Simris Alg, the agribusiness which farms algae in Hammenhög, has just successfully closed a financing round with a final 11 million SEK to be put towards expanding their algae farm, transforming 50 square meters of cultivation to 4 thousand (as reported in an article by 8till5.se).
The company began its construction of the current greenhouse in January and will start building a secon greenhouse adjacent to the first in the autumn. The expansion will cost about 50 million SEK, most of which will come out of loans, and be complimented by the money from investors.
Frederika Gullfot sees this 11 million as simply the start of more finances to come. She aims to look towards international investors for the next money batch:
“We are looking for international institutional capital. There are more funds abroad who liked to invest in our type of business and there is a completely seperate interest for startups developing new foods.”
So what’s the next step? Gullfot expects it will be releasing their products, which include a unique version of Omega-3 and a new line of dietary supplements based on algae, on the market for consumers to lap up.
A Bit about the Business
Simris Alg was founded by Fredrika Gullfot in 2011 and has since acquired SEK 37 million in venture capital. Earlier investors included the likes of Christian Ash, owner of gym-chain Fitness 24 Seven. He even participated in the more recent round, and is one of the company’s ten biggest shareholders.
