Irish marine ingredients provider raises €6.5m in funding
The funding came from clients of Cantor Fitzgerald, which worked with BMI on the convertible loan note, according to a report in the Irish Independent.
The Irish company is supplying fish protein hydrolysates, lipids, and calcium to the human nutrition, pet food, aquaculture, and fertilizer sectors. It can produce a range of protein fractions from 35% up to 90%, depending on the customer requirements.
The company plans to raise institutional funding later this year for a €50m plant in Donegal; it currently operates a processing facility in Castleblayney, Co Monaghan.
In terms of raw material supply, the Irish player can tap into the 1.3m tons of blue whiting available on an annual basis off the coast of Ireland. It takes that “underutilized raw material”, and puts it through a system of enzymatic hydrolysis to produce various protein and calcium fractions.
Traceability
The Irish firm claims its integrated supply chain allows it to trace each batch of its ingredients back to the fishing vessel as well as when and where it was caught, thus enabling it to maintain full security and control over its inputs.
We spoke to BMI chief executive Jason Whooley in July 2020, when the company, which is majority owned by Killybegs fishermen, raised €5m (US$5.8m) through an Irish state backed employment and investment incentive scheme.
Whooley told us then that the company was developing relationships with customers in the farmed shrimp and fish sectors in Southeast Asia to expand the reach of its protein hydrolysates in the aquaculture market, which, it says, have better digestibility than traditional fishmeal sources. “It is a significant opportunity and we are seeing a lot of traction," commented the CEO.
