More than 3 billion people worldwide They rely on wild-caught and farmed seafood to their protein intake. The The world’s aquaculture production has reached a new recordAccording to a report published last week, 89% of all aquatic animal production is used for direct human consumption. This shows that the global consumption of aquatic foods continues to increase. Accordingly, startups in the aquaculture sector are using AI technology to help farmers increase productivity and sustainability.
Among them is a startup based in Canada Vitaya Aqua. Its data-driven platform enables seafood farmers to integrate existing data points across the seafood supply chain to drive greater profitability, sustainability and efficiency. After entering Singapore in 2023, it raised $2.8 million in a seed round to further develop its feed-to-farm platform and expand further in Asia, the largest aquaculture-producing region.
“We were originally founded in Canada, but our vision is global, and Asia is an important part of the equation. … The [Asia] The region is a global leader in aquaculture production, contributing a significant portion of the world’s seafood,” Vitaya Aqua Evan Hall Co-Founder and CEO told TechCrunch. „Although Southeast Asia is highly productive, there is tremendous potential for further growth through data-driven practices.”
Many countries use aquaculture, but a few dominate aquaculture China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Bangladesh and South Korea, Top Five Aquaculture Producers
The startup’s platform uses AI and machine learning to improve its science-based models and predict animal growth (predictive analytics) and recommend optimal feed types and amounts based on real-time data and growth forecasts. Its machine learning algorithm analyzes historical data and environmental factors to recommend strategies to maximize crop yields.
Hall, a wildlife conservation photographer, and Dominic Biro, a professor of animal nutrition and aquaculture at the University of Guelph, saw the inefficiencies and challenges of child data in the industry and co-founded Vitaya Aqua in 2017. A painful process of copying field notes into Excel to analyze data while working as a fisheries biologist.
Aquaculture data has traditionally been fragmented and slow-moving, hindering the ability to make well-informed decisions, Hall said. Vitaya Aqua aims to solve this problem by integrating data from various points in the supply chain – including farmers, feed mills and raw material suppliers – into a single centralized platform. According to the company’s CEO, transparency across the value chain provides data and insights.
„An integrated view allows us to develop robust, science-based models that provide stakeholders with actionable insights,” said Hall. „For example, a farmer can see how their feed choices directly affect growth rates and compare their performance against industry benchmarks. Similarly, feed mills can analyze how their feeds are performing on different farms, allowing them to refine feeding strategies for specific customer needs.
Its users include raw material suppliers, feed mills and farmers. The startup claims to be in the revenue generation phase and has some clients like BioMar, De Heus, Uni-President, US Soyabean Export Council, Soy Aquaculture Alliance, Temasek Lifesciences Laboratory, AquaChile among others.
There is a global aquaculture market It is projected to reach $355.6 billion by 2033from $299 billion in 2023, according to a Precedence Research report.
The company competes with farm management solution providers such as Fieldin, Taranis, Efishery, Victory Farms, Ataraya and AquaEasy. What sets Vitaya apart from its peers is that its platform integrates nutritional information into field performance. That means the company can model the effects of different feed ingredients on animal performance, which is unique, Hall said. In addition, it works with multiple species in multiple geographies, from core commercial salmon, shrimp, tilapia and pangasius to niche species such as grouper and snapper, unlike most companies that focus on a single species and one geography.
In the long term, Vitaya plans to pursue a two-pronged approach to usher in a new era of financial stability for farmers. First, it aims to reduce perceived credit or insurance risks related to production mortality by providing robust data and insights. Second, it wants to match its users with lenders and insurers that can offer personalized financial products, Hall said.
The outfit has 16 employees across Canada and Singapore.