Piscada also offers a cloud-based solution for decision support, management, and monitoring.
Bluefront Equity
Bluefront Equity has announced the acquisition of the Trondheim-based company Piscada, whose software technology helps control and analyze processes in the aquaculture industry.
Piscada's tool automates, plans, and executes feeding operations in ocean-based net pens and land-based aquaculture facilities. In this way, it controls feeding intensity, winch adjustments, and camera positioning throughout the process.
Furthermore, the aquatech company offers a cloud-based solution for decision support, management, and monitoring of various aquaculture applications.
"We provide fish farmers with a holistic visual overview of feeding parameters in all fish cages. Also, we integrate weather and environmental conditions data, supplied by Seaqloud, our new sister company. By connecting sensors, we can also analyze where in the cage the fish is swimming to optimize the feeding process," detailed the Head of Piscada's aquaculture division, Steinar Fossen.
Piscada employs 7 to 8 people and generated revenue of approximately NOK 22 million last year. Among the company's clients are Mowi, Lerøy, and Grieg Seafood.
Regarding the acquisition, Kjetil Haga, partner and CEO at Bluefront, said: "We believe that digitizing core processes and enabling biology and economics to work in tandem is the key to a more efficient and sustainable seafood industry. That is also why we acquire Piscada’s aquaculture business."
Additionally, Piscada Managing Director Torgeir Pedersen expressed: "We are very pleased with the process we have gone through together with Bluefront, and we know that both the product and the employees are in safe hands. Piscada will now refine and further develop our real estate platform and take this to new heights."
Piscada will ultimately be divested, and Bluefront Capital II will own 100 percent of the aquaculture business once all transactions are completed. This will occur before employees become shareholders.
In July 2024, Bluefront acquired aquaculture software firm FiiZK Digital, which provides digital solutions for optimizing fish farming production planning, widely used within the Norwegian salmon aquaculture industry.
Previously, the Norwegian company announced in 2022 the acquisition of a majority stake (51%) in the aquatech company Seacloud. The aquatech company, founded in 2016 by Jørn-Roar Pedersen, identified a niche for smart monitoring solutions for ocean-based industries.
