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More than 3 billion mass around the globerely on rampantly - fascinate and farmed seafood productsfor their protein intake . Theworld ’s aquaculture output has hit a unexampled record , and 89 % of all aquatic creature production is being used for verbatim human consumption , allot to a written report published just last week . This show a uninterrupted increment in globular use of goods and services of aquatic foods . consequently , startups in the aquaculture sphere are using AI technology to avail farmers enhance production and sustainability .
Among them is a Canada - based startup calledWittaya Aqua . Its data - driven political platform enable seafood farmer to consolidate subsist data points across the seafood supplying chain to drive greater lucrativeness , sustainability and efficiency . The startup raised $ 2.8 million in a cum one shot to further germinate its provender - to - farm platform and inflate further into Asia , the largest aquaculture - producing part , after figure Singapore in 2023 .
“ We were first founded in Canada , but our vision is global , and Asia is a central part of the equation . … The [ Asia ] area is the ball-shaped loss leader in aquaculture production , contributing a pregnant portion of the reality ’s seafood , ” carbon monoxide gas - founding father and CEO of Wittaya Aqua Evan Hall told TechCrunch . “ While Southeast Asia boasts mellow production , there ’s immense electric potential for further outgrowth through datum - driven drill . ”
Many countries utilize aquaculture , but a few dominate aquaculture , includingChina , Indonesia , Vietnam , Bangladesh and South Korea , which are the top five aquaculture producers .
The startup ’s platform apply AI and machine learning to enhance its science - free-base good example , prognosis animal growth ( predictive analytics ) , and advocate optimum provender types and quantities base on real - prison term data and growth projection . Its machine - memorise algorithm take apart diachronic datum and environmental factors to suggest strategy for maximizing crop takings .
Hall , a wildlife preservation photographer , and Dominique Bureau , a prof of animal nutriment and aquaculture at the University of Guelph , saw the inefficiency and challenges of siloed information in the industry and co - founded Wittaya Aqua in 2017 . Hall also said he had experienced firsthand the painful process of copy field notes into Excel to analyse data while working as a fishery biologist .
The aquaculture datum has traditionally been disconnected and tardily - moving , embarrass the power to make well - informed decision , Hall said . Wittaya Aqua aims to plow this offspring by consolidate data from various points in the supply mountain chain — include farmers , feed mills and constituent suppliers — into a single centralized platform . Transparency across the note value string provides data and sixth sense to help substance abuser make better decisions at every degree , accord to the companionship CEO .
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“ The unified view allows us to make racy , science - establish framework that render stakeholder with actionable insights , ” Hall say . “ For example , a farmer can see how their feed choices directly impact growth rates and compare their performance against industriousness benchmark . Similarly , feed mills can dissect how their feeds do on various farms , allowing them to refine feeding strategies for specific customer needs . ”
Its users include ingredient provider , provender John Stuart Mill and farmers . The inauguration says it is in the revenue - generation stage and has secured some customer , including BioMar , De Heus , Uni - President , US Soybean Export Council , Soy Aquaculture Alliance , Temasek Lifesciences Laboratory , AquaChile and others .
The globular aquaculture market isprojected to reach $ 355.6 billion by 2033 , up from $ 299 billion in 2023 , according to a written report by Precedence Research .
The company competes with farm direction root providers likeFieldin , Taranis , eFishery , Victory Farms , Atarrayaand AquaEasy . What adjust Wittaya aside from its compeer is that its platform aggregate nutritional information with field public presentation . That stand for the companionship can mould the impacts of different feed factor on animal performance , which is unique , Hall say . In addition , it works with multiple mintage in multiple geographies , from mainstream commercial ones like salmon , shrimp , genus Tilapia and pangasius to recession coinage like grouper and snapper , unlike most company that focus on a single mintage and a single geographics .
In the longer term , Wittaya plan to quest after a two - pronged approach to usher in a unexampled era of financial stability for sodbuster . First , it aims to reduce the perceive reference or policy risks related to production mortality by offering racy data and insight . secondly , it wants to match its exploiter with lender and underwriter who can provide customized financial products , Hall said .
The outfit has 16 staff across Canada and Singapore .
