Fremantle Seaweed raises $2.3m to scale methane-reducing seaweed
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The news: WA-based startup Fremantle Seaweed has raised $2.3 million to scale up commercial production of Asparagopsis, a native seaweed that can cut cattle methane by up to 80%.
The numbers: Backed with $4 million from the WA government’s Investment Attraction Fund, Fremantle Seaweed has spent the past four years building the technology, engineering systems, and ocean-based infrastructure needed to produce Asparagopsis at scale.
Asparagopsis has been shown by the national science agency CSIRO to reduce methane emissions from cattle by up to 80%, offering one of the world’s most promising climate solutions for the beef and dairy sectors.
The new funding will accelerate the development of the company’s 3,000-hectare North-West Hub, the centrepiece of its commercial rollout.
The startup is preparing a 400-day Wagyu feedlot trial with 60 head of cattle, using more than 1,500 kilograms of dried Asparagopsis. The trial is designed to deliver performance and productivity results under real commercial feeding conditions, providing data to help drive widespread market adoption.
The context: Investors in the seed round include PR & marketing agency Third Hemisphere, which has launched a new venture investment arm designed to accelerate the growth of mission-driven organisations across climate, technology, sustainability, and industry transformation.
Fremantle Seaweed said a further $4.32 million is now open to sophisticated investors, bringing the total raise to up to $6.5 million.
What they said: “Our analysis shows that scaling to the North-West Hub could abate close to one million tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions each year, roughly the same as offsetting a small LNG facility,” said Fremantle Seaweed co-founder and managing director Chris De Cuyper.
The source: Third Hemisphere media release
