Bluefront Equity, a Norwegian private equity firm, has acquired the aquaculture business of Trondheim, Norway-based software company Piscada.
Piscada has developed software for aquaculture companies that manages, analyzes, and optimizes feeding operations, and a cloud-based solution for management and monitoring of other applications. With the purchase, it will now be wholly owned by Bluefront.
“Piscada’s software is impressive, and we see immense potential in increasing the amount of data feeds that are integrated in the system,” Bluefront Equity Investment Manager Johan Kostveit said. “This will provide fish farmers with a more holistic overview of their cages, which translates to enhanced control of feeding operations and strengthened decision support. We believe this will make the system even more attractive and contribute to increased use at more locations.”
Starting initially as automation software for feeding in both ocean-based and land-based aquaculture facilities, it has evolved into a platform providing an overview of daily operations and control of feeding intensity, winch adjustments, camera positioning, and more.
Piscada’s operations currently consist of 8 people, and the company generated NOK 22 million (USD 2 million, 1.8 million) in revenue last year with positive operating results. Current customers of its software include Mowi, Lerøy, and Grieg Seafood, according to Bluefront.
“Bluefront is the right owner to elevate our aquaculture platform to another level. We are very pleased with the process we have gone through together with Bluefront, and we know that both the product and the employees are in safe hands,” Piscada Managing Director Torgeir Pedersen said.
Bluefront’s purchase of Piscada is its fifth in software solutions for the aquaculture industry, following on investments in companies like Seacloud in 2022. The company’s second fund recently got a boost from investment platform Builders Vision, an impact platform founded by Lukas Walton to form Bluefront Capital II, the firm's second fund.
It has also purchased other stakes in aquaculture, including an 80-percent stake in fish genetics firm Cryogenetics.
