August 17, 2018

BlueNalu, a newly launched cellular aquaculture startup, announced it has successfully raised $4.5 million in initial funding through a round led by New Crop Capital and including a broad range of 25 venture organizations and individuals from the U.S., UK, Hong Kong, Israel, and Luxembourg. 

Based in San Diego and founded by Chairman Chris Somogyi, President and CEO Lou Cooperhouse, and Chief Technology Officer Chris Dammann, the name BlueNalu incorporates “Nalu”, a Hawaiian word that when used as a noun refers to the waves of the ocean, and when used as a verb means to meditate, ponder, or contemplate.

Recognizing the range of challenges being faced by the wild catch seafood industry, and the ecological and environmental impact the industry has, the founding team brought together expertise in cell biology, IP, food tech, tissue engineering, commercialization, and marketing to sustainably create cell-cultured finned fish, crustaceans, and molluscs in a laboratory setting, reports FoodNavigator-USA.

“It’s time to rethink seafood and how we can sustainably feed our global population in the decades ahead,” said Lou Cooperhouse, president and CEO of BlueNalu, adding, “We are very grateful for the tremendous interest in BlueNalu from both the financial and mission-driven venture community, and we are extremely pleased by the global reach and diversity of the investors in our seed round.”

New Crop

Launched in February 2016, the $25 million New Crop Capital (NCC) fund focuses solely on investing in plant-based and culture-based meat and dairy alternatives and the technology platforms that are designed to advance such products.

Founded by managing director Bruce Friedrich, investment manager Chris Kerr, and managing trustee Nick Cooney, NCC provides Angel, Seed, and Series A funding to early-stage companies that show the potential to disrupt the trillion dollar meat, dairy, egg, and seafood sectors.

Through Friedrich, who is also the executive director of the Washington DC-based non-profit The Good Food Institute (GFI), NCC is closely tied-in with the non-profit which provides marketing, regulatory, and business advice to plant-based and culture-based food startups with the goal of expanding the reach of such products into traditional pipelines including grocery stores, restaurants, and food service vendors.

New Crop Capital’s portfolio is an impressive gathering of what it refers to as “game changers” including, plant-based meat producer Beyond Meat; plant-based and shelf-stable seafood producer Good Catch; plant-based seafood producer New Wave Foods; Israel-based food tech startup Super Meat; plant-based meal kit producer Purple Carrot; and cellular ag innovator Mosameat, among others.

“This is the largest seed round to date in this category, and one of the largest that has occurred globally in the entire ‘clean meat’ space,” said Chris Kerr, CIO with New Crop Capital.  “We are very excited at the market potential for BlueNalu and their ability to offer consumers an alternative to conventional animal sources that today originate only in our oceans and seas.”

Business Model

The company has not divulged the exact nature of the cell lines or growth medium it’s using, reports FoodNavigator-USA.  However, the company has expressed that all its products are being made without genetic modification.

Different from some of its rivals, BlueNalu is not aiming to build out its own brand, but instead, is seeking to forge partnerships with branded CPG companies that already have a presence in food retail and food service in order to bring BlueNalu’s products to market.

Cooperhouse, who is the former executive director of the Rutgers University Food Innovation Center, told FoodNavigator-USA that the company is in talks with a range of CPG companies, food processors, and marketers regarding “… areas of R&D, technology commercialization, corporations, marketing and sales, that will enable us to create value-added food products and distribute these to retail and foodservice markets throughout the globe.”

-Lynda Kiernan