Equally important is the quality of investors Cascadia welcomes in this round, including WWF Impact (the impact investing arm of the US World Wildlife Fund), Vere Ventures, Potato Impact Partners, VertueLab Climate Impact Fund, Realize Impact, the Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia, Norfolk Green Ventures and other valued investors.
With this funding, Cascadia Seaweed will build a commercial-scale seaweed biorefinery on the West Coast, increase biomass production, and expand sales and marketing of its liquid kelp extracts, biostimulants, and livestock products.
“We are thrilled with the support from both new and existing investors,” says Michael Williamson, CEO of Cascadia Seaweed. “We’ve built a vertically integrated business that delivers real environmental and economic benefits, and this funding will enable us to scale up and provide surety of supply of innovative inputs to our customers while contributing to more resilient food production in North America.”
Cascadia Seaweed, based in British Columbia, Canada, is focused on transforming sustainably cultivated seaweed into premium products for land-based farmers looking for regenerative solutions to increase crop yields and livestock productivity while reducing agricultural emissions.
Cascadia Seaweed is recognized globally for its expertise in cultivating large quantities of high-quality seaweed (kelp) on low-impact ocean farms in partnership with coastal First Nations and converting it into agricultural products.
Each of its farms is owned by a First Nation, with benefits flowing to those local communities.
“Cascadia’s model provides benefits to our oceans, our environment, and coastal communities and can help mitigate climate change,” said Paul Dobbins, Vice President of Impact Investing and Ecosystems Services, Aquaculture at WWF-US. “When scaled, cultivated seaweed can also reduce the footprint of our global food system by providing a nutritious source of food and livestock feed with less land and resource inputs.” In just five years, Cascadia Seaweed has secured more than $18 million from equity and non-dilutive sources to design, develop, and advance technologies in its value chain, making regenerative products for crops and livestock that improve outcomes for farmers, particularly in the face of climate change impacts.
The urgency for adopting new technologies that reduce emissions and improve food security is well recognized in the face of global changes in precipitation, temperature, and other stressors.
Seaweed-based biostimulants and livestock feed supplements offer natural, scalable solutions, reducing the need for chemical products and reducing agricultural emissions. Additionally, ocean-cultivated seaweed provides valuable ecosystem services, improving the oceans in which it is grown.
This first close provides capital to propel Cascadia Seaweed forward, but additional investment room remains for qualified investors. This is a unique opportunity for accredited investors to join a rapidly growing industry at a pivotal moment.
