Wellness Innovations BV has raised €1.2 million in a crowdfunding round through the DuurzaamInvesteren investment platform. The funds will be used to expand the company’s algae oil product portfolio, and growth and development of Testa Omega-3 and Daily Supplements.
Wellness Innovations is an R&D group that focuses on fish-free solutions to be applied in nutrition, health, and beauty lines. It aims to offer viable alternatives across every sector, to allow fish populations to recover. The company aims to educate buyers about the alternatives to fish oils. The products are completely plant-based, with no animal derivatives used. Both have been founded on the principle of preventing all unnecessary fishing by 2035.
“We are already well on our way in this mission,” co-owner Martin de Vries, said in a statement. “We are market leaders in the Netherlands and Belgium, and we are growing strongly in Germany, France and the UK. However, the share of algae oil in the total omega-3 market is still only about 5%, so we still have a long way to go to realise our goal. Growth is therefore necessary and we are taking steps to the other continents. In addition, we are broadening our portfolio.”
Omega-3 can be sourced from sustainable, regenerative algae instead of fish. Therefore Testa launched a new vegan alternative to krill oil this year.
“The vegan omega-3 food supplements from algae were something quite new,” DuurzaamInvesteren CEO Anrique Aparicio Torres said in a statement. “We are pleased to see that this type of innovation is also being embraced by investors and that the development towards a sustainable future is accelerating in this area as well.”
Thanks to its generous regenerative properties and wide range of varieties, algae is quickly capturing the attention of several industries and proving to be a popular area for research.
Recently, Australia’s Provectus Algae held an $11.4 million investment round led by Hitatchi Ventures and Vectr Ventures. Provectus is focussed on a blood-red colouring agent, with an extense product range in the future. Funding will be used to complete a 200,000 litre production plant that will support scaled rollout.
Israeli company Yemoja has developed a microalgae-based heme that can be used to create juiciness and bleeding capabilities in plant-based meat. It will be branded as Ounje and browns realistically when cooked.
