October 3, 2022

 

US' BioFeyn co-hosts Salmon School and  Technology Showcase in Lovund, Norway

 

 

US feed innovator BioFeyn and startup investor Olaisen Blue co-hosted the Salmon School and Technology Showcase for investors, startups, industry leaders and producers to highlight innovation and sustainability in salmon aquaculture.

 

Fifty-four investors, innovators, producers and technical experts met in Lovund, Norway, to attend the event. To highlight innovation within the industry, the event included site visits to salmon farms and feed facilities, cutting-edge technology demonstrations, lectures and roundtables on the future of sustainability, feed and nutrition, corporate partnerships and opportunities in the Arctic.

 

Olaisen Blue, which bears the long-recognised name of the Nova Sea owning Olaisen family, was established in 2021 and is the family's new vehicle for startup investment.

 

BioFeyn, a feed-focused American biotechnology company, is one of their inaugural investments and the winner of the 2022 NCE Aquaculture Innovation Award.

 

"Too many ocean startups overlook direct interactions with the ocean and people who work with the sea when developing new solutions. We want to enable entrepreneurs access to the local industry, so they can develop applied solutions with real impact," said Stine Svanevik, chief executive officer of Olaisen Blue.

 

The need for rapid innovation in aquaculture feed was a pervasive theme throughout the event.

 

"Feed is both a problem and opportunity for the industry. If you can figure out feed, you can figure out the fish and unlock billions in value for everyone across the value chain," said Dr. James Anderson, former head of aquaculture and fisheries at World Bank and BioFeyn's advisor.

 

Innovators like BioFeyn are applying advanced technologies to enhance feed efficiency with the ultimate aim of reducing resource use, waste, carbon emissions and cost.

 

"I've worked in over 50 countries to improve the health of animals, people and the environment," said Dr. William Karesh, One Health's founder and BioFeyn investor. "The feed sourcing challenges of the salmon industry are similar to those of other farmed species – and the only real way to fix them is find more feed or increase efficient use.

 

"The second option is the obvious choice for our world today and is why I'm so excited to be a part of the BioFeyn team."

 

Other innovators represented at the event included Probotic, a Norwegian technology company automating net maintenance with subsea drones, and Undersee, a Portuguese water quality monitoring company deploying sensor-based forecasting. Each startup has made significant advances since participating in the Olaisen Blue accelerator in Spring 2022.

- The Fish Site