Starting with any relevant education, walk me through the twists and turns of your career to date? How did one opportunity lead to the next + what was the key takeaway/ experience in each role + how did this lead you to where you are now)
I am fascinated by marine life and the mysteries that the oceans hold, that’s why I graduated in Oceanography. Since the beginning of the course, I’ve studied microalgae biotechnology and had opportunities to study abroad to build a solid career as a scientist, which, at that time, I believed to be the best opportunity for me. With almost no background in business, I had to learn how to be a CEO, before starting Algabloom. As a researcher, I did what I knew best, I looked for information, took courses and participated in incubation programs. So, I can confidently say that today I am on the right path, knowing how to chart my company's journey to success.
I believe that an outstanding scientist should possess entrepreneurial skills, including the ability to recognize possible applications of their research. Similarly, entrepreneurs should have scientific skills such as detecting a problem, defining hypotheses, and testing them.
What was the pivotal moment that put you on your current founder path?
I have always been driven by applied sciences and based my research on a product that could bring security in hatcheries. Many Brazilian aquaculture producers face fish mortalities or poor performances as a result of insufficient quality of microalgae used as feed. When I finished my PhD. in 2019 I realised that I’ve dedicated 10 years to developing an innovative product and I was among the most qualified professionals in that field. Thus, I decided to embrace the challenge of remodelling my research career to an entrepreneur one, by developing a commercial microalgae product to contribute to the success of marine fish production in my country.
Thus, I decided to embrace the challenge of remodelling my research career to an entrepreneur one...
Can you provide a quick summary of the technology/ area of innovation and its potential application?
We’ve developed an algae-based product that can be used in animal health and nutrition. Any aquatic animal requires microalgae as feed at least in one of its growing periods. Also, microalgae synthesise molecules with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and immune stimulation properties, so its use as feed additives is beneficial to reduce diseases. We’ve developed the whole technology from the cultivation of microalgae in efficient photobioreactors to the processing of biomass that guarantees its maximum nutritional value. Now we are commercialising our product for aquatic animals, but it is possible to bring all these benefits for terrestrial animals as well.
What stage are you at?
We are in the operational phase, we’re building a new production field, larger than the one we currently use at the University. Increasing production capacity will allow us to expand our portfolio. We’ve launched the microalgae concentrates as first feed and as a supplement for aquarium animals, with the expansion we hope to target other clients such as feed industries in the near future. We are testing the efficiency of our product to terrestrial animals and the results are promising.
Discuss the biggest challenges of getting to this point? With the benefit of hindsight, what would you have done differently if anything?
I believe that all biotech startups have in common is the difficulty in convincing customers that our product really works, and that we are the most qualified to deliver this solution. This takes time, resilience, and most of all it requires a minimal infrastructure to develop and launch beta products.
Additionally, I started the company in the middle of the pandemic, where physically being in the laboratory to grow the algae was a complex task, and one that needed planning for the safety of my colleagues and mine.
Despite the difficulties of this period, I took advantage of the opportunity where many entrepreneurship courses, which were previously in-person, moved online, so I could learn from experts from all over the world from home.
We believe that it is possible to revolutionise human life through algae.
How have you approached funding?
We are a lean team doing our best with little resources. We have raised funding from governmental entities that contributed to the development and validation of the technology before going to the market. Recently, we’ve been invested by Lambarin Investimentos, a Brazilian Agtech focused Venture Capital business which we will use to build our own microalgae production field plant.
Have there been any pivot points in the company’s lifetime? What triggered these? Has the value proposition changed?
We believe that it is possible to revolutionise human life through algae. That is why we’ve always operated in agribusiness to bring security, efficiency, and sustainability to animal husbandry.
However, the strategy to impact animal husbandry has pivoted a few times. We started commercialising our solution for hatcheries to use in the larviculture of marine animals as first feed. Although we realised that the solution was not yet finished for those customers, we expanded to other targets, such as the aquarium hobby, which is more prone to test new products, and they loved our algae to supplement diet for corals, anemones, and marine fish. An interesting fact about the aquarium hobby market is that it has grown during the pandemic and is a worldwide activity. Now we have improved the technology, and it is accepted by hatcheries as well.
Meanwhile, we realised that we could improve quality of life for Pets and reduce the use of antibiotics in animal production by improving their nutrition, acting directly on their health, without medication.
What has been the greatest source of help/ guidance along the way?
As soon as I decided to found Algabloom, I began to interview people that had experience in aquaculture or in business, to map out whether or not my solution made sense. I got a lot of feedback from friends and even unknown people who were experts in aquaculture. Each person I’ve spoken to contributed to a piece of the puzzle that I needed to put together to set my business strategy.
Not surprising, I ended up meeting my business partner through one of these conversations, where we had such good synergy that we decided to join forces to achieve Algabloom's purpose of impacting animal production.
Be passionate about your solution but don’t expect others to simply love it.
Best advice you’d pass on to other founders?
Be passionate about your solution but don’t expect others to simply love it. At first, I was so obsessed with technology that I almost threw the towel when I received negative feedback from customers. Today, I see that I needed that shake to open my eyes. Sometimes we need to be less protectionist with our products, they are good, but they are not perfect and there is always room for improvements.
What do you think are broadly the biggest needs and opportunities in the Animal Health and Petcare markets?
I believe that there's a huge opportunity for sustainable solutions for animal health and petcare. Despite being a global trend, those solutions need to be pushed forward and stimulated within the entire production chain to make them viable. Clients must be aware of the benefits for themselves and the environment of consuming “greener” products. At the other side of the chain, the producers must get orientation and access to achieve minimum standards for being granted these labels.
Moreover, good practices guidelines should be done together by public and private parts so that every actor's demand is considered. In my field area, algae could contribute to improve animal health and to reduce carbon emissions, either through the active capture of CO2, or through the reduction of emissions by animals when consuming algae. Nevertheless, carbon markets are not consolidated in every country.
What’s going to have the single biggest impact on change in your area of the market?
We want to provide nutritious food for everyone. The use of algae as feed and/or ingredient will bring efficiency to the production chain, improving animal performances, reducing diseases, and preventing the need for antibiotics. This will promote stability to the production of food from its base, reduce their costs which would benefit the consumers with healthier food for a fair price.
What do the next two years have in store for you?
We are working to, in the next two years, be well established in the aquaculture market with both our products, microalgae concentrate as live feed for aquarium animals and hatcheries, and the feed additives for rearing aquatic animals. Aquaculture grows 20% annually and sustainable practices, such as our products, tend to be fundamental for the success of the activity.
Furthermore, we are very dedicated to bringing all the benefits that algae already provide to aquatic animals to terrestrial animals as well. Pet parents are aware of the importance of investing in better nutrition for their animals. Therefore, I believe that the use of algae will be increasingly present in human life, starting with animal feeding.
