Exclusive: Sea6 Energy Adds BASF Venture Capital To Captable

Exclusive: Ocean Farming Startup Sea6 Energy Adds BASF Venture Capital To Captable, Raises $4.2 Mn

SUMMARY

Sea6 Energy is raising $4.2 Mn from BASF Venture Capital GmbH along with its existing investors Silverstrand Capital and Aqua-Spark

The round seems to be part of the ongoing Series C round of investment

Sea6 Energy had raised $9 Mn in its Series B round last year

Bengaluru-based ocean farming startup Sea6 Energy has begun its next round of funding and has onboarded a new investor, BASF Venture Capital GmbH, to its captable.

As per the regulatory filings accessed by Inc42, shareholders of Sea6 Energy, in an extraordinary general meeting held earlier this month, agreed to allot a total of 9,744 equity shares and 512 fully paid up compulsory convertible preference shares to two of its existing investors – Netherlands-based aquaculture fund Aqua-Spark and Singapore-based Silverstrand Capital, along with new growth stage investor BASF Venture Capital GmbH.

The startup has allotted these shares for $4.2 Mn. Mail sent to Sea6 Energy elicit no response at the time of publishing the story.

BASF Venture Capital GmbH, which often invests in seed to Series B rounds of startups, is focused on digital farming, sustainability, AI startups, among others.

The startup will receive the funds in two tranches. Post the investment round, Aqua-Spark, which led the Series B round, will hold a 18.3% stake in Sea6 Energy. While Silverstrand Capital will own 1.53% stake, BASF Venture Capital will have 3.65% stake in the startup.

Tata Capital, which participated in the startup’s Series A round in 2015, will continue to be the biggest external investor with a 21.15% stake.

Sea6 Energy, founded in 2010 by Nelson Vadassery, Shrikumar Suryanarayan, Sowmya Balendiran and Sri Sailaja Nori, develops technologies to convert biomass into biofuel, plant growth stimulants, plant defence products, animal feed ingredients, and other bio-renewable products to replace chemicals and plastics.

The startup also offers bioprocessing which comprises marine biotechnology, fermentation technology, analytical chemistry, synthetic chemistry, among others.

It is worth mentioning that Sea6 Energy has become the second aquaculture startup after Aquaconnect to have raised funding amidst the funding winter. Aquaconnect had raised $8 Mn in debt from Trifecta Capital in March this year.

Meanwhile, Sequoia Surge-backed Aqgromalin recently laid off 80 employees as it was not able to raise a new round of funding. Last month, Inc42 exclusively reported that Aqgromalin is considering a merger and even held talks with Licious to tide over the crisis.