Cleantech startup Samudra Oceans secures £800k investment for sea farming robots
Summary
London robotics startup, Samudra Oceans, has secured a \xa3150,000 investment from British Design Fund, as part of a \xa3800,000 pre-seed funding round, for its technology that aims to positively impact sea farming and the blue economy.Samudra Oceans innovative AI-powered static monitoring robots use powerful sensors and cameras that enable farmers to actively monitor and predict their seaweed yield. They are designed to support the growth of sustainable seaweed farming by reducing unnecessary and costly boat trips and labour something which can often far outweigh sale prices.The funding will be used by the team to build more protypes and deploy in more regions, as the company works on providing a global use case for its model. Currently active in the UK and Scotland, and with a project also underway in Jamaica, the cleantech will soon be launching schemes in both India and Sri Lanka.With a shared love for the ocean, the companys founders, Joyeeta Das and Alex Facey, were inspired with the idea for the business after recognising the huge potential of sea farming to help tackle the climate crisis and provide a sustainable, long term food source. Not only can seaweed capture up to 20x more carbon than terrestrial trees but when farmed responsibly it can also provide a sustainable food source and aid biodiversity, while empowering coastal economies.She added: Were delighted to have the backing of the British Design Fund and our other investors, as we look to use our technology to enable the scaling up of sea farming, positively impacting the blue economy and blue carbon assets.Samudras technology provides real time data that is accessible on a farmers phone or tablet. There is a really interesting startup scene building around blue carbon and Samudra has spotted a clear need that has the potential to make a big impact.British Design Fund is a leading early-stage British manufacturing investor.