"Cadman Capital joins Urchinomics to accelerate the next stage of growth". This is how the family office and alternative asset investment firm announced that it has taken a strategic stake in the pioneering aquaculture venture that converts ecologically destructive sea urchins into high-value seafood, which in turn helps restore and establish kelp forests.
"Urchinomics is a restorative aquaculture venture that turns an environmental challenge into an economic, ecologic, and social opportunity", is how founder and CEO Brian Tsuyoshi Takeda summarized the company's business model for WeAreAquaculture in his TalentView. That business model made it one of three commercial ventures in the world endorsed by the United Nations Ocean Decade.
Now, Cadman Capital's entry into its shareholding follows the announcement last December that, after a successful research project in Kunisaki and Nagato (Japan), it had secured the world's first blue carbon credit for seaweed restoration. The Group is an established investor and operator in restoration aquaculture with more than 20 years of experience in the development of innovative processes in land-based lobster and oyster farming.
Cadman's participation will enable Urchinomics to accelerate its growth plans for its operations in North America, Japan, and Europe. The firm also owns the largest land-based urchin aquaculture facility in North America, Quoddy Savour Seafoods, and this site is expected to become Urchinomics' hub for the East Coast of North America.
"We are now able to call Pennfield, New Brunswick our new base of operations in Canada!", wrote Brian Tsuyoshi Takeda in announcing the news on his LinkedIn profile. From there they will supply New York and other influential markets with ecologically restorative, premium sea urchin roe, and at the same time, large-scale seaweed restoration will begin in the Bay of Fundy, where the facility is located.
"Urchinomics is a tremendously exciting business", said Giles Cadman, ecopreneur and founder of Cadman Capital Group. "They share our passion to develop nature based solutions to tackle the fight against climate change and help heal our ocean's. We have long recognised that solutions need to focus on the holistic restoration and the sustainable improvement of marine ecosystems, allowing the creation of stronger biodiversity that helps the planet. Urchinomics' core model of restorative aquaculture is synergistic to our current operations, particularly within lobster production, and we look forward to supporting Brian and the team to accelerate their operations globally".
"Cadman Capital Group's involvement in Urchinomics is a milestone moment for us. It recognises the intrinsic value we have already created, and evidences the strength of our philosophy of harnessing the power of the natural world to help reverse some of the negative ecological and economic impacts we are seeing today", Brian Tsuyoshi Takeda added. "Their scientific and operational experience in restorative aquaculture means we can now move forward with an aligned mission to improve ocean health. It signifies the start of the next stage of our growth plans and to further our efforts in developing systems that can truly make a difference to the future of our planet", concluded the founder and CEO of Urchinomics.