UK-based seaweed processing startup Oceanium announced today the first close of a Seed II Round of funding worth approximately £2 million ($2.7M USD). The round was led by Green Angel Syndicate with World Wildlife Fund. This round of funding follows a previous undisclosed investment from venture capital firms Katapult Ocean and Sky Ocean Ventures, as well as Scottish Enterprise.
Oceanium refines sustainably grown seaweed to produce a number of products that range from home-compostable packaging materials to food ingredients including protein, fibre and nutraceuticals. These products are still under development and will be sold under the brand names Ocean Actives, Ocean Health, and Ocean Ware. The first line of Ocean Active nutraceuticals is projected to launch in Q4 of this year.
Oceanium is among a host of startups repurposing seaweed into new foods and materials. Loliware makes plastic-like straws out of seaweed. New Wave Foods makes a plant-based shrimp out of ingredients including seaweed. And AKUA makes a plant-based jerky out of seaweed.
It’s not hard to understand why seaweed is suddenly a hot ingredient for eco-conscious startups. According to Oceanium’s website, using seaweed as a base ingredient for its products has a number of environmental benefits including absorption of CO2 from the air and Nitrogren from the sea, as well as seabed protection and zero need for land or fresh water to grow.
Oceanium says that it will use the new funds to scale its biorefinery and processing model to “open up the market” for sustainable seaweed farming.
