ImpactAlpha, April 18 – XpertSea, the Quebec City-based startup, has developed a sensing device that helps fish farms and hatcheries keep track of their stock. Aquaculture accounts for half of the seafood consumed around the world and one-third of fish production jobs. But fish farms suffer financial losses and waste from overfeeding and overcrowding, low survival rates and escapes. XpertSea says its devices, which use computer vision and machine learning, are being used in 48 countries and have counted and tracked more than 17 billion organisms.
- The C$10 million (US$8 million) round… was backed by sustainable aquaculture fund Aqua-Spark, Obvious Ventures and Real Ventures. Real Ventures previously led XpertSea’s C$1.25 million seed round in 2015.
“The smartest route to excellent aquaculture and healthy fish is reliable data, which has been sorely missing in the industry to date,” said Aqua-Spark’s Mike Velings and Amy Novogratz.
