Fish sludge processing innovator raises £1.47m for next step

A company that uses heat-loving bacteria to efficiently produce biogas and protein from sludge from land-based or closed containment fish farms has secured NOK 18 million (£1.47 m) in a fund-raising round and received pre-commitment for additional NOK 20 m in the second quarter of 2023 from an existing investor.

Hyperthermics AS uses technology based on the use of hyperthermophilic microbes to break down organic material more efficiently at temperatures of up to 80 degrees, resulting in more biogas. The company said it has conducted successful tests at its pilot plant in Denmark and is experiencing significant commercial interest.

The combination of hyperthermophilic bacteria and high temperatures can also convert fish sludge into protein powder for pet food or other uses in just 24 hours, the company says. Faster conversion means sludge conversion plants can be smaller, taking up less space in land-based plant or on barges.

Understanding the potential

“We are pleased to announce the successful completion of the capital raise,” said chief executive Erlend Haugsbø in a press release.

“This shows that the results we have achieved in the past year are appreciated by both existing and new investors. With a strengthened capital base, we can continue to deliver on our business plan, where we will bring our technology into the market for European biogas producers.”

Haugsbø said that energy producers and fish farmers among the company’s shareholder base have been key in the capital raise.

“No one has a better ability to understand the potential and possibilities of our technology,” he said.

Test project

Haugsbø said that in the biogas area, Hyperthermics is close to the end of a successful test phase with a leading European biogas producer, and is now working towards a large-scale facility for the customer.

“In the protein field, we have a test project with a large Norwegian fish farmer and Letters of Intent with farmers in both Norway and the US.”

Hyperthermics has previously announced agreements to provide its technology to a salmon smolt facility operated by Hofseth Aqua in Tafjord, Norway, and to design and supply equipment to American Aquafarms, which plans to grow 30,000 tonnes of Atlantic salmon annually in floating closed containment pens in Frenchman Bay in Maine in the northeast United States. That project has been substantially delayed by local opposition and rejection of a permit application because American Aquafarms’ stated ova supplier was not deemed suitable.

The fish farmer invested in Hyperthermics is Måsøval Eiendom, which owns salmon farmer Måsøval Fiskeoppdrett.

Another Hyperthermics stakeholder is Farvatn Private Equity, which has investments in Molo, which makes microencapsulated feed products substituting the use of live feed, especially artemia and rotifers, in the early stages of fish and shrimp larval production, and in sludge processor Blue Ocean Technology.