BlueNalu, San Diego, Calif., announced the closing of a $4.5 million seed round, just two months after launching the company. New Crop Capital, Washington, D.C., served as lead investor, joined by a  coalition of 25 venture organizations and individuals from the United States, United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Israel and Luxembourg.    

BlueNalu’s cellular aquaculture process provides an alternative to current industry practices in which fish are farmed or wild-caught. BlueNalu will ultimately produce real seafood products directly from fish cells in a way that is healthy for consumers, humane for animals and sustainable for the planet. 

“It’s time to rethink seafood and how we can sustainably feed our global population in the decades ahead,” says Lou Cooperhouse, president and CEO. “We are very grateful for the tremendous interest in BlueNalu from both the financial and mission-driven venture community, and we are extremely pleased by the global reach and diversity of the investors in our seed round. This level of funding will allow us to aggressively develop our technology platform and the commercialization strategy required for product manufacture. We are also implementing strategic partnerships that will enable us to ultimately reach our target customers with a line of great-tasting, distinctive and cost-effective seafood products for global distribution.” 

“This is the largest seed round to date in this category, and one of the largest that has occurred globally in the entire ‘clean meat’ space,” adds Chris Kerr, chief investment officer at New Crop Capital. “We are very excited at the market potential for BlueNalu and their ability to offer consumers an alternative to conventional animal sources that today originate only in our oceans and seas. We are thrilled by the level of professional expertise of the BlueNalu team in the diversified fields of cell biology, tissue engineering, intellectual property, food innovation, technology commercialization and consumer marketing.”