🥤Lessons in seaweed bioplastics with Thibaut Monfort Micheo | FlexSea
🥤Lessons in seaweed bioplastics with Thibaut Monfort Micheo | FlexSea
PLUS: Demand for natural sun care is growing in Asia, and microalgae producer Phycom secures €9M.
"The European Commission is pushing for recycling and there’s not much space being left for bioplastics." — Thibaut Monfort Micheo, CTO at FlexSea
Dear algae technologists, operators and investors - hello and welcome to the Paxtier Report!
To kick off this week's email, take a look at these brilliant longboard wheels crafted from Checkerspot's algae oil…
Find out more HERE.
In today’s report…
Markets: 🌊 Demand for more natural sun care formulations in Asia is growing.
Deals: 🤝 Dutch microalgae producer Phycom secures €9M+.
Movers and Shakers: 📈 Lessons in seaweed bioplastics with Thibaut Monfort Micheo | FlexSea
Around the web: 🌎 What is holding up widespread adoption of alternative seafood?
Markets and Investing
✂️Algae Market Snippets
Some big moves in recent weeks…
General
🌱 UK outfit announces regenerative agriculture support programme (Read more HERE).
Macroalgae
📈 Demand for more natural sun care formulations in Asia is growing, claims US firm Carbonwave, which is hoping to find success with its upcycled seaweed based emulsifier (Read more HERE).
🌱 India bets on seaweed's future as food industry appetite grows (Read more HERE).
💚 Tawi-Tawi government unveils its new seal as the seaweed capital of the Philippines (Read more HERE).
✅ Artisanal fishermen promote bill to protect brown algae in Magallanes (Read more HERE).
🤝 Montachem International partners with seaweed-based resin maker Loliware (Read more HERE).
💸 Check out the launch of "Wake", an instant coffee drink that contains seaweed and mushroom extract (Read more HERE).
🤝 Sea & Believe has teamed up with Dr Maeve Edwards on a pilot project to cultivate Palmaria palmata (dulse) off the west coast of Ireland (Read more HERE).
🌱 Seafields completes 'world first' seaweed biomass-sinking carbon removal trials (Read more HERE).
🗺️ Planet Botanicals expands its seaweed beauty skin care product to local retailers across 15 states (Read more HERE).
📰 Financial benchmarking report released for Maine seaweed producers (Read more HERE).
🤝 Indian union minister inaugurates seaweed park in Ramnathapuram district (Read more HERE).
🌱 Ocean Rainforest launches new Icelandic joint venture, Lava Seaweed, at the Arctic Algae conference (Read more HERE).
⛔ Câr-y-Môr continues battle for a long term marine license, calling for more support (Read more HERE).
🏆Oceanium is a top three finalist for the Thai Union Innovation Challenge (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
💸 Dutch microalgae producer Phycom secures €9M+ from Invest-NL (Read more HERE).
🏢 Algae Biomass Organization plans to move global headquarters to Des Moines (Read more HERE).
🐟 Chile salmon growout sites ordered to beef up algal bloom measures amid El Niño warnings (Read more HERE).
🚗 Mercedes-Benz launches "Land, Sea, Air" fragrance trilogy, with algae-derived biodegradable paper (Read more HERE).
💸 Devonian announces closing of a private placement of $500,000 (Read more HERE).
🟢 Wildish & Co designs algae-inspired identity for Brilliant Planet (Read more HERE).
🟢 Ibis Algae creates unique food education program incorporating algae in school lunches (Read more HERE).
🟢 Shaivaa Algaetech has registered for the F3 Krill Replacement Challenge with a product that combines two essential omega-3 fatty acids – EPA and DHA – and astaxanthin (Read more HERE).
📦 Living Ink’s algae ink is being used for Octave Photonics packaging (Read more HERE).
💊 Scientists develop new supplement for adults. Natural ingredients such as mushrooms and algae were used to create 1,500 functional milk protein mixtures (Read more HERE).
🥤Lessons in seaweed bioplastics with Thibaut Monfort Micheo | FlexSea
Thibaut Monfort Micheo is the CTO of FlexSea, a fantastic seaweed biopolymer company shaking up the plastics industry.
In this in-person episode of The Paxtier Podcast, Thibaut reveals all about building a seaweed start-up. He also breaks down challenges facing the sector and gives great advice for fellow innovators...
You can listen now on Spotify:
and YouTube:
Where to find Thibaut:
https://flex-sea.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/thibaut-monfort-micheo/
In this episode, we cover:
0:00 Intro.
1:43 Introduction to FlexSea.
4:43 Grants.
5:43 Incorporating in UK vs Europe.
6:42 Expansion into Europe.
7:56 Current bioplastics industry and regulation.
11:20 European seaweed cultivation.
14:50 Why red seaweed?
19:30 Seaweed supply chains.
22:28 Patenting.
26:25 Partnerships and collaboration.
28:20 Failures & mistakes.
Hope you enjoy! Let us know what you think!
🐦Tweets of the week
🔥 What else was hot in algae this week?
General
✉️ A letter from 200+ world scientists on advancing responsible R&D of ocean-based carbon dioxide removal (Read more HERE).
🐟 What is holding up widespread adoption of alternative seafood? (Read more HERE).
Macroalgae
🌱 The Fisheries Podcast dives in with Professor Thierry Chopin (Read more HERE).
⚠️ New Zealand's seaweed ecosystems at risk (Read more HERE).
🍳 Sautéed seaweed and amaranth pancakes: how to cook three climate-friendly superfoods (Read more HERE).
🌱 Fujian coast awash in aquaculture. Technology is further bolstering the province's marine product dominance (Read more HERE).
📝 (Paper) Towards biodegradable conducting polymers by incorporating seaweed cellulose for decomposable wearable heaters (Read more HERE).
🌱 An enriched fermented seaweed additive which reduces methane emissions by more than 10% in cattle and sheep has recently been developed by Teagasc researchers (Read more HERE).
🍳 How Ireland's chefs are rediscovering the joys of cooking with seaweed (Read more HERE).
🔴 Pickers and sellers on Grand Manan say the rainy summer has wreaked havoc on their dulse crops (Read more HERE).
♵ Swapping out plastic for seaweed: Searo, the start-up tackling packaging waste, boosting soil health (Read more HERE).
🟢 Tim Flannery advocates for RegenAqua, the climate tech tackling toxic runoff in the reef (Read more HERE).
Microalgae
😎 14 projects confronting climate change win Salata Institute grants: check out “insulating buildings with algae foam” (Read more HERE).
📝 (Paper) Impact of vertical stratification on the 2020 spring bloom in the Yellow Sea (Read more HERE).
🟢 Superfood from the tube aquarium - how algae could be the future of human health (Read more HERE).
📝 (Paper) Purification and fractionation of phycobiliproteins from Arthrospira platensis and Corallina officinalis with evaluating their biological activities (Read more HERE).
💸 Aquaculture, insect, and algae production systems have caught the eye of novel farming investors this year, securing 60% of the sector’s deals, a 180-degree reversal from 2022, when crop-focused CEA startups accounted for 60% of deals (Read more HERE).
📝 (Paper) Enhancing photosynthetic CO2 fixation by assembling metal-organic frameworks on Chlorella pyrenoidosa (Read more HERE).
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