Seafood investor Bluefront Equity invests in Proff Kulde AS, which is a supplier of refrigerant and heating solutions for the seafood industry. 

‍“Although Proff Kulde is a relatively small company, its pace of innovation and sustainability focus is far ahead of other companies in this segment. Targeted R&D efforts have for many years been key to develop cost-efficient and sustainable solutions with minimal environmental impact,” says Simen Landmark, partner at Bluefront Equity. 

Several years ago, Proff Kulde chose to invest in its own technology development by improving traditional solutions that were not perfectly suited to the seafood industry. 

Robustness, improved user-friendliness and increased efficiency in refrigeration and heating systems were the cornerstones of the strategy. This has resulted in a broad product portfolio that consists of in-house designed, patented refrigeration and heating solutions based on CO2, which is a natural refrigerant, with associated control systems. 

Proff Kulde has, amongst other things, developed CO2-based RSW-solutions (refrigerated seawater) which are popular for cooling of fish on board fishing vessels and in the land-based aquaculture industry. 

Proff Kulde’s energy efficient and environmentally friendly solutions are key reasons for why Bluefront Equity’s fund, Bluefront Capital I, invests in the company. Bluefront Capital I is a certified sustainability fund in line with the EU’s comprehensive taxonomy guidelines, a so-called Article 8 fund. 

“Bringing a professional seafood and sustainability investor in as shareholder will be positive for both our customers and us. Improved access to capital will allow to further increase our pace of innovation and production capacity. A continued strong commitment to innovation and product development in the coming years is a plan that is agreed between the management and Bluefront Equity,” says Mathias Ingebrigtsen, managing director and co-founder of Proff Kulde.

Acquires 60 percent

Bluefront Equity’s investment is conducted through a combination of a share issue and purchase of shares from current shareholders. The parties have agreed to not disclose the financial details of the transaction. 

Following completion of all transactions, Bluefront Equity will own approximately 60 percent of Proff Kulde. The remaining shares are owned by the company’s co-founders and management, which include managing director Mathias Ingebrigtsen, chief technology officer Morten Andre Engen, and chief financial officer Lasse Pedersen. 

Former executive vice president of BioMar, Jan Sverre Røsstad, becomes chairman of Proff Kulde’s board of directors. Bluefront Equity partner, Simen Landmark, also joins the board of directors. 

Bluefront Equity is the only independent Nordic private equity-fund that focuses solely on the seafood industry. The fund primarily invests in small and medium sized supplier companies that contribute towards making the seafood value chain more sustainable, including increased traceability, better fish health and welfare, enhanced quality of the end-product, and improved hygiene. 

“Proff Kulde fits perfectly with our investment mandate. We look for sustainable companies that have significant growth potential and can create everlasting improvements in the seafood value chain,” adds Simen Landmark. 

Solid growth

Proff Kulde has grown steadily since the company was established in 2013. In 2021, the company delivered revenues of NOK 35 million, with an operating profit of NOK 4 million. This year the company expects 20-30 percent revenue growth. 

Ninety percent of Proff Kulde’s revenues derive from the fishery and fish farming industries. The remainder is from other land-based industries that require energy efficient and environmentally friendly refrigerant solutions. 

Proff Kulde is headquartered in Svolvær, North Norway. Today, Proff Kulde’s main geographical market is North Norway, but the company also serves customers elsewhere in the country. The company has 17 employees. 

“A key reason for bringing Bluefront Equity onboard as shareholder is because there is a large untapped potential for our technology throughout Norway and the rest of Europe. An increased focus on international markets will be an important part of our strategy going forward. We want to create more jobs here in Svolvær,” adds Mathias Ingebrigtsen of Proff Kulde. 

For further information, please contact: 

Simen Landmark, partner at Bluefront Equity, tel: +47 452 24 648

About Bluefront Equity AS 

Bluefront Equity is the only independent, Nordic private equity firm that focuses solely on the seafood industry. The fund invests in small and medium-sized seafood companies that can make the future seafood industry more sustainable. Bluefront Equity was established by Kjetil Haga and Simen Landmark and is headquartered in Oslo. For more information, see www.bluefrontequity.com

Stavanger/Oslo 8 June 2021 – Bluefront Equity AS is a Norwegian venture capital fund investing across the seafood value chain to make it more sustainable. Nysnø Climate Investments invests in the firm’s first fund, Bluefront Capital I. 

Seafood is a climate-friendly source of protein that is necessary to meet the global demand for food. However, marine resources are scarce and according to the UN, more than a third of the fish stocks are being overfished. Sustainable aquaculture is crucial to feed a growing population.

Bluefront Equity invests in companies that offer products, services and technology that contribute to a more sustainable seafood value chain. This includes digitalization and automation, hygiene systems, increased quality and traceability, improved fish health and welfare, as well as innovative production methods. The fund will mainly invest in Europe with a special focus on small and medium-sized Nordic and Norwegian companies. The fund's first investment was in Redox, a technology company which develops new environmentally friendly technologies to improve fish welfare and biosecurity in the aquaculture industry.

“The seafood industry is facing major and exciting changes. The world needs proteins with a lower environmental and climate footprint, and seafood innovation can create more sustainable aquaculture with reduced greenhouse gas emissions. Bluefront represents a unique opportunity for Nysnø Climate Investments to enter an exciting industry in growth,” says Lars Hvam, Investment Manager in Nysnø Climate Investments.

Norway, and the Nordics, are at the forefront of technology development within the aquaculture industry., Nysnø invests in Bluefront to contribute towards strengthening Norway's leading position in the global value chain. At the same time, it will increase access to capital for Norwegian companies contributing to a more sustainable food system. 

“Our starting point is that companies that contribute towards making the seafood industry more sustainable are also the businesses with the biggest growth potential.  We see great opportunities in the entire value and have a fantastic team of advisers. We are looking forward to working closely with investors such as Nysnø to realize shared industrial and financial ambitions, says Kjetil Haga, Founding Partner at Bluefront Equity.

Bluefront Equity is the only independent private equity fund in the Nordics that focuses exclusively on the seafood industry. The founding partners Kjetil Haga and Simen Landmark have extensive industry experience, and have partnered with several industry advisors who contribute with unique industry knowledge and experience, and a wide network, in addition to investing in the fund. The team of advisors includes former Mowi CEO Alf Helge Aarskog, Jan Sverre Røsstad, Arne Trondsen and Aino Olaisen.

Nysnø invests NOK 75 million, contributing to bring the total assets under management close to half a billion NOK. Havfonn, Klaveness Marine, Clipper and T.D. Veen are among the other investors in Bluefront Capital I.

Contacts  

Kjetil Haga, Founding Partner in Bluefront Equity, kh@bluefrontequity.com,  +47  920 86 186

Lars Hvam, Investment Manager in Nysnø Climate Investments, lars.hvam@nysnoinvest.no, +47 986 84 372 

About Nysnø Climate Investments 

Established in 2017, Nysnø Climate Investments (Nysnø) is a Norwegian sovereign climate investor targeting companies and funds with profitable and smart solutions to climate change. With 2.4 billion NOK in assets under management, Nysnø invests in clean energy, digital and enabling technologies, resource efficiency, sustainable demand, and the circular economy. Nysnø is based in Stavanger and owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Trade, Industry & Fisheries. For more information, visit www.nysnoinvest.no/en  

About Bluefront Equity

Bluefront Equity is the only independent, Nordic private equity firm that focuses solely on the seafood industry. The fund will invest in small and medium-sized seafood companies that can make the future seafood industry more sustainable. Bluefront Equity was established by Kjetil Haga and Simen Landmark, and is headquartered in Oslo. For more information, see www.bluefrontequity.com 

Seafood investor Bluefront Equity makes its first investment to become majority owner of fast-growing technology company Redox AS.

“We have monitored Redox for several years. It is a highly innovative company that develops technology that improves fish welfare and biosecurity in the aquaculture industry. It is a perfect match for our sustainability profile,” says Kjetil Haga, partner at Bluefront Equity. 

Bluefront Equity’s first fund primarily aims to invest in supplier companies that ensure increased traceability, better fish health and welfare, enhanced quality of the end-product, improved hygiene, and contributing towards digitizing the seafood industry.

The investment is a combination of purchase of shares and a subsequent share issue. Following completion of the transactions, Bluefront Equity is the majority owner with 51.8% ownership share. Today’s owners Sirø Invest AS, Norsk Mineral AS and Helge Bullgård continue as shareholders with 29.3%, 15% and 3.9% ownership, respectively. The parties have agreed to not disclose the agreement’s financial details. 

Bluefront Equity’s industry advisers and investors, former Mowi CEO Alf-Helge Aarskog and Nova Sea-owner Aino Olaisen, become new board members of Redox together with Kjetil Haga, partner at Bluefront Equity. 

Fish welfare and bio security

Redox AS was founded in 2004 and has in the past decade delivered an annual average revenue growth of 20 percent. In 2020, the company had revenues of approximately NOK 146 million with an operating profit of NOK 16 million. Redox’s headquarter is based in Averøy municipality in Møre og Romsdal county in Norway. The company also has an international office in Kolkata, India. Redox is headed by founder Helge Bullgård, while the company’s head of business development, Sigmund Røeggen, was the largest shareholder prior to Bluefront Equity’s investment. 

Redox is an ozone and oxygen specialist that develops environmentally friendly technologies which improve fish welfare and biosecurity for the aquaculture industry, plus reduces chemical discharges. 

“Redox has traditionally worked extensively with wellboats, but we have in recent years started to apply our technologies onshore, including for land-based fish farming, fisheries, agriculture and food processing. Together with Bluefront Equity we will be prepared to take part in the strong aquaculture industry growth wave, both in Norway and internationally. We will invest significantly in product development and further strengthen our workforce. We will offer more cost-effective technologies and products, with fish welfare and biosecurity at the centre of everything we do,” says Sigmund Røeggen, chairman and main shareholder of Redox. 

Røeggen praises the company’s employees who have played a vital role in its success: “If anyone wants to experience what a 24/7 attitude is really like, please come visit Redox.” 

Redox has developed an ozone system that ensures a bacteria-free production facility. Ozone is 50 percent more powerful than chlorine, but both safer and more environmentally friendly compared to chlorine and other antimicrobial agents. Ