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DISCOVERING TECHNOLOGY TRENDS AND INNOVATIONS IN THE AQUACULTURE INDUSTRY

2021

FISHINGI N D U S T R Y I N S I G H T S

4. About the Industry Insight reports

6. Using Valuer’s AI platform to find fishing technology trends

7. Innovation hotspots within the fishing Industry

8. Ranking fishing technology trends

9. Finding innovative technologies that match specific corporate needs

10. Company case study: Planktonic

Index

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Valuer is an AI-driven platform that helps large corporations, investors, and accelerators discover innovative companies that match their strategic needs. Valuer believes that to stay competitive in today’s disruptive landscape, companies must embrace new ideas and entrepreneurship into their innovation setup.

Valuer’s data-driven platform is specifically designed to phase out costly and time-consuming accelerators and management consultancies and replace them with novel workflow solutions that identify and assess relevant startups and SMEs at speed.

Founded in 2017, Valuer has a rapidly-growing network of researchers, experts, and advisors from all over the world and has worked with BMW, Siemens Gamesa, Novozymes, Grundfos, and Spirent, among other prominent organizations.

About Valuer.ai

About the Industry Insights reports

Published monthly, each Industry Insights report focuses on the emerging trends and disruptive technologies within a specific industry. Enriched with original data from the Valuer platform, the publications provide corporations with valuable information about key innovation areas that can help them accelerate within a competitive and rapidly changing environment.

Each Industry Insights report demonstrates how Valuer’s AI algorithms can identify innovation hotspots to help corporations recognize relevant emerging technologies. For this purpose, each publication includes one case study of a young company that ranks high within the platform’s calculations.

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Using the Valuer Platform to Find Innovation Within the Fishing Industry

Finding innovative aquaculture companies

The process starts with Valuer processing its database of more than 600,000 companies to identify all potentially relevant to the fishing industry. The descriptions of all initially relevant companies are then processed by Natural Language Processing (NLP), which finds patterns impossible to recognize with tags and regular search mechanisms. At this point, the number of organizations identified is narrowed down to approximately 3000 most relevant ones.

The platform then references the companies to the four focus areas listed above. By choosing the ones nearest to a projected point, it selects roughly 200 for each focus area and groups them in clusters (refer to the color codes on the cluster illustration, Image 1.)

Grouping companies from different areas

The illustration shows the clusters of companies (represented with dots) colored depending on their projection area. Their proximity to other companies depends on the commonalities of the products or solutions they provide.

Even though the platform processes the clusters in 1024 dimensions, we’ve included a 2D interpretation for demonstration purposes (this is also why some dots may seem very distant from their projection areas). The rendered image lets us make several straightforward interpretations.

We used the Valuer platform to identify the 800 companies most relevant to four aquaculture-related areas:

INTELLIGENT AQUACULTURE

INDOOR FISH FARMING

SUSTAINABLE FISH FEED

PRECISION AQUACULTURE

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Observations and company trends

We can draw several insights from the company clustering image, including:

1. Overall there is a considerable amount of overlap between the clusters, which may indicate similarities in the companies’ market approach and technologies.

2. The “Intelligent Aquaculture” cluster is scattered around the map but has the most overlap with the “Precision Aquaculture” cluster. This may indicate that the two clusters are addressing similar problems or using similar technologies.

3. “Indoor Fish Farming” is the most distinct cluster with almost no overlap with the other clusters. This may indicate a unique approach to innovation and addressing problems.

4. “Sustainable Fish Feed” and “Precision Aquaculture” are mostly standalone clusters but also fragment into the center of the map and interact with each other. This may indicate a broad range of technologies within these clusters.

Image 1: Valuer platform’s clustering of aquaculture companies

CLUSTER SECTORS

Intelligent Aquaculture Indoor Fish Farming Sustainable Fish Feed Precision Aquaculture

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Ranking the fishing technology trendsFinding the company areas that demonstrate the highest potential

Тhe platform uses four parameters to assess the clusters’ potential, market opportunity, degree of fit, and innovativeness:

• Success potential: The AI platform uses historical data from each company to evaluate the group’s overall chance for future success.

• Market maturity: The AI platform analyzes companies’ technologies to estimate the group’s overall potential to generate profit. The algorithm analyzes the companies’ financial history, the potential of attracting customers, and their technology’s maturity to compare it to the market’s general development and trends.

• Degree of fit: The AI platform uses Natural Language Processing (NLP) to grade how well a cluster of companies aligns with the customer’s challenges.

• Innovativeness: The AI platform looks for original and previously unseen combinations of business models and technologies to grade how generally innovative a cluster is.

