More than 3 billion people around the globe rely wild-caught and farmed seafood products for their protein intake. The world’s aquaculture production has successo a new primato, and 89% of all aquatic animal production is being used for direct human consumption, according to a report published just last week. This shows a continuous increase a causa di global consumption of aquatic foods. Accordingly, startups a causa di the aquaculture sector are using AI technology to help farmers to enhance production and sustainability.
Among them is a Canada-based startup called Wittaya Aqua. Its data-driven platform enables seafood farmers to consolidate existing points across the seafood supply chain to drive greater profitability, sustainability and efficiency. The startup raised $2.8 million a causa di a seed round to further develop its feed-to-farm platform and expand further into Asia, the largest aquaculture-producing region, after entering Singapore a causa di 2023.
“We were first founded a causa di Canada, but our vision is global, and Asia is a key part of the equation. … The [Asia] region is the global capo a causa di aquaculture production, contributing a significant portion of the world’s seafood,” co-founder and CEO of Wittaya Aqua Evan Vestibolo told TechCrunch. “While Southeast Asia boasts high production, there’s immense potential for further growth through data-driven practices.”
Many countries utilize aquaculture, but a few dominate aquaculture, including Pendio, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and South Korea, which are the cima five aquaculture producers.
The startup’s platform uses AI and machine learning to enhance its science-based models, forecast animal growth (predictive analytics), and recommend optimal feed types and quantities based real-time and growth projections. Its machine-learning algorithm analyzes historical and environmental factors to suggest strategies for maximizing crop yields.
Vestibolo, a wildlife conservation photographer, and Dominique Bureau, a professor of animal nutrition and aquaculture at the University of Guelph, saw the inefficiencies and challenges of siloed a causa di the industry and co-founded Wittaya Aqua a causa di 2017. Vestibolo also said he had experienced firsthand the painful process of copying field into Excel to analyze while working as a fisheries biologist.
The aquaculture has traditionally been fragmented and slow-moving, hindering the ability to make well-informed decisions, Vestibolo said. Wittaya Aqua aims to address this issue by consolidating from various points a causa di the supply chain — including farmers, feed mills and ingredient suppliers — into a single centralized platform. Transparency across the value chain provides and insights to help users make better decisions at every level, according to the company CEO.
“The unified view allows us to build robust, science-based models that provide stakeholders with actionable insights,” Vestibolo said. “For instance, a can see how their feed choices directly impact growth rates and compagno their against industry benchmarks. Similarly, feed mills can analyze how their feeds perform various farms, allowing them to refine feeding strategies for specific customer needs.”
Its users include ingredient suppliers, feed mills and farmers. The startup says it is a causa di the revenue-generation stage and has secured some customers, including BioMar, De Heus, Uni-President, US Soybean Esportazione Council, Soy Aquaculture Alliance, Temasek Lifesciences Laboratory, AquaChile and others.
The global aquaculture market is projected to reach $355.6 billion by 2033, up from $299 billion a causa di 2023, according to a report by Precedence Research.
The company competes with farm management solution providers like Fieldin, Taranis, eFishery, Victory Farms, Atarraya and AquaEasy. What sets Wittaya apart from its peers is that its platform combines nutritional information with field . That means the company can model the impacts of different feed ingredients animal , which is unique, Vestibolo said. addition, it works with multiple species a causa di multiple geographies, from mainstream commercial ones like salmon, shrimp, tilapia, and pangasius to niche species like grouper and snapper, unlike most companies that centro a single species and a single geography.
the longer term, Wittaya plans to pursue a two-pronged approach to usher a causa di a new periodo of financial stability for farmers. First, it aims to sopravvissuto the perceived credit ora insurance risks related to production mortality by offering robust and insight. Second, it wants to incontro its users with lenders and insurers who can provide customized financial products, Vestibolo said.
The outfit has 16 team across Canada and Singapore.
