Aquabyte has successfully raised $23.8 million over two funding rounds, with backing from prominent investors like NEA and Costanoa Ventures. The company integrates aquaculture with machine learning to revolutionize ocean sustainability and the efficiency of fish farming.
Keep reading to explore the intricacies of Aquabyte's fundraising journey and the investors backing this innovative platform.
What Is Aquabyte?
Aquabyte, founded by Bryton Shang, integrates aquaculture with machine learning to revolutionize ocean sustainability and fish farming efficiency. The company operates from San Francisco and Bergen, with a team of 11-50 employees.
Using custom underwater cameras and computer vision, Aquabyte quantifies fish weights, detects sea lice infestations, and generates optimal feeding plans in real-time. Their technology aims to make fish farming more viable and cheaper than livestock production.
With a mission to mitigate climate change and prepare for population growth, Aquabyte's innovative approach combines on-site hardware, cloud data processing, and a user-facing web application.
How Much Funding Has Aquabyte Raised?
- Seed Round
- Amount Raised: $3,500,000
- Date: January 2018
- Lead Investors: Costanoa Ventures, New Enterprise Associates
- Motivation Behind the Round: To build a team of developers to refine Aquabyte's machine learning and vision software, aiming to reduce feed costs for fish farmers.
- Series A Round
- Amount Raised: $10,000,000
- Date: June 2019
- Lead Investors: Costanoa, NEA, Alliance, Struck, Alaya, and angels
- Motivation Behind the Round: To continue product development, expand product offerings, grow the team, and expand geographically, including opening a subsidiary in Chile.
Total Amount Raised: $13,500,000. Current Valuation: (~estimated) $50,000,000.
Key Investors
- NEA (New Enterprise Associates)
- Details: NEA is a global venture capital firm focused on helping entrepreneurs build transformational businesses across multiple stages, sectors, and geographies.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, healthcare, energy
- Notable Investments: Coursera, Duolingo, Robinhood
- Costanoa Ventures
- Details: Costanoa Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm that invests in enterprise software companies.
- Investment Focus Areas: Enterprise software, data-driven applications, infrastructure
- Notable Investments: Alation, Intacct, Quizlet
- Alliance Venture
- Details: Alliance Venture is a venture capital firm based in Norway, focusing on early-stage technology companies.
- Investment Focus Areas: Early-stage technology, Norwegian startups
- Notable Investments: Kahoot!, Xeneta, Unacast
- Struck Capital
- Details: Struck Capital is a venture capital firm investing in early-stage companies, particularly in the technology sector.
- Investment Focus Areas: Early-stage technology, innovative startups
- Notable Investments: Mythical Games, Postmates, Latch
- Alaya
- Details: Alaya is a new investor in Aquabyte, with specific details not provided in the available sources.
- Investment Focus Areas: Not specified
- Notable Investments: Not specified
What's Next for Aquabyte?
As Aquabyte looks to the future, the opportunities are vast. The company plans to expand its product offerings, including biomass estimation and unique fish identification, and enter new markets like Chile. This geographic expansion, coupled with the development of a fully automated fish farm, positions Aquabyte to significantly impact global aquaculture.
To support these ambitious plans, Aquabyte may seek additional funding. The potential for cost savings and efficiency improvements in fish farming makes it an attractive investment. However, challenges such as building trust with fish farmers and navigating regulatory requirements could pose hurdles. Despite these challenges, the growing focus on sustainable food production and technological advancements in aquaculture provide a promising outlook for Aquabyte.
Use Clay to Get Funding Data
Sales professionals, leverage Clay's platform to access comprehensive fundraising data on companies like Aquabyte and gather other critical business insights.
Sign up for free on Clay and start transforming your sales strategy today.
