Lou Cooperhouse, President & CEO of BlueNalu. (Photo: BlueNalu)

New firm raises USD 4.5m to develop 'cellular aquaculture' project

BlueNalu, a new company based in San Diego, California, has managed to raise USD 4.5 million to develop its "cellular aquaculture" concept, an innovative process to pose as an alternative to current industry practices in which fish are farmed or wild-caught.

Representatives of the firm explain that this patented method makes it possible to produce real seafood products directly from fish cells, in a way that is healthy for people, humane for animals, and sustainable for our planet.

“It’s time to rethink seafood and how we can sustainably feed our global population in the decades ahead,” said Lou Cooperhouse, President & CEO of BlueNalu.

Cooperhouse stated in a press release, “We are very grateful for the tremendous interest in BlueNalu from both the financial and mission-driven venture community, and we are extremely pleased by the global reach and diversity of the investors in our seed round.”

The executive stressed that the level of funding reached will allow them to aggressively develop their technology platform and the commercialization strategy required for product manufacture.

“We are also implementing strategic partnerships that will enable us to ultimately reach our target customers with a line of great-tasting, distinctive, and cost-effective seafood products for global distribution,” Cooperhouse pointed out.

BlueNalu just closed a successful seed round, with significant contributions from New Crop Capital, along with 24 other venture organizations and individuals from the United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Israel, and Luxembourg.

Chris Kerr, Chief Investment Officer at New Crop Capital, praised the level of professional expertise of the BlueNalu team in the diversified fields of cell biology, tissue engineering, intellectual property, food innovation, technology commercialization, and consumer marketing.

"This is the largest seed round to date in this category, and one of the largest that has occurred globally in the entire ‘clean meat’ space. We are very excited at the market potential for BlueNalu and their ability to offer consumers an alternative to conventional animal sources that today originate only in our oceans and seas,” he added.

With the launch of this process, BlueNalu joins other innovators working to produce slaughter-free seafood. Finless Foods aims to have its lab-grown bluefin tuna on the market by the end of 2019. Comparably, other brands such as New Wave Foods, Good Catch Foods, and Ocean Hugger do not operate in the clean meat field but are producing veganized versions of seafood, including shrimp, crab, and lobster made from plant-based ingredients like algae," Livekindly reported.

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