Fish-from-cells company BlueNalu raises $33.5m
Cell-cultured seafood company BlueNalu has raised US $33.5 million from new and existing investors in a Series B financing round, according to a press release by UK cellular agriculture venture capital company Agronomics, which holds a 5.12% stake in the US firm.
BlueNalu currently operates a pilot facility in San Diego, California that it is scaling up to produce sufficient quantities for a small-scale launch, reports AgFunder Network website.
It hopes to break ground on a large-scale plant in 2026, with a view to starting commercial-scale production 18 months later. The large-scale facility is designed to enable multi-species capability to produce up to six million pounds (2,721 tonnes) of premium seafood products annually, utilising eight 100,000-litre terminal bioreactors.
Last year, BlueNalu expanded into its 38,000 sq ft pilot production facility which is initially focused on pilot production of its premium bluefin tuna toro and completing the processes that will be required for regulatory review.
Mitsubishi and Nutreco
Its strategic partners include Japanese industrial giant Mitsubishi, which owns salmon farmer Cermaq, and Dutch feed producer Nutreco, which owns aquafeed supplier Skretting.
“The financing will enable the next stage of BlueNalu’s growth and its continued progress towards scaling and commercialising healthy and sustainable seafood in the US and around the world,” stated Agronomics.
In October last year, BlueNalu said it had unlocked the path to significant profitability in its planned first large-scale facility due, in part, to a series of breakthrough technologies.
“These technologies are expected to drastically reduce both operating and capital costs for large-scale production, and when combined with the company’s premium product and market focus, will enable a projected 75% gross margin,” said BlueNalu.
