๐ Elliot Roth | The 100% algae diet and putting profitability first in 2023
PLUS: Brevel raises $18.5M, The Seaweed Company's project updates, and featured jobs.
โWhile the global demand for algae has been increasing, it's not fast enough. We need to make products that solve hair on fire problems.โ โ Elliot Roth, CEO Spira Inc.
Dear algae technologists - hello and welcome to the Paxtier Report!
To start the email this week, hereโs a great seaweed photo originating from Nhon Hai fishing village in Binh Dinh Province, south-central Vietnamโฆ
Find out more HERE.
In todayโs reportโฆ
Markets: ๐ Seaweed farmers in eastern Indonesia struggle in a changing climate.
Deals: ๐ค Brevel raises $18.5M to develop microalgae-based alternative proteins.
Movers and Shakers: ๐ Elliot Roth: The 100% algae diet and putting profitability first in 2023.
Around the web: ๐ Untangling how canopy kelp contributes to coastal resilience in the U.S. Pacific.
Jobs: ๐ Macro Oceans and Industrial Plankton are hiring!
Markets and Investing
โ๏ธAlgae Market Snippets
Some big moves in recent weeksโฆ
Macroalgae
๐ค New sustainable farming strategy in Scotland welcomed by aquaculture sector (Read more HERE).
๐ธ The Seaweed Company completes first phase of Morocco project (Read more HERE).
๐ CMFRI develops antiviral product from seaweeds against delta variant of Covid (Read more HERE).
๐ฑ Senators want US Army Corps of Engineers to fix aquaculture permit backlog (Read more HERE).
๐ฑ Seaweed farmers in eastern Indonesia struggle in a changing climate (Read more HERE).
๐ค Sabah to gain from bio-based initiatives (Read more HERE).
๐ค B'ZEOS announces, in collaboration with R&D partners RISE PFI and SINTEF, paper made from seaweed (Read more HERE).
๐ธ ยฃ870,000 awarded to investigate impact of offshore aquaculture (Read more HERE)
๐ธ The INNOAQUA Project, a newly funded Horizon project addressing innovative aquaculture food production, officially kicked off (Read more HERE).
๐ค Keel Labs, producers of Kelsun yarn, announce partnerships to print on Notpla paper (Read more HERE).
๐ Symbrosia announce that SeaGrazeโข is officially USDA Certified Organic (Read more HERE).
๐ค Costco Wholesale partners with Ocean's Halo Trayless (no plastic trays) Organic Seaweed Snacks (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
๐ธBrevel sprouts $18.5M to develop microalgae-based alternative proteins (Read more HERE).
๐ค Brilliant Planet announced its first large-scale purchase from Block, the global technology company with a focus on financial services. The purchase was facilitated through the Watershed Marketplace (Read more HERE).
๐ข ZIVO commences sales of its proprietary algal biomass as human food (Read more HERE).
๐ธ VIRIDE announces their third crowdfunding round to develop large scale microalgae cultivation in the desert (Read more HERE).
๐ธ Cell Capital announced its investment in MiAlgae, a company using waste products that occur from the whisky production process to grow microalgae strains that produce Omega 3 (Read more HERE).
๐ข Both of SOSV's IndieBio offices have announced incredible new cohorts reimagining health for humanity AND the planetโbe one of the first to check them out. Featuring some algae start-upsโฆ (Read more HERE).
In depth with Peter Green
๐Elliot Roth | The 100% algae diet and putting profitability first in 2023
Elliot Roth is the founder of Spira Inc, a bio-tech start-up at the forefront of engineering algae for industrial applications.
Over the past few years, Elliot's team has harnessed the power of algae to cater to various sectors, such as wastewater treatment, carbon capture, cosmetics, and pigments.
And in this episode of The Paxtier Podcast, Elliot reveals all about his 100% algae diet, building tech in 2023, and shares several important new lessons for founders.
You can listen now on Spotify, and YouTube.
Find a basic transcript for this episode and all past episodes here.
Where to find Elliot:
https://www.spirainc.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thatmre/
In this episode, we cover:
2:05 Introduction to Elliot and his journey into algae.
4:05 Updates on Spira Incโs fundraising journey and his all algae diet.
10:33 The fundraising environment for algae tech.
12:21 Additional pain-points in the industry.
14:10 Bio-mining.
16:30 Biggest mistakes.
19:45 Lack of profitability in algae companies worldwide.
23:06 What cultivation techniques does Spira Inc depend on?
24:30 Great algae species we can get excited about.
27:20 Algae for bio-plastics and higher value products.
33:03 What advice would you tell your younger self?
Hope you enjoy! Let us know what you think!
๐ฆTweets of the week
And hereโs Carlos Gallina-Ramos from the Phyconauts community hard at work in the lab:
๐ฅ What else was hot in algae this week?
Macroalgae
๐ PNNL researchers are mining minerals from the sea for vital energy independence research (Read more HERE).
๐ฑ Meet the Australian co-founders brewing a solution to plastic pollution (Uluu) (Read more HERE).
๐ฑ I sample Antarcticaโs seaweed to improve human health. Fisheries engineer Ekrem Cem รankฤฑrฤฑlฤฑgil probes the chemical make-up of aquatic creatures to determine their possible health benefits for humans (Read more HERE).
๐จโ๐พ New aquaculture course at Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) Te Pลซkenga (NZ) aims to support the southโs rapidly growing industry (Read more HERE).
๐จ โWild Eyeโ art and nature project launches community seaweed artwork display in Scarborough (Read more HERE).
๐ฌ Researchers explore potential of marine-derived rennet for cheesemaking (Read more HERE).
๐ (Paper) Priming of Citrullus lanatus var. Colocynthoides seeds in seaweed extract improved seed germination, plant growth and performance under salinity conditions (Read more HERE).
๐ฑ Qatar University establishes the first national marine macroalgae database (Read more HERE).
๐ฑ Untangling how canopy kelp contributes to coastal resilience in the U.S. Pacific (Read more HERE).
๐ 6 tips for leading large scale climate innovation. Some tips and tricks from Sea6 Energy (Read more HERE).
๐ฑ SkinSchool: Why it's time to incorporate algae in your skincare (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
๐ (Paper) The genome of antibiotic-producing colonies of the Pelagophyte alga Chrysophaeum taylorii reveals a diverse and non-canonical capacity for secondary metabolism (Read more HERE).
๐ How omega-3 fatty acids from seafoods reduce inflammation (Read more HERE).
๐ข New project unlocks potential of lab-grown algae as novel feed ingredient (Read more HERE).
๐ข Expiring August 1st: Early Bird Registration for the 2023 Algae Biomass Summit (Read more HERE).
๐ Itโs a Barbie world โ some pink natural wonders (Read more HERE).
๐ (Paper) Multiyear analysis uncovers coordinated seasonality in stocks and composition of the planktonic food web in the Baltic Sea proper (Read more HERE).
๐ (Paper) Phytoplankton diversity explained by connectivity across a mesoscale frontal system in the open ocean (Read more HERE).
๐ผ Jobs
๐ Macro Oceansย 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.
Thatโs 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