Oceano Fresco is a sustainable seafood company using innovative aquaculture techniques to grow high-quality bivalve species.
Oceano Fresco
The Banco Português de Fomento (BPF) and Indico Capital Partners (Indico) have announced a joint investment of €11.5 million in the bivalve cultivation startup supplier Oceano Fresco.
Of the total amount, €8.05 million is directly contributed by the Deal-by-Deal Co-investment Program of the Capitalization and Resilience Fund (FdCR) and €3.45 million through the Indico Blue Fund, a Venture Capital Fund managed by Indico Capital Partners - Sociedade de Capital de Risco S.A.
This financial boost will increase the company's operational expenses (OPEX) and capital expenses (CAPEX), allowing for investment in new technologies and processes to enhance efficiency and reduce costs.
Therefore, Oceano aims to expand operations by building new cultivation facilities, acquiring advanced equipment, and enlarging the open-sea operational area.
In this same vein, Ana Carvalho, CEO of Banco Português de Fomento, underlined the reasons behind this strategy: "The investment reinforces BPF's commitment to the blue economy, supporting an innovative startup based in Nazaré that is positioned in sustainable aquaculture aimed at cultivating high-quality bivalves in Portugal. This is the Fund’s first direct investment in the blue economy, which could initiate a cycle of BPF support for this priority sector of the national economy."
On the other hand, Stephan de Moraes, Managing General Partner of Indico Capital Partners, commented about the sector's emerging popularity: "The demand for clams, in particular, far exceeds the current supply, and cultivating them sustainably and systematically makes sense at every level."
Finally, Bernardo Carvalho, CEO of Oceano Fresco, added: "We welcome Indico Capital Partners and Banco Português de Fomento on this journey, as well as appreciate the renewed support from AquaSpark and BlueCrow, as we continue on our path to becoming global leaders in regenerative bivalve aquaculture."
Oceano Fresco is a sustainable seafood company using innovative aquaculture techniques to grow high-quality bivalve species. It farms only native European clams, starting with V. corrugata and R. decussatus, in decline and threatened by exotic and invasive species.
First, its clams are bred in the hatchery at its state-of-the-art BioMarine Center (Nazaré, Portugal). Then they go to the world’s first open-sea clam farm (off the coast of Lagos, Portugal) to be fed with naturally available microalgae and grow to adulthood. It supplies in Spain and Portugal and soon will expand to other European markets.