Singapore Aquaculture Technologies (SAT) Pte Ltd, a pioneer in utilizing closed containment systems for fish farming, secured a Series A financing round totaling S$9.2 million. The main part of this equity investment comes from Siemens Financial Services (SFS) via Siemens Project Ventures GmbH, the financing arm of global technology company, Siemens AG. As SAT’s first institutional shareholder, the investment from SFS accounts for a significant minority stake in the company.
Founders Dirk Eichelberger and Michael Voigtmann view Siemens’ entry as a validation of their strategy to become the leading supplier of data- and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven aquaculture solutions, in addition to producing premium fish products under their BluCurrent label.
“We are absolutely thrilled that Siemens, which started as our technology partner, is now also invested in us as our first institutional investor,” commented CEO Dirk Eichelberger.
“Siemens is deeply committed to sustainability and this is reflected in both our investment and technologies,” said Steffen Grosse, CEO of Equity Finance at Siemens Financial Services. “By investing in SAT, we hope to further support sustainable food production and help Singapore achieve its “30 by 30” goal of 30% local food production by 2030.”
SAT launched its first Smart Floating Fish Farm in February 2020. Unlike traditional fish farms, the solution is scalable and is equipped with a Recirculating Aquaculture System (RAS). In addition, the farm integrates a high degree of automation, an efficient solar energy management solution, self-regulated control cycles and artificial intelligence within a Farm Management Information System to achieve a productive, scalable and environmentally friendly operation.
Siemens Digital Industries implemented an end-to-end digital solution for the smart farm, which included totally integrated automation with smart sensors and connectivity to the IoT operating system MindSphere. A dedicated application helps to monitor operations and process data across a secure network.
During the farm’s launch in February 2020, SAT and Siemens signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for enhanced collaboration in commercializing and scaling Aquaculture 4.0 technologies in ASEAN and beyond. The two partners will now take the next steps to this enhanced collaboration with two additional smart farms in Singapore, slated to be ready by September 2021. These additions will increase SAT’s fish production capacity to over 1,000 tons per year.
In parallel with the investment by SFS, Siemens has also signed a Strategic Collaboration Agreement with SAT, to partner with SAT in its future growth plans in Singapore and globally, which could include further enhancements to the technology solutions.
