Participated · Equity · Feb 2024

Agriloops develops and operates large-scale saltwater aquaponic farms that combine shrimp (gambas) production with horticulture. The company announced it closed a €13 million fundraising round to support deployment of its first commercial farm, Mangrove#1, on a new site near Rennes. Mangrove#1 sits on more than one hectare and includes a 2,000 m2 aquaculture building and an attached 5,000 m2 greenhouse. The demonstrator is expected to produce more than 100 tonnes of gambas and fruits and vegetables per year and will be among the largest aquaponic farms in Europe. Agriloops positions itself as a pioneer and leader in saline aquaponics and plans to start first productions in the spring. The company is recruiting to scale operations and thanked its investors for enabling this next development phase.

Participated · Series A · Sep 2023

Spanish startup bound4blue designs and manufactures eSAIL®, a thick-profile, suction-assisted rigid sail that provides auxiliary wind propulsion for maritime vessels. Independently verified trials show fuel and emission reductions of 15–20 % on Odfjell’s Bow Olympus, with peaks up to 40 %, and daily fuel savings of up to 5.4 t on the Ville de Bordeaux ro-ro ship. The company has already installed its sails on seven ships and holds orders for twelve more, representing more than 50 eSAIL units. Customers include Maersk Tankers, Eastern Pacific Shipping, Odfjell, Klaveness Combination Carriers and BW Epic Kosan. With parallel production lines planned in Spain and China, bound4blue aims to manufacture several hundred sails annually and projects annual CO₂ savings exceeding 400,000 t by 2027. The newly raised capital positions the firm to transition from technology validation to full industrial scale-up while continuing R&D on additional wind-propulsion solutions.

Participated · Seed · Apr 2022

Cruz Foam converts chitin — the shells of crustaceans and many insects — into strong, stable, fully biodegradable materials intended to replace expanded polystyrene (EPS) and polyethylene foam. The company has been prototyping multiple form factors, purchased an extruder, and completed pilot work with partners such as Whirlpool. It is exploring additional verticals including cold chain, CPG, e-commerce, construction, and injection molding, and is in talks with several large packaging-foam manufacturers about co-manufacture or licensing. Cruz Foam plans to scale via existing manufacturers’ infrastructure rather than building a large owned manufacturing fleet. The company is filing patents, moving to a new headquarters, has grown to about 30 people, and will use new funding for operations and R&D. Its products are broadly compostable (often degrading in a month or two), though integrating with municipal waste and recycling systems remains a challenge. Cruz Foam produces lightweight, durable, backyard-compostable packaging foam made from chitin found in discarded shrimp and other crustacean shells, using a patented process that combines chitin with starches, fungi, hemp and recycled fibers. The material can be molded and cut to replace expanded polystyrene (EPS) one-for-one and can be tuned for diverse shape and rigidity requirements. The company is scaling manufacturing and logistics to fulfill a confirmed Whirlpool order for millions of molded packing feet and is in talks with additional large electronics, food and automotive suppliers. Cruz Foam kept operating with more than $2 million in NSF SBIR Phase I and II non-dilutive awards and has raised about $5 million in capital to date; the seed round was revised to $3.375 million and recently extended. Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashton Kutcher invested in the extension and will join as advisors; earlier seed backers include At One Ventures, the Sustainable Ocean Alliance, Sony Innovation Fund and Regeneration.VC. The team plans to expand beyond EPS replacement into other chitin-based applications such as injection molding and adhesives, while navigating regulatory and waste-infrastructure challenges and preparing for another fundraising round.

Participated · Series B · Mar 2022

Finless Foods develops cell-cultured and plant-based seafood alternatives with an initial focus on bluefin tuna. The company is constructing a Bay Area pilot facility to produce its first saleable cell-cultured bluefin tuna and is pursuing regulatory approval to enable sales and consumption. It plans to nationally launch its plant-based tuna into U.S. foodservice in 2022 and to explore international distribution in Asia while expanding its plant-based seafood portfolio. The company will use new funding to expand its team, deepen technical R&D, and build business capabilities to transition from R&D to a food company. Finless also aims to drive down the price of cell-cultured bluefin tuna to reach parity with conventional tuna and to reduce pressure on wild-capture tuna stocks. The company convenes an Impact Board of ocean and sustainable seafood experts and was the first to serve cell-cultured fish in the United States. Finless Foods, founded in 2017 by biochemists Michael Selden and Bryan Wyrwas, develops real fish meat grown from stem cells. The company uses cellular-agriculture technologies to grow marine-animal cells and is initially producing bluefin tuna. It aims to create more sustainable seafood without the environmental devastation or health hazards of traditional fishing and aquatic farming. Based in San Francisco, CA, Finless Foods raised $3.5M in seed funding. The company intends to use the funds to finalize its initial R&D phase and move into production, pending the closing of a Series A.

Participated · Seed · Nov 2021

Sway is a San Leandro, CA–based cleantech startup led by CEO Julia Marsh that develops seaweed-based, home-compostable replacements for plastic packaging. Its core technology is a patent-pending Thermoplastic Seaweed resin (TPSea™), a 100% biobased, home-compostable, microplastic-free ingredient made from a regenerative ocean crop. Sway’s product portfolio built with TPSea™ focuses on flexible packaging applications such as polybags, retail bags, and food wrappers. Flexible packaging applications represent approximately 30% of all single-use plastic packaging, which the company targets. Sway plans to scale its product portfolio and catalyze adoption by fashion, food, and home goods brands, including J.Crew, Burton, and others associated with the TOM FORD Plastic Innovation Prize. The company emphasizes environmental benefits that can replenish ecosystems and support coastal communities. Sway is a materials company developing seaweed-derived, bio-based, nontoxic packaging designed to be rapidly compostable in home and industrial environments. Its initial product focus is on high-performance polybags and retail bags intended to replace thin-film petroleum-derived plastics. The company emphasizes regenerative seaweed supply chains that are carbon-negative and support ocean health and livelihoods. Sway plans to use its recent financing to accelerate product development and run initial pilots with mission-aligned partner brands in 2022. The team includes co-founder and CEO Julia Marsh and was founded in 2020; the company is based in Berkeley, California. Sway frames its work as both material innovation and cultural change toward a plastic-free future.