Sustainable aquaculture investment fund Aqua-Spark is planning six to eight new investments on top of its existing portfolio in 2020, Founder and Managing Partner Mike Velings told IntraFish.
The €130 million ($166 million) investment fund currently manages 19 small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs), with a new one soon to be announced. "We are in the final stages of the legal closure of the deal, so that should be announced pretty shortly," Velings said.
In addition to the new investments, the fund plans on plowing more capital into its existing portfolio.
"We are basically expanding and trying to advance and develop the partnerships we already have," Velings said.
The firm will also grow its team to 20 executives during the year.
Where will the fund plow capital?
Though Aqua-Spark has a relatively narrow remit, being solely in the seafood space, it is looking to expand across the value chain in farming, technology, alternative proteins and seaweed, a sector Velings said "deserves more attention."
In October, Aqua-Spark invested in Fisher Piscicultura, a Brazil-based tilapia farmer, to help the company expand production capacity from 600 to 3,000 metric tons.
The investment group also plowed capital into Norwegian hatchery feed innovator Molofeed to help the company to solve aquaculture's biggest bottleneck; early-stage hatchery feed.
That same month, the firm backed Israeli water treatment company BioFishency to support its research and development phase and expansion in China.
Other companies in its portfolio include the data-driven tech company CageEye, the female-led Canadian aquaculture technology firm XpertSea, global aquaculture accelerator Hatch, and insect-based feed developer Protix, among others.
