Start-up settles in a mine - and wants to breed shrimps there

The start-up Aquapurna was only founded in 2020. Now it wants to set up shop in the disused K+S mine and raise sustainable marine animals there.

For a long time, the Sigmundshall mine in Wunstorf near Hanover was entirely dedicated to potash extraction. However, as the mine, which is managed by fertilizer manufacturer K+S, has now been shut down, new companies or business areas are to be established there. This has now apparently been achieved. The company Aquapurna has rented an area of around 400 square meters where it intends to set up a research and development center, as several media outlets have reported.

Aquapurna itself has dedicated itself entirely to aquaculture. On its own website, the start-up, which was only founded in 2020, claims to be "developing the most advanced method of land-based shrimp farming to provide the world with delicious shrimp while preserving our planet."

It was not initially clear why the company was drawn to a mine of all places. In any case, K+S rents out halls and underground rooms at the site, which was abandoned in 2018. According to the mine operator, these have the advantages of being sealed off from the outside world and having a relatively stable temperature down there. Other start-ups could soon set up shop here.