SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–With a focus on urgently impacting climate change within the next decade, aquaculture startup CH4 Global announced today that it has closed on a seed round of $3 million USD. The company is scaling the aquaculture and processing of a specific species of red seaweed – Asparagopsis armata – as a livestock supplement solution to reduce ruminant methane emissions by up to 90%.
The issue CH4 Global is addressing is massive: There are 1.5 billion cows in the world. Each year over the next two decades, the greenhouse gas (GHG) output for those 1.5 billion cows is greater than the GHG output from China, the largest GHG emitter by country in the world.
This funding comes from a select group of prominent family offices and private investors from around the world and also includes non-dilutive capital from leading government innovation groups, including the New Zealand Provisional Growth Fund, South Australian Research & Development Institute, the Australian Fisheries Research Development Corporation, and the South Australian Landing Pad.
CH4 Global was founded 18 months ago by an international team of senior scientists, proven technology entrepreneurs, and business executives from Australia, New Zealand, and the US. They are actively working to leverage the ground-breaking research findings of Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific & Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Meat & Livestock Australia, and James Cook University that has led to the global recognition of Asparagopsis seaweed’s impact on methane reduction and has now spawned a completely new industry that CH4 Global and others are building.
“The sad, undeniable truth is we are rapidly running out of time to delay an impending climate crisis,” said Dr. Steve Meller, President, CEO and Co-Founder of CH4 Global. “Asparagopsis armata is an Australian- and New Zealand-native, naturally abundant seaweed that can immediately impact climate change. This cold-water seaweed is perfectly suited to the Australian and New Zealand climate for sustainable, long-term, environmentally friendly cultivation. And CH4 Global is well positioned to make it available globally now, not 10 years from now.”
The company’s initial focus is on addressing the market for dairy and beef cattle in Australia, New Zealand, and California which is expected to exceed $10 billion by 2030, according to agricultural industry sources. CH4 Global is the only fully integrated provider of Asparagopsis-based livestock supplement products designed and structured to specifically deliver this new product with urgency.
CH4 Global is on a multi-faceted mission to meaningfully impact climate change in the near term. There are three core tenants to CH4’s business. First, to act with urgency – the company is harnessing the power of Asparagopsis seaweed to reduce methane from cows and other ruminants. Second, to ensure this natural, sustainable solution has a net positive return on investment for dairy and beef farmers so they can rapidly and profitably adopt this approach around the world. Third, CH4 is also helping ensure the growth and viability of new economic opportunities for First Nations people throughout the world, initially with Australian Aboriginal peoples and with Māori iwi in New Zealand, through key partnerships currently being developed.
For the past 10 years, CSIRO and its collaborators have been developing the fundamental science behind Asparagopsis and have been validating it in seminal scientific studies in beef cows and sheep definitively showing significant reductions in methane from ruminants. Others, such as UC Davis and Penn State, have more recently validated these same findings in dairy cattle. CH4 Global is now focusing on scaling the commercial production and processing of Asparagopsis armata in both South Australia and New Zealand, where this seaweed grows naturally and abundantly. Their intent is to become the leading global supplier of Asparagopsis supplement for cattle and other ruminants.
“We are well down the road in integrating the pillars of our strategy,” added Dr. Meller. “We have processes and partners that we are aligning to optimize the way we cultivate, process, and distribute Asparagopsis in our key markets. We are actively acquiring and partnering for aqua space for commercial scale aquaculture in Australia and New Zealand, and we are formalizing customer relationships to get to market quickly. Agility and speed are core to our strategy of urgency, as we know time is running out.”
CH4 Global was founded and is led by a team of senior business builders, scientists, and entrepreneurs with a proven track record of success in creating and scaling new businesses and bringing new innovations to market. Globally connected, the team is based in Australia, New Zealand, and the US and headquartered in San Francisco, CA.
The company’s board and their executive positions are:
- Steve Meller, President & CEO
- Nick Gerritsen, COO
- Guy Royal, Chief Legal Counsel
- Larry Howell, Chairman of the Board
About CH4 Global
CH4 Global is an aquaculture solutions provider dedicated to urgently impacting climate change. Led by a world-class team of senior business builders, scientists and entrepreneurs, the company is initially leveraging proven science and technology for growing seaweed into innovative new livestock supplement that reduces methane produced by cows by up to 90%. Among early investors are a select group of prominent family offices and private investors. CH4 Global has also received non-dilutive capital support from government organizations from around the world. CH4 Global is a Delaware corporation based in San Francisco, CA. For more information, please visit us at CH4 Global.
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