German aquaculture technology company Oceanloop has secured up to EU€38.5 million to scale its software-driven recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) technology and expand Giant Grouper production in Europe.
Following several years of biological and technical development, Oceanloop has become the first company to farm Giant Grouper in Europe. Sales from its existing land-based farm in Strande near Kiel began in April 2026 through Oceanloop’s sister company, Honest Catch, marking the transition from research and development to commercial production.
The existing facility is expected to supply approximately 20 tonnes in 2026 and around 40 tonnes in 2027. The new financing will support the next stage of Oceanloop’s growth, including construction of a 250-tonne farm in Kiel starting by the end of 2026, followed by a 2000-tonne commercial facility on Gran Canaria, with construction currently planned to begin in 2029.
The financing combines new equity commitments from Hatch Blue’s Blue Revolution Fund and Stolt Ventures, the venture investment arm of Stolt-Nielsen, with a UK€32 million venture-debt facility from the European Investment Bank. The EIB financing is backed by the European Union’s InvestEU programme and supports Oceanloop’s research, development and commercial expansion in Germany and Spain.
The capital will enable Oceanloop to enter the next phase of its European scale-up strategy, transforming more than a decade of operational, biological and engineering experience into a repeatable platform for commercial land-based marine aquaculture.
“This financing marks the beginning of Oceanloop’s industrial scale-up,” said Dr Fabian Riedel, Founder and CEO of Oceanloop. “Together with Sander Aqua, we have spent more than a decade developing, operating and continuously improving land-based marine aquaculture systems. With Hatch Blue, Stolt Ventures and the European Investment Bank, we are bringing together specialist aquaculture investment expertise, decades of commercial seafood experience and long-term European growth financing. This gives us the foundation to scale Oceanloop from proven technology into an international aquaculture platform.”
“Our own European farms will initially focus on Giant Grouper, but the wider Oceanloop platform is designed for international replication across different species and markets,” said Dr Bert Wecker, Founder and CTO of Oceanloop. “We see significant interest from partners that want to produce premium seafood closer to consumption without having to develop the required biology, engineering, software and operational expertise from the ground up.”
First commercial scale-up at Oceanloop Kiel
The first phase of Oceanloop’s scale-up strategy will take place at its existing site in Strande near Kiel. With construction starting by the end of 2026, the company will complement its current R&D farm with a new state-of-the-art Oceanloop farm designed to produce approximately 250 tonnes of Giant Grouper annually.
The Kiel facility will serve as both a commercial production site and a reference platform for the broader rollout of Oceanloop technology. It will combine farming operations with applied research, biological optimisation, laboratory services, digital monitoring, software development and operator training.
The site is intended to demonstrate the full Oceanloop operating model under commercial conditions, from juvenile stocking and biological management to harvesting, processing and product quality.
Operational data from Kiel will be used to continuously improve farm design, feeding strategies, animal welfare, energy efficiency and production performance across future Oceanloop facilities.
