Bluu Seafood, the German-based start-up which makes cultivated fish, has raised €16 million (US$17.5 million) in Series A funding with the aim of launching its products in Singapore in 2024.
Investors include venture capital firm LBBW VC and German food conglomerate Dr Oetker.
Bluu will use the funding to advance its technology platform and scale up its cultivated fish production, which it described as ‘real animal protein directly grown from fish cells without killing the animal’.
Bluu will focus on hybrid products such as fish balls and fish fingers made from cultivated fish cells blended with plant-based proteins.
The start-up has also applied for scientific approval to distribute its cultivated seafood products in Singapore and the US by 2024. Singapore was the first nation to approve selling of cultivated meat in 2020, followed by the US.
Bluu is preparing for the opening of its pilot production plant by the end of 2023. The plant will be equipped with large bioreactors for fermentation of up to 500 litres.
Co-Founder and CEO of Bluu Sebastian Rakers said, “Our successful Series A demonstrates the enormous potential that lies in cultivated fish as a platform technology for sustainable animal protein and underlines the strong scientific development that we at Bluu Seafood have delivered so far.”
