This is the initial design of Farm in a Box. Once unveiled, AquaFounders Capital's plug-and-play solution for land-based fish farming has begun fundraising to accelerate its commercialization.
Image: AquaFounders Capital.
The first time we learned about Farm in a Box was in October when AquaFounders Capital shared with WeAreAquaculture its new funding strategy and development focus. Ohad Maiman told us exclusively that he and his partner, Thue Holm, had defined its strategy and focus turning the idea around and moving from venture capital funding strategy to building two new companies from the ground up. One of them was a land-based farm for the development of new high-value species, the other - the most striking - was Farm in a Box. Just four months later, the initial design is concluded and ready for accelerated commercialization.
AquaFounders Capital chose a rare and special day, February 29th, to launch a project just as unique as this date. Farm in a Box is a modular, pre-fabricated, and customizable multi-purpose land-based farming system poised to disrupt current outdated practices by offering a scalable, cost-effective solution enabling fast on-site assembly.
"The sector has proven it can build reliable systems to grow high-quality fish on land up to market size, however escalating CAPEX, and significant construction periods are holding back the deployment of land-based aquaculture at scale, and this is where Farm in a Box comes," said AquaFounders Capital Managing Partner and co-founder Ohad Maiman.
"We have thoroughly studied more mature industries and incorporated such best practices into our design, enabling our clients to receive a firm and final price quote based on their species and production plan, avoid lengthy and costly design periods, and significantly shorten the time from placing an order to the moment they can start farming fish," AquaFounders Capital Managing Partner and co-founder Thue Holm added.
This system, Maiman explained to us in October, is intended "to address the specific pain points currently stalling the scale-up of the land-based aquaculture sector." Now, having concluded and unveiled the initial design, AquaFounders Capital has initiated fundraising to support the accelerated commercialization of Farm in a Box and commenced discussions with potential early adopter clients.
The entrepreneurial DNA of The Kingfish Company and Atlantic Sapphire’s founders has prevailed. Ready to put into practice the lessons learned and hoping to avoid some of the mistakes of the first time around, Ohad Maiman and Thue Holm are back on the road, now willing to make the land-based sector mature, profitable, and investable.
The next stop for them will be the North Atlantic Seafood Forum (NASF) being held in Bergen, Norway, next week. "If you want to know what Ohad and me have been doing the last year - combining 30 years of hard lessons learned lead us to this! Will be at NASF next week if you want to hear more or just reach out," Thue Holm announced on his LinkedIn profile just after unveiling the Farm in a Box design. If you are curious, you know where to find them.
AquaFounders Capital is a project development company focused on securing a strategic position in the land-based aquaculture sector, across the entire value chain. Leveraging the unique first-hand experience of its founders in building and operating two of the industry’s leading companies – Ohad Maiman is the former CEO and founder of The Kingfish Company, and Thue Holm is the former CTO and founder of Atlantic Sapphire – the company aims to identify and tackle the most critical challenges and solutions needed for the terrestrial aquaculture sector to mature and scale.
