Nordic private equity firm Bluefront Equity has become the 51% majority owner of tech company Seacloud AS, which delivers cloud-based software and sensor technology for analysis and utilisation of management data for the fish farming and maritime industries.
“There is an almost incomprehensibly large and continuously increasing amount of sensor data in the seafood industry. Seacloud aggregates the data that the different sensors capture and converts it into meaningful information which in turn forms the basis for making smart operational decisions. The company is a catalyst for digitalisation and streamlining of the seafood industry,” Bluefront Equity Partner Kjetil Haga said.
Alta, Norway-headquartered Seacloud was founded in 2016 by Jørn-Roar Pedersen, who identified a niche for smart monitoring solutions for ocean-based industries.
The core of Seacloud’s service offering is a proprietary software that can communicate with all types of sensors, irrespective of type of equipment and the end-user. In addition, the company sells different sensor technologies.
Among the sensors that Seacloud offers and connects to its cloud-based software are environmental stations that provide a complete overview of the ocean environment, weather stations that provide information about weather, wind, currents and wave height, level measurement of all types of tanks and silos, plus pH measurement of silage.
Seacloud also offers complete vessel integration that provides shipowners and fish farming companies with full overview of all vessels plus engine and vessel data.
“There is huge potential in this data, especially when it is put into context. This is exactly what Seacloud does on behalf of fish farmers, shipowners and others. We aggregate and make the data available in order to enable more efficient operations, reduce operating costs, reduce impact on the local environment, protect biomass, reduce CO2-emissions and prevent equipment breakdowns,” Pedersen said.
The investment is made through a combination of purchase of shares from current Seacloud shareholders and a NOK 20 million capital injection that will be utilised to finance further growth both in Norway and internationally.
“We provide financing that will contribute towards the continuous development of Seacloud’s software platform, to the benefit of customers, plus continued growth and increased presence closer to customers in both Norway and abroad,” Haga said.
All five current owners of Seacloud remain shareholders in the company.
Haga becomes a new board member of Seacloud. Bluefront Equity will also strengthen Seacloud’s board of directors with two additional members.
Bluefront Equity primarily invests in small and medium-sized supplier companies that contribute towards making the future seafood value chain more sustainable, including increased traceability, improved fish health and welfare, enhanced quality of the end-product, plus better hygiene.
