Urchinomics, a sea urchin aquaculture innovator based in IJmuiden, the Netherlands, entered into two separate business arrangements on 23 and 24 July as part of its overall mission of restoring kelp beds through harvesting urchins and growing them to market size.
The company announced a new capital and business alliance with Food and Life Companies (F&LC) signed on 23 July, which will see the urchin aquaculture company supply F&LC with its domestically farmed sea urchins. The next day, Urchinomics’ parent company Verdant Bloom signed a share purchase agreement with NYK, which will also see the urchin company supply it with its products.
Urchinomics harvests undersized or under-filled sea urchins from regions where kelp beds have been overeaten. The company then feeds them a proprietary feed in urchin ranches, which allows the company to develop a commercially viable product. Profits from sales of the urchin products are then put back into restoring more kelp forests by harvesting overpopulated urchins – which are then also raised into a viable commercial product.
The company started a semi-commercial scale feeding facility in 2019 and then secured JPY 630 million (then USD 5.7 million, EUR 4.9 million) through a Series A fundraising round in 2021. In 2022, the company reported its sea urchin feeding system was seeing success, and later that year, the company secured the world’s first blue carbon credit for kelp-bed restoration.
Urchinomics CEO Perry Bevin said the new partnership with NYK – a Japanese shipping and logistics company – is a “game-changer” for the company.
“It validates our innovative approach to marine restoration and sustainable aquaculture,” Bevin said. “With NYK's support, we can significantly scale our efforts to restore kelp forests and make a meaningful impact on climate change. Working with partners who share our vision for nature-based solutions is essential for achieving our goals."
NYK said its investment is part of its mission to give back to the oceans, given its role as a logistics company mainly centered around marine transportation. The company said the new investment will help it contribute to Urchinomics’ goal of preserving marine biodiversity in seaweed beds and will also help it acquire know-how on the conversion of blue carbon to credits given Urchinomics’ experience.
“Through this investment, NYK would like to vigorously pursue solutions to the social issue of rocky-shore denudation and the new challenge of creating blue carbon credits,” NYK Executive Officer Shinichi Yanagisawa said.
The company’s capital and business alliance with F&LC will see Urchinomics provide the company’s ...
