Seawater Cubes raises 2.4 million euros

The start-up was able to convince two investors as part of its Series A round. The company is now focusing on market entry and initial pilot projects.

The Saarbrücken-based start-up Seawater Cubes GmbH has raised €2.4 million in financing in a Series A round. The company wants to make fully automated and sustainable fish farming in Germany possible with its recirculation system in containers. The money comes from the two Heidelberg-based companies Vier Wände and Bliss Holding. Both are active in the catering business. They will now support the company in setting up the first pilot locations and developing a franchise system for fish marketing.

Seawater Cubes states that it intends to conduct further research into adapting the technology for "exotic fish species" in the future. The company also wants to set up a franchise system and invest in the development of its product for series production. Over the next few years, the company now wants to position itself on the market - both nationally and internationally. In Germany alone, where the focus is currently on, up to 120 marine fish farms are to be built over the next five years. The ultimate aim is to achieve a market share of ten percent for species such as sea bass and sea bream. The first customers for the implementation of pilot projects from 2022 have already been found, explains the company.

"This year, climate change has once again shown us in all its severity that society urgently needs to rethink the way we consume resources. We need new approaches to how food is produced and purchased and, above all, we need consumers to be more aware of their consumption," says Carolin Ackermann, founder and CEO of Seawater Cubes. The company wants to achieve this goal through information and transparency. "We have been fighting for our vision of regional marine fish farming for four years and are relieved to have laid the foundations for our market entry with this new funding." It is currently not easy for hardware start-ups in Germany to obtain capital.

The aim of the company is to enable a regional supply of fresh sea fish. Founders Carolin Ackermann, Christian Steinbach and Kai Wagner have developed a fully automated and compact fish farm that can be used to farm marine fish in an environmentally friendly way and under controlled conditions - far away from the oceans. The team developed the idea during their research activities at the HTW Saar. A prototype of the facility was successfully built and operated between 2017 and 2021. The Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy helped with this.