© Symbrosia
The US National Science Foundation (NSF) investment will be used by Symbrosia to develop and implement novel automation tools across their Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai’i Authority (NELHA) Asparagopsis farm.
Founded in 2019, Symbrosia has been cultivating fast-growing Asparagopsis strains and developing products to drastically reduce livestock methane emissions, one of the world’s leading greenhouse gas contributors. Their partners include Organic Valley, Danone and Parker Ranch. Symbrosia is scaling SeaGraze production rapidly and partnering with researchers, ranchers, distributors, and brands to build supply chains that reward producers for producing low-methane animal products.
Alexia Akbay, founder and CEO of Symbrosia, stated in a press release: “We’re grateful for the continued support from America's Seed Fund powered by the NSF, propelling us into an exciting phase of ground-breaking research and development."
"With a changing labour market and steep inflation, we believe automation will allow us to continue to provide liveable wages for our employees as our operations grow. This funding not only drives us towards a more sustainable future in agriculture but in non-tourism jobs on Hawai’i Island," she added.