Seaweed startup Seamore launches £219k crowdfunding campaign

02-Mar-2018 - Last updated on 02-Mar-2018 at 13:59 GMT

Seamore is looking for £219k of investment

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Edible seaweed startup Seamore has started a crowdfunding campaign to raise between €250,000 (£219,106) and €500,000 (£442,638), in a bid to launch a worldwide rollout of its products.

With the minimum level of investment, Seamore would hire a product developer to accelerate the creation of new seaweed products and invest in the tests and materials to develop them.

The money would also be used to invest in displays, promotions and in-store marketing materials to boost sales in shops, as well as the number of listings for Seamore’s products.

If the company’s stretch goal of €500k is met, it would hire a second product developer and a salesperson to boost sales in the foodservice sector.

Seamore also aims to invest in sustainable packaging and increase the scale of seaweed farming.

Seaweed alternatives

Its range of seaweed alternatives, including pasta, bacon and wraps, are currently available in 750 stores across six countries, including the UK, France and Germany.

It expected to grow to 4,264 stores in the next two years, with sales set to rise to €854,322 this year, €4.6M in 2019 and €11.6M in 2020. The investment would allow Seamore to sell 1bn servings of seaweed to people by 2030.

Founder Willem Sodderland said the company’s mission was to create a more sustainable food source from the world’s oceans, to prevent global stocks running out by 2050.

“With the investment, we can create many more exciting, inspiring everyday seaweed products, get them into many more stores and reach many more people in those stores,” said Sodderland.

‘Ahead of the competition’

“We’ve learned very valuable lessons, proven our concept and built a fantastic brand and we’re way ahead of the competition.”

At the time of writing, the campaign had received £90,602 towards its goal, with 30 days left until it closes.

There have been a number of food and drink manufacturers in recent years that have run successful crowdfunding campaigns.

Online biscuit firm Biscuiteers raised £1.25M from more than 780 investors, as part of its crowdfunding campaign.

Meanwhile, craft brewer BrewDog is now running its fifth round of crowdfunding, raising more than £12M of investment.