An Irish biotech company which produces technology relating to the gut health of fish worldwide has won the BIM Aquatech Business of the Year award.
Auranta, which is based in Cherrywood, Co Dublin, produces fish feed products that boost the immunity and gut health of shrimp, salmon and other fish species.
The company was announced as the BIM Aquatech Business of the Year at a conference in Dublin entitled “Blue Ambition – Exploring investment and growth opportunities in the blue bioeconomy”.
The conference followed the BIM Innovation Studio, an intensive two-week programme that develops the technological readiness and commercial scalability of emerging aquatech startups. It is funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF).
Auranta’s new fish product, AuraAqua, is now distributed in several countries around the world as import registrations are approved, BIM says.
AuraAqua and all Auranta products are different to other products on the market as they are backed up with a strong data set, having been fully researched and tested.
The company has published 18 peer reviewed papers since it was established in 2013 by John Cullen, managing director, and Dr Patrick Ward, technical director.
The other two Aquatech Business of the Year finalists were Celtic Sea Minerals, an animal nutrition company leading in the field of marine minerals derived from red seaweed algae, and Impact-9, which develops flexible marine structural technology for offshore food and biomass production.
Aquatech is any technology or innovation driving sustainable seafood farming, and it can be applied progressively to the breeding, raising, and harvesting of fish, shellfish, and aquatic plants. The BIM Innovation Studio offers opportunities for companies in areas such as pharmaceuticals, marine engineering, genetics, feed additives and artificial intelligence.
World aquaculture production in 2022 achieved a record of 130.9 million tonnes with an estimated farm-gate value of €300 billion in 2022, according to The State of the World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2024 report (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations).
