Carbonwave – a world leader in upcycling the largest seaweed bloom on the planet into ultra-regenerative, plant-based, advanced biomaterials – announced an initial closing of its $5 million Series A round led by Mirova1, an affiliate of Natixis Investment Managers dedicated to sustainable investment with additional significant participation from Viridios Capital, Popular Impact Fund, and Katapult Ocean.
This funding round brings the total funding to date to $12 million and will be used to build large-scale cosmetics emulsifier production facilities in Puerto Rico to satisfy growing customer demand for biomaterials. And the current Puerto Rico facility, used for R&D, has also successfully developed a leather alternative from Sargassum (the floating seaweed masses), which it will be launching soon.
Carbonwave has already developed Sarga Agriscience (Sarga Ag), a line of organic agricultural inputs made from Sargassum’s liquid compounds that increase yields, allow crops to survive drought more effectively, and reduce the need for nitrogen fertilizer. And Sarga Ag products are being tested for large-scale application by some of the leading corporate growers in the world.
In June 2022, Carbonwave won the Carbon to Value Challenge with BASF, Seafields, and the Alfred Wegner Institute to produce PET plastics. And Carbonwave has already sold half a ton of its SeaBalance2000, the world’s first seaweed-based cosmetic emulsifier, which was named ‘Best Functional Ingredient’ at In-Cosmetics Korea in 2022.
Historically, Sargassum seaweed mats have been a feature of the North Atlantic Ocean. But in the past 12 years, warming ocean temperatures and increased fertilizer and pollution runoff have triggered a separate bloom–the largest seaweed bloom on the planet – in the Caribbean. Known as the great Atlantic Sargassum belt, this yearly bloom poses a suffocating threat spanning from West Africa to the Gulf of Mexico where it clogs bays and beaches, threatens tourism, harms the local ecology, and presents other problems. And as it accumulates on beaches and in landfills, it decomposes, releasing vast amounts of methane, which increases the pace of global warming.
Traditionally, most commercial seaweed science has focused on extracting simple, raw compounds from better researched species like kelp. And Carbonwave is the first company to chart a route to profitably process Sargassum and has developed a novel and proprietary method of extracting its unique biopolymers that are even more valuable than the simple compounds when extracted separately. This extraction method has made Carbonwave the first in the world to produce a wide range of Sargassum-based biomaterials that can displace fossil fuel-based products, such as emulsifiers, textiles, and plastics.
Carbonwave is suited to addressing the large-scale processing of sargassum and its diverse product opportunities. And Sargassum doubles its size every 10-21 days. And unlike terrestrial plants, Sargassum does not require land, irrigation, or added nutrients to grow. Among seaweeds, Sargassum is one of the most promising: as a pelagic species and it does not require a particular topography or fixed infrastructure to grow at scale (unlike kelp).
Carbonwave has 2 operations: one in Puerto Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico and the other in Carolina, Puerto Rico – and is exploring additional ventures in the Caribbean to bring about new economic opportunities centered on sustainability, climate, and positive social and economic impact.
KEY QUOTES:
“In three short years, we’ve become the first company to build a scalable cascading biorefinery to create a commercially sustainable operation harnessing Sargassum into high-value products. Support from our investors and partners has allowed us to catalyze our proprietary technology and manufacturing process to turn the Caribbean’s seaweed crisis into an economic opportunity and a climate solution. We are producing viable alternatives that redirect demand from fossil fuel-based products by cost-effectively developing a wide range of regenerative, low-carbon, and plant-based alternatives that global industries are seeking to advance their sustainability and decarbonization initiatives while contributing to the bio-circular economy.”
— Geoff Chapin, co-founder and CEO of Carbonwave
“Mirova, through the Sustainable Ocean Fund, is thrilled to continue its support for Carbonwave with this follow-on investment into the company. We believe that Carbonwave’s processing of Sargassum into high-value products is an excellent example of the Blue Economy at work, whilst also providing a unique solution to help address decarbonization.”
— Simon Dent, Head of Blue Investments at Mirova
“Our investment in Carbonwave reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting innovative nature-based solutions to mobilize positive action towards net zero. Taking Sargassum seaweed, which would otherwise rot on beaches and release methane, and turning it into a range of sustainable products that can displace fossil fuel-based products from the marketplace is the type of innovation the world needs to tackle climate change.
— Eddie Listorti, CEO, Viridios Group
“We believe in investing in initiatives that propel economic and social progress with a focus on efforts that drive a more sustainable future. We have identified in Carbonwave an opportunity to support an innovative solution that leverages a plentiful ocean resource in a manner that has a direct positive impact on our environment.”
— Ignacio Álvarez, President and CEO of Popular
“In our mission to build a world where a thriving ocean and economic development can exist in harmony, we are committed to investing in and helping to scale the most impactful ocean-tech startups. Carbonwave joins Katapult Ocean as part of a growing number of Katapult investments into the seaweed space. With increasing opportunities for seaweed’s application and the growing potential of scalability for the industry, we are very excited to work with this highly talented team, and we look forward to the journey ahead both through our accelerator program and beyond.”
— Jonas Skattum Svegaarden, CEO, Katapult Ocean