Table 1: Valuer platform’s evaluation of companies from different aquaculture areas

Success Potential

Market Maturity

Degree of Fit

Innovativeness Total

Intelligent Aquaculture 82 73 71 81 307

Indoor Fish Farming 76 80 78 72 306

Sustainable Fish Feed 86 80 70 69 305

Precision Aquaculture 79 77 73 74 303

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INNOVATION RADARS

Valuer’s Innovation Radar is a matchmaking tool that structures and curates companies based on the customer’s corporate innovation needs. Once an Innovation Radar is complete, the customer receives a selection of case studies of innovative companies.

STRATEGIC INSIGHTS

A bite-sized edition that brings together parts from Valuer’s two main deliveries: Innovation Radar and Innovation Themes. The magazine you’re currently reading is a Strategic Insight product—a combination of in-depth data analysis and case studies of specific companies.

INNOVATION THEMES

Suitable for large organizations interested in exploring untapped markets relevant to their focus area, the Innovation Themes delivery gives customers access to in-depth data projections and technology trends within market niches.

Valuer offers three delivery models rooted in an extensive company database powered by machine learning algorithms.

The products are designed to match customers at different digital innovation workflow stages and whether they are interested in discovering new disruptive markets or learning about specific technologies and innovative business models.

Finding Innovative Companies That Match Specific Corporate Needs

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Rune HusbyCEO

Håvard AakerøyCo-Founder & COO

Nils E. Tokle, PhDCo-Founder & CTO

P L A N K T O N I C

IDEA PRODUCT/ PROTOTYPE GO TO MARKET GROWTH & EXPANSION ESTABLISHED

Y E A R O F I N C E P T I O N : 2008

L O C A T I O N : Trondheim, Norway

F U N D I N G : 3,570,000 EUR

E M P L O Y E E S : 17

W E B S I T E : planktonic.no

S E C T O R S

Agriculture

Sustainability

Biotechnology

S U B S E C T O R S

Aquaculture

Organic

Biotechnology

Animal Feed

Executive Team

Rune Husby joined Planktonic in 2016 in the position of CEO. Prior to that, Husby was one of the founding members of B2Holding ASA, a debt specialists company with Europan presence. He had previously worked at leading Norwegian investment banks and as Head of a Family Office, gathering extensive experience in ownership and leadership roles. Husby’s previous responsibilities include implementation and follow-up of action plans in companies in the field of IT, finance, sea freight, and real estate. His skill set also includes organization development, operational management, and investment management. Husby holds an MBA from the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH).

Håvard Aakerøy is an entrepreneur with 15 years of experience in leading managerial roles within salmon and mussel farming. He was Chief Manager of Environment and Quality at the large salmon company Fjord Seafood ASA. He founded Arctic Shellfish AS, now a part of Norway’s largest mussel producer Norgeskjell AS, where he is an owner and sits on the board of directors. Aakerøy obtained a degree in management of natural resources and a degree in bioeconomy from Nord-Trøndelag University.

Dr. Nils E. Tokle co-founded Planktonic in 2008 alongside Håvard Aakerøy to provide aquaculture feed with more nutritional value in contrast to conventional fish feed. He has developed cryopreservation protocols for barnacle nauplii and a unique technique for the preservation of marine copepods. Dr. Tokle is the author of more than 15 publications in peer-reviewed journals with high relevance for aquaculture and plankton ecology. He is also the co-author of two international patents related to Planktonic’s innovative aquafeed technologies. He holds a PhD in Marine Ecology from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), continuing his postdoctorate studies until 2012. Dr. Tokle is a frequent speaker, having shared his knowledge at over 20 international aquaculture and ecology conferences.

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Company Overview

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Planktonic produces live feed and preserved feed for the aquaculture and aquarium industry using a proprietary

cryopreservation technology. Based in Trondheim, Norway, the company was founded in 2008 by Dr. Nils E. Tokle and Håvard Aakerøy to solve the problem of suboptimal nutrition in marine

larviculture. After an extensive R&D process, the company managed to optimize the cryopreservation characteristics of the barnacle

nauplii and create its CryoPlankton, a biologically safe and sustainable live feed product with the right nutritional profile.

Business Model

The company operates on a B2B model, mainly targeting marine hatcheries of various sizes across Europe. Their CryoPlanktons are on sale since 2016, with Planktonic supplying businesses in the aquaculture and aquarium industries on a contractual basis. To date, 20 different hatcheries based in Europe have used Planktonic’s live feed. This has brought about positive growth for the company, with Planktonic registering around 26 030’ NOK in revenue for 2019.

Value Proposition

As a business operating in the aquaculture industry, Planktonic’s USP lies in the usage of natural zooplankton as feed for marine species. By developing novel and efficient techniques that commercialize this vast resource, Planktonic supplies its customers with an alternative feed for their hatcheries. This fish feed is biologically safe, easy to use, and carries an optimal nutritional profile without the need for additional enrichments.

Source: Adobe Stock Photos

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Product Portfolio

Planktonic is producing CryoPlankton, a live feed product based on barnacle nauplii that are biologically safe and sustainably cultivated, by using a proprietary cryopreservation technology. The company produces two variations of their CryoPlanktons:

• CryoPlankton Large, sized at 320µm x 150µm, and

• CryoPlankton Small, at 200µm x 100µm.

Technology Overview

The process begins with the harvesting of barnacle nauplii, which is done sustainably from specific farming areas along Norway’s coastline. This marine zooplankton is vastly available and is considered to provide better results than conventional live feed products. However, the main reason Planktonic is utilizing this zooplankton is for its cryogenic properties, as they are carrying antifreeze proteins that allow them to be cryopreserved in industrial-scale quantities.

During the production process, each mature egg of the barnacle is carefully washed out and cryogenically preserved using Planktonic’s proprietary technology. When the freezing process is finished, the live feed is then stored in

containers with liquid nitrogen at -196°C, where they can be preserved for an indefinite period of time. These containers can store 80 kg of the live feed and are easy to ship, with Planktonic guaranteeing that the shipment will reach their customer’s hatcheries in time for the first feeding of their larvae. Customers are assured that these containers are easy to handle, with Planktonic providing the necessary training before the handling.

This is where the preparation process begins, with the frozen zooplanktons being thawed and revitalized in seawater with a minimum of time spent. When they are active again, the fish feed is placed into the client’s feeding system, where it is ready to be consumed by the fish larvae. Notably, they do not require prior enrichment, as they are already characterized with a high nutritional value.

Compared to conventional live feed like rotifers and Artemia, barnacle nauplii are superior due to the high proportions of DHA/EPA marine fatty acids in their phospholipids. Alongside this, Planktonic’s CryoPlanktons are also highly biosecure, without any registered cases of pathogenic viruses, parasites, or bacteria. Coupled with the two sizes of the product available, CryoPlanktons promise significant benefits, such as an easy-to-use live feed, which is off-the-shelf, with increased performance and the potential for consistent and enhanced results, all while being cost-efficient.

Source: Planktonic

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Source: Planktonic

Market Opportunities

To meet the rising demand worldwide for high-quality seafood, a 30% increase in global aquaculture production is needed by 2030. The production of high-quality juveniles is a key bottleneck in marine aquaculture. Conventional natural live and inert feeds to support aquaculture species in early development use Artemia, rotifers, and phytoplankton grown locally at hatcheries. Although they are a poor nutritional match for most marine species in aquaculture, resulting in high mortalities, suboptimal FCR, and malformations in larvae, there has not been an industrial alternative to these feeds since their introduction about 40 years ago.

Planktonic is one of the companies seizing this market gap by providing cryogenically preserved zooplanktons, off-the-shelf, with better nutrient values compared to the conventional ones. Their offer places Planktonic on the global aquafeed market, which was valued at $50.6 billion in 2020 by Markets and Markets. At a CAGR of 7.2%, the analysts predict that the market will reach $71.6 billion by 2025. The market growth is mainly accredited to the increasing seafood trade, the growth in aquaculture production, and the rising seafood consumption among consumers due to the growing need for protein-rich diets.

Achievements and Future Plans

Since the commercialization of the CryoPlanktons in 2016, Planktonic has steadily gained traction among businesses in the aquaculture and aquarium industries. The company currently lists more than 20 different hatcheries of various sizes across Europe in its client’s portfolio. The number is projected to increase proportionally with the growth of the aquaculture industry. Planktonic has also attracted interest among investors, having closed several funding rounds in the amount of more than $4 million.

Planktonic has also been a part of the MAXIPLAN project, whose goal is to transform marine fish aquaculture and help pave the way for local shrimp aquaculture in Europe. Through this project, the company will prototype, pilot, and commercialize nutritious and pathogen-free aquafeed products for more efficient and productive aquaculture hatcheries. With finfish and shrimp farmers being their primary focus, Planktonic’s advantage lies within the high nutritional value these products promise, disrupting the unchanged offer of aquaculture feeds like Artemia, rotifers, and phytoplankton. This project is co-funded by EU’s Horizon 2020 program, supporting the company with approximately NOK 14.5 million.

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