Fish breeder Qian Hu invests S$1 million in AI aquaculture technology

Qian Hu Corporation Limited invested S$1 million in AquaEasy Pte Ltd, a unit of the Bosch Group. AquaEasy, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT)-based solution, combines sensors, software and services based on data analysis capabilities to help shrimp farmers increase productivity, profitability and implement sustainable aquaculture practices while reducing risks and costs. Earlier this year, AquaEasy secured funding from EDB New Ventures, the corporate venture building arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board.

Since 2020, AquaEasy has been collaborating with Qian Hu in achieving an efficient and sustaining shrimp farming system at its farm in Choa Chu Kang. Through cloud connection and AI, the collected data is analyzed in real-time to provide insights and recommendations on water quality management, feeding optimization and harvest prediction, while Qian Hu uses its proprietary patented HYDROPURE filtration system and nanobubble technology to enhance water quality. The AquaEasy AI solution has also been successfully deployed at many shrimp farms in Indonesia and Vietnam.

“We are excited to be partnering with AquaEasy for the long haul. As with AquaEasy, Qian Hu too believes in innovative solutions that would transform our enterprise and industry. Through this investment, we are putting our money where our mouth is,” said Yap Kok Cheng, Qian Hu’s CEO. “Since 2017, aquaculture has been a growing core business of our group. By using our HYDROPURE and nanobubble technologies, we developed a recirculated aquaculture system for super-intensive shrimp farming which achieves higher output compared to traditional shrimp farming methods. With AquaEasy, our aquaculture processes can achieve higher productivity and profitability with its revolutionary intelligent feeding systems using Internet-of-Things technology. We hope that our collaboration with AquaEasy will take Qian Hu’s aquaculture strategy to a whole new level.”

More strategic collaborations with AquaEasy in the pipeline

Qian Hu and AquaEasy also intend to look for opportunities to use AquaEasy’s AI solutions and services within the aquaculture industry and collaborate in the development of AI solutions in new market areas, particularly in the following areas:

R&D: Develop and expand AquaEasy’s AI solutions and product offerings in both Qian Hu’s existing and new market areas encompassing other aquatic species such as fish including the ornamental category, as well as recirculated aquaculture systems in aquaponics.
Commercial go-to-market and deployment: Integrate AquaEasy’s AI solutions into Qian Hu’s aquaculture systems as well as market AquaEasy’s smart aquaculture technology to Qian Hu’s customers globally.
Platform: The parties will develop a platform, using AquaEasy’s cloud-based IoT capabilities, to digitalize the aquaculture supply chain so that it will be more efficient and cost-optimized. The platform provides real-time and transparency, thereby enabling traceability and sustainability of local produce.

“This partnership will enhance the capability of growing Asia’s aquaculture industry with cutting edge AI and IoT technologies, transforming a traditional aquaculture industry into one that is smart, predictable and sustainable,” Yap said.