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Swedish aquaculture water treatment firm gets fresh funding

NP Innovation is a global supplier of water treatment technologies for aquaculture systems. Its CEO Nils-Åke Persson, along with other members of the management team, maintain ownership of half the company.

NP Innovation was founded by CEO Nils-Åke Persson in 2013. Its product range consists of pre-filter, drum filters, disc filters and CO2 degassers for the aquaculture and public sector water treatment industries.

“Nils-Åke is considered to be the international guru within water filtration for RAS systems. The technologies he has developed are still dominating the global aquaculture landscape. However, we expect the new water treatment technologies from Nils-Åke and his colleagues to raise the bar even higher when it comes to water quality and product reliability as well as lower maintenance costs,” says Kjetil Haga, partner at Broodstock Capital.

NP Innovation currently employs 13 people. The company regularly supplies fish farming companies in Europe, U.S.A., Chile and Canada. NP Innovation is expected to deliver revenue of approximately SEK50 million (US$5.67 million) in 2018. Approximately 90 per cent of its revenue come from the aquaculture industry, with the remaining 10 per cent from the public sector, according to the Broodstock Capital statement.

“We have on average grown 25 per cent every year – and been profitable each year apart from the start-up year – since we established the company. However, through Broodstock Capital’s entry we gain the financial muscles to quickly increase production capacity, which in turn will allow us to start bidding for larger projects worldwide. The latter will benefit both our customers and cooperation partners. I am excited to get Broodstock on board,” Persson said.

The investment in NP Innovation is Broodstock Capital’s fourth in the seafood space. Its funds focus exclusively on investments in small and medium sized businesses within the seafood industry in general and in the fish supplier industry specifically. Last year, Broodstock Capital purchased Danish firm Billund Aquakultureservice, a supplier of recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) technology and services. The investment company has since expressed its intent to have a significant presence in the RAS space.

“Proper water treatment is at the heart of any RAS facility. Given the expected global growth in aquaculture production, combined with an increasing RAS market penetration, we believe NP Innovation is perfectly positioned to play an important role in the development of the aquaculture industry. We strongly believe NP Innovation possesses the most reliable and cost-efficient filtration products available globally, which is why we have chosen to invest in the company,” said Simen L. Bjørnstad, partner at Broodstock Capital.