After six years of development at X, the moonshot factory – a project of Google parent company Alphabet – Tidal is launching as a standalone company, with the backing of prominent investment firms tied to salmon aquaculture.
Tidal was launched by Alphabet as a team focusing on ocean health and sustainability. It has developed a system of cameras and artificial intelligence (AI) which can gather real-time intelligence on salmon growth, weight distribution, feeding control, and sea lice concentration.
During its development, Tidal worked with Norwegian salmon-farming company Mowi to research how to optimize its AI-powered technology for use in aquaculture operations to improve the sustainability and efficiency of salmon farms.
“The Tidal system is the most advanced sensing and analysis platform in aquaculture and, undoubtedly, the one with the greatest potential,” Mowi Farming Norway COO Øyvind Oaland said.
Tidal then partnered with Cognizant Ocean in June 2023 to expand the use of AI in aquaculture operations; now, just over a year later, it has launched as an independent company with funding from Perry Creek Capital, Norwegian-based Ichthus Venture Capital (IVC), and Futurum Ventures.
IVC was launched by Kverva, a privately owned Norwegian investment company established as a holding company for the ownership of SalMar. Since then, SalMar has become a public company – with Kverva as its largest shareholder.
The newly launched Tidal, meanwhile, will focus on what it has developed over its six years with Alphabet, Tidal CEO Rajesh Jadhav said.
“Tidal’s technology focuses on providing precise and real-time data at scale to support the salmon aquaculture industry to address major challenges and unlock new opportunities,” he said.
The company said with its launch it is planning to establish an even stronger base of operations in Norway and seek expansion in other major fish-farming regions, like Chile and Australia.
“We see huge potential in the value that Tidal can offer farmers,” IVC Managing Director Mats Malvig said in a release. “Based on our deep industry knowledge and understanding, we are confident in Tidal’s capabilities and ability to succeed and provide solutions for key challenges and de-bottleneck growth opportunities within the aquaculture industry.”
