With a financing round amounting to 16 million euros, Berlin and Hamburg-based food tech startup Bluu Seafood has secured the capital it needs to continue its work on cultivating fish cells and launching its first products.
The Series A round is led by Sparkfood, a subsidiary of Sonae, and LBBW VC. Also participating in the round are Asian investor SeaX Ventures and other renowned venture capitalists such as Manta Ray Ventures, Norrsken VC, Delivery Hero Ventures, Innovationsstarter Fonds Hamburg and Dr. Oetker. In total, Bluu Seafood has thus raised more than 23 million euros since it was founded three years ago.
First approvals abroad, production in Hamburg
With the fresh capital, Bluu Seafood will not only expand its research work and start pilot production, but also focus on the approval of its first products. The focus will be on the fish balls and sticks made from cultured fish cells, which were presented in summer 2022. The startup initially plans to launch the products in Singapore. Bluu Seafood expects approval there in 2024. The startup is also in the approval process in the USA. Europe will follow.
The company is currently preparing to open a pilot production facility. In the fall of 2023, the conversion work in a former marzipan factory in Hamburg will be fully completed. The startup will then move in. With the pilot production, Bluu Seafood will leave the laboratory status and reach another important milestone by scaling up production with larger fermenters of up to 500 liters required for cell cultivation.
