Irish aquatech startup Nernst Electric has secured a US$2 million seed investment from Hatch Blue’s Blue Revolution Fund to boost the commercial development of its on-site oxygen generation technology for fish farms.
The funding will support construction of a demonstration unit, with successful trials paving the way for commercial customer deployments and a future Series A fundraising round to scale the technology across the aquaculture sector.
Fish farms require a constant supply of oxygen to maintain fish health and maximise growth. Traditionally, operators rely on trucked liquid oxygen or pressure swing adsorption and vacuum swing adsorption systems, both of which can be costly and difficult to manage, particularly at remote coastal sites.
Nernst’s technology generates oxygen with a purity exceeding 99% directly from ambient air using advanced ceramic membranes, offering what the company says is a more energy-efficient, lower-cost and lower-maintenance alternative.
“For decades, the limitations of conventional on-site oxygen generation have held back productivity across industries including aquaculture, mining, metallurgy and steelmaking,” said chief executive Nick Farandos.
“Our breakthrough reactor technology removes those barriers, enabling the most efficient oxygen production at any scale with near-zero maintenance and the industry’s lowest operating costs.”
While aquaculture is the company’s first target market, Nernst believes its technology also has significant applications in mining, steel manufacturing and the energy sector, where large-scale oxygen supply remains a critical operational requirement.
Carsten Krome, managing partner and co-founder of Hatch Blue, said the company’s wider industrial potential made it an attractive investment.
“Nernst is a clear example: the platform that solves critical oxygen supply for fish farms has industrial-scale application across heavy industry. That is exactly what gives the Blue Revolution Fund the conviction to back it.”
Nernst joined the Hatch Blue portfolio in 2025 through the Hatch Accelerator Fund II before participating in an Aquatech Innovation Studio organised with Ireland’s seafood development agency, Bord Iascaigh Mhara.
The demonstration project is expected to validate the system in a commercial farming environment before wider customer trials begin.
