Fishpeople Seafood, a Portland, Oregon-based company driven by the dual goals of providing sustainable and traceable seafood, announced that is has closed a $12 million Series B led by Advantage Capital Agribusiness Partners (ACAP) and including long-term existing investor, 3×5 Partners, along with S2G Ventures, Encourage Capital, Blueberry Ventures, and the Collaborative Fund.
As a certified “B” Corporation, Fishpeople Seafood works with small-scale fishermen who catch only species that are abundantly available in the wild.
“When I joined Fishpeople in 2015, I was inspired by our founders uncompromising commitment to evolve the seafood industry to do better and do right by consumers, fishermen and the oceans,” stated Ken Plasse, CEO of Fishpeople.
As part of the company’s mission, Fishpeople believes in “relentless traceability” as a means of supporting undervalued species, coastal communities, and ocean habitats. Each of Fishpeople’s products – seafood kits, filets, and soups – include a code on its packaging that provides the consumer with information about the captain of the boat that caught the fish and where it came from.
“When we heard about Fishpeople, we knew we needed to get involved with this company,” said Tyler Mayoras, principal of ACAP. “The seafood industry is one of the last to see meaningful improvements in product quality or sustainability, so we are excited to work with a group of people that is so dedicated to providing better options and full traceability for consumers.”
Fishpeople plans to use the capital raised through this round to support the expansion of the distribution of both its consumer product lines and its newly launched “for chefs” line of foodservice offerings in retail and grocery stores. Funds also will be allocated to drive product innovation and product formats, drive brand awareness, and to continue to meet consumer demand while continuing to pursue growth and its goal of becoming a leader in the sustainable seafood space.
“We are thrilled to have found such a unique group of mission-aligned, respected investors that focus on companies disrupting the food and beverage space with forward-thinking tactics, a focus on product and food system innovations and a strong commitment to sustainability,” said Plasse. “As we continue to lead the charge in transparent seafood products that consumers can trust, we are excited to receive this round of funding that supports the resources necessary to accelerate growth and continue to disrupt and elevate the seafood industry.”
Sustainably sourced seafood product lines are increasingly gaining investor attention and capital. In December 2016 Aqua-Spark, the Dutch pure-play aquaculture investment fund, announced its first reach in the consumer market with an investment of $2.5 million in LoveTheWild, a U.S.-based producer of sustainable, ready-to-prepare, frozen seafood meal kits. The company has a double mission – to take the intimidation factor out of preparing seafood dishes and to encourage consumers to broaden their choices beyond traditional choices such as salmon to more sustainable, environmentally-friendly species such as barramundi or striped bass.
“Responsible aquaculture has the potential to fight some of the most serious challenges we face as a planet, and will be made or broken by consumer perceptions about seafood,” explained Jacqueline Claudia and Christy Brouker, co-founders of LoveTheWild at the time. “Our goal isn’t just to offer sustainable seafood, but to make it the most exciting and in demand consumer protein.”
Later, in March of this year, it was announced that Leonardo DiCaprio joined Aqua-Spark as an investor. Investments such as this, made by high-profile celebrities such as DiCaprio have the ability to not only provide the capital needed to growth sustainable fish protein operations, but can also endorse the investment class as a vehicle through which to not only have a positive social and ecological impact, but to also gain returns.
-Lynda Kiernan
Lynda Kiernan is Editor with GAI Media and daily contributor to GAI News. If you would like to submit a contribution for consideration, please contact Ms. Kiernan at lkiernan@globalaginvesting.com
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