Berlin, Germany-based biotech firm Bluu Biosciences, founded just 10 months ago, has closed its seed funding round at EUR 7 million (USD 8.2 million), according to a 26 March announcement.
The company said it is the first in Europe specializing in cell-based fish development and production, joining a handful of others around the world working within the expanding field.
Berlin-based company builder EVIG supported the founding of Bluu Biosciences. Manta Ray Ventures (U.K.), CPT Capital (U.K.), Lever VC (U.S.A.), Norrsken (Sweden), and Be8 (Germany) were the global food and impact investors who participated in the latest funding round, Bluu Biosciences said. The firm plans on utilizing the capital from the round for its “intensive biotechnology research and development work as well as into product development.”
“We are proud that we could partner with investors such as Manta Ray, CPT, Lever, and more, that believe in the importance of deep innovation for the aim of a more sustainable food system,” Bluu Biosciences Co-Founder and Managing Director Sebastian Rakers said in a press release.
Simon Fabich, fellow co-founder and managing director of the company, said the results of the funding round offer promise for the future of Bluu Biosciences.
“The round was closed in a matter of weeks, which indicates how compelling the science team and the science foundation of Bluu is. It also showcases the incredible interest of great investors to support this kind of initiative,” Fabich said.
The firm is looking to the cultivated meat sector, “where there are already initial approvals for cultivated meat products in Singapore,” to drive prospects for its in cell-based fish products, it said.
“Cell-based or cultivated fish is sustainable fish meat produced from fish cells that is grown in a bioreactor. It is an animal product that, unlike wild-caught fish, is obtained without compromising animal welfare,” according to Bluu Biosciences.
The company believes that “producing cell-based fish without harming the ecosystem and at competitive prices can make a critical contribution to global animal protein supply security in the future.”
Rakers said cell-based seafood production could play an important role in feeding a growing global population.
“Cultivated fish has the potential to feed a large portion of humanity. Our task is to rapidly operationalize the findings from biotechnological research to leverage this potential,” Rakers said.
Cultivated fish possess high nutritional value and do not contain pollutants, Bluu Biosciences said. Additionally, products of this kind can be available “even in places without access to the sea and the associated short supply chains,” the firm said.
“The production process is resource-friendly and has a significantly lower CO2 footprint as well as water and energy consumption compared to the conventional fish processing industry. Moreover, cell-based fish is the answer to industrial fish farming, as it will be able to save trillions of fish lives,” the company said.
Rakers said Bluu Biosciences is poised, with its seed capital support, to develop nutritious new products, with help from its partner Fraunhofer Research Institution for Marine Biotechnology and Cell Engineering (EMB) in Lübeck. The firm has “a state-of-the-art R&D environment at its disposal,” and plans to develop further partnerships for nutrient media optimization and bioreactor development.
“Bluu Biosciences has set out to produce tasty and nutrient-optimized fish products from fish cells that are free of genetic engineering, antibiotics, and environmental toxins," Rakers said. “Above all, that means intensive research and development work to develop the optimal fish cell lines for subsequent production. Bluu is in the excellent position of using proprietary technologies and non-GMO immortalized cell lines to achieve that.”
Photo courtesy of Bluu Biosciences
