Hatch Raises The Stakes for New Aquaculture Programme

Aquaculture investor Hatch has increased the cash portion of\r\nits offer to start-ups taking part in its accelerator programme.

Hatch is recruiting for its fourth programme, which offers $75,000\r\ncash investment and $55,000 in-kind value to each participating company.

The investor has previously offered €50,000 cash ($54,000)\r\nper company plus €50,000 of in-kind support in return for a share of the firm’s\r\nequity. In-kind support includes mentoring from a variety of aquaculture\r\nindustry experts.

Investment fund

Hatch also has an $8.4 million investment fund which offers\r\nfollow-on investment for top performers in its programmes.

The “2020 Global Cohort 4.0” is limited to 10 companies who\r\nwill take part in a 15-week programme at three locations - Hawaii, Bergen in\r\nNorway, and Singapore – where Hatch has bases.

Hatch’s investment philosophy assumes that the aquaculture\r\nindustry needs to increase its efficiency and make its way of operation more\r\nsustainable through innovative technology.

Improving technology

Managing partner and co-founder Georg Baunach said: “We\r\nbelieve that currently the most important tasks are to improve the\r\ntechnological level of farming and to find alternatives to traditional feed\r\ningredients – and thereby increase the sustainability of the sector.”

Within the last year, the Hatch portfolio has received more\r\nthan $10m in external investment and licensing deals worth more than $40m. The\r\ninvestment focus areas of Hatch are nutrition, health, biotech, production\r\nmethods, and technology.

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Hatch was awarded the prize for international impact at last\r\nyear’s Aquaculture Awards held in Edinburgh, and one of its portfolio\r\ncompanies, fish farm software developer Manolin, shared the award for most\r\npromising new entrant to the industry.

Source: Fish Farming Expert