XpertSea and Proteon Pharmaceuticals have both held successful fundraising rounds worth USD 20 million (EUR 17 million) or more, each with contributions from aquaculture investment firm Aqua-Spark.
Quebec City, Canada-based XpertSea, a company involved in precision technologies for use in aquaculture, recently raised USD 20 million (EUR 17 million) in a series B funding round. Investment was led by QED Investors and Atlantico with Investissement Quebec – who joined previous investors Obvious Ventures, Future Shape, Real Ventures, edō Capital, and Aqua-Spark.
“We founded XpertSea with the firm belief that technology and data will unlock aquaculture’s enormous potential to be the most sustainable source of protein available to feed our planet. For years, we worked towards this mission by helping farmers farm more successfully, and more recently by providing them access to cash flow and market opportunities,” XpertSea CEO Valerie Robitaille said. “This investment will not only help accelerate the development of our data driven solutions, but will allow us to leverage our unique capabilities to bring transparency and efficiency to the entire supply chain, getting us closer and closer to providing sustainable seafood for everyone.”
Since the initial investment, according to XpertSea, the company has had 1,000 percent or more year-over-year growth in company revenues. The company has designed a smartphone app that uses AI to boost aquaculture production using a phone’s camera.
Just a day after XpertSea’s 10 August announcement, Proteon Pharmaceuticals India, a subsidiary of Proteon Pharmaceuticals SA, announced its own successful funding round, which raised EUR 21 million (USD 24 million) to accelerate the commercialization of its products. The financing round was led by Nutreco, PFR Life Science, and Aqua-Spark.
“This funding round will support our vision of reducing the need for antibiotics in livestock farming and aquaculture as well as increasing the sustainability of protein production,” Proteon Pharmaceuticals CEO Jaroslaw Dastych said.
Proteon Pharmaceuticals develops bacteriophage cocktails addressing pseudomonas and aeromonas infections in aquaculture. The fundraising will help the company expand the company's reach, Proteon Pharmaceuticals CCO Nipun Gupta said.
“With the new investment, we plan to continue to expand our global reach, making available our livestock and aquaculture health products to our customers, helping them to reach their environmental, performance, and sustainability goals,” Gupta said.
