BASF Venture Capital has joined forces with Dutch investment fund Aqua-Spark to invest in tropical marine agriculture company Sea6 Energy as part of a Series B round.
WHO: Headquartered in Bangalore, Sea6 Energy was founded in 2010 to develop innovative solutions to key global problems. Over the last decade, it has become a pioneer of innovative technologies for sustainable, large-scale, and mechanized ocean farming and its products. The company envisions a future powered by the endless potential of the oceans.
The company is a leader in producing and processing tropical red seaweed. Sea6 Energy has adapted its cultivation technology to the conditions in deeper water and adverse weather conditions and covers both parts of the value chain with its integrated business model. For example, to identify the right locations with the right conditions for its farms, Sea6 Energy uses satellite imagery. Under suitable conditions, at least six harvests per year are possible.
IN THEIR OWN WORDS: "Sea6 Energy convinced us with its integrated business model," said Markus Solibieda, Managing Director of BASF Venture Capital GmbH. "With its extensive experience in the field of biotechnology, the team has created very good upstream conditions for cultivating red seaweed as biomass on a large scale while also demonstrating success downstream through its biorefinery. This opens up opportunities for transitioning traditionally crude-dependent industries such as the chemical industry to renewable feedstocks."
"Our vision is to be able to offer red seaweed biomass and products on a large scale sustainably and reliably. Thanks to our patented mechanized cultivation technology, we can produce high quality biomass in large scale at competitive pricing which can enable products like Bioplastics and Biofuels as well," says Shrikumar Suryanarayan, CEO and co-founder of Sea6 Energy. "We look forward to having experienced partners at our side in BASF and are happy about the renewed commitment of Aqua-Spark."
"Sea6 has made great progress over the past year, and we are excited to continue to support the company. We believe Sea6's seaweed cultivation technology is a real game-changer in the industry, making a variety of applications of red seaweed possible on a commercial scale," said Aqua-Spark managing partners Mike Velings and Amy Novogratz. Aqua-Spark has been an investor in Sea6 Energy since June 2021.
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