE).
✅ Permission granted for large Coromandel aquaculture site (Read more HERE).
💸 Alaska mariculture program hands out first round of grants (Read more HERE).
🧴 Verb Products has released a new collection, consisting of a Bonding Shampoo and Bonding Mask made from ingredients including algae (Read more HERE).
💸 $4.5M in Canadian federal funding for new 'living lab' on-farm research projects. Researchers will study practices like adding kelp to cattle diets, rotational grazing and installing edge-of-field wetlands (Read more HERE).
📈 HN-Novatech bags $4m in funding and launches the world’s first proprietary seaweed heme ingredient for plant-based meat applications in Singapore (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
🤝 Veramaris, Manolin partnership identifies optimal omega-3 content in algae-based aquafeed (Read more HERE).
⛽ EEL Biofuels introduces algae-based biofuels technology (Read more HERE).
📈 Arctic Bioscience reaffirms commitment to explore commercial opportunities in the microalgae segment following acquisition of Arctic Algae AS in Q1 2023 (Read more HERE).
🦑 Scientists develop 3D-printed calamari rings from microalgae and mung bean protein (Read more HERE).
🍬 Wiley’s Finest introduces algae/Ahiflower omega-3 gummy (Read more HERE).
🟢 A US patent has been issued to the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) and its partners at Iowa State University Research Foundation (ISURF) for an algae tech wastewater system (Read more HERE).
👀 Scientists and fishermen keep eyes on huge algae bloom in Gulf of Maine (Read more HERE).
📝 In July, IEA launched the report “Biofuel Policy in Brazil, India and the United States – Insights for the Global Biofuel Alliance”, developed in collaboration with Biofuture Platform (Read more HERE).
🟢 NOW calls out ‘significant failings’ in astaxanthin supplement quality (Read more HERE).
🐦Tweets of the week
🔥 What else was hot in algae this week?
General
🌱 Bio-based brilliance: five innovative uses of natural materials (Read more HERE).
Macroalgae
💎 This Kanyakumari company isolates 18 minerals from seaweed to make healthy products (Read more HERE).
📰 Interesting Times Gang features in Maison Marie Claire with its Kelp Collection for Black Milk Gastro Bar and latest collaboration with OBOS (Read more HERE).
🎫 Tickets on sale for WEOFF: Rewilding Our World - how marine restoration is working to revive kelp forests in South Korea (Read more HERE).
📄 (Paper) Divergent responses of native and invasive macroalgae to submarine groundwater discharge (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
🌍 Calcifying algae as key players in climate models (Read more HERE).
💀 Lough Neagh ‘dying in plain sight’ due to vast algal blooms (Read more HERE).
🧊 Scientists voyage to Greenland's melting sanctuary, and sample snow algae (Read more HERE).
📄 (Paper) Bioprospecting for industrially relevant exopolysaccharide-producing cyanobacteria under Portuguese simulated climate (Read more HERE).
🌙 (Paper) Zooplankton dilemma in the twilight (Read more HERE).
📄 (Paper) Experimental determination of concentration factors of Ni, Ru and Sb in the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum (Read more HERE).
🏔️ Successful wrap-up of the Global Algae Summit Kuala Lumpur 2023: charting the path for a circular algae bioeconomy (Read more HERE).
🦠 BBC coverage of the recently discovered Sicilian cyanobacteria that eats carbon dioxide (CO2) "astonishingly quickly" (Read more HERE).
📢 Scottish Seaweed Industry Association Conference 2023: planning for the event in Oban is in full swing (Read more HERE).
📄 (Paper) An investigation on removal of ciprofloxacin and norfloxacin by phycoremediation with an emphasis on acute toxicity and biochemical composition (Read more HERE).
💼 Jobs
⭐ Calling technical aquaculture experts! Join Climate Tech Studio Marble (based in France) as a CTO for an innovative CDR venture: Carbon removal & mineralisation through marine organisms. Background in scaleup, open ponds, or offshore aquaculture? Let's talk! Fill out this form and start your journey ⭐
🌊 Macro Oceans and Industrial Plankton are hiring scientists! Check out the positions at Paxtier's algae job board HERE.
Help your friends aboard our growing pirate ship. Share The Paxtier Report to start winning loot.
That’s all folks!
Thanks again for joining us this week. Hope you have a great day and stay tuned for more algae tech updates soon!
Best,
Peter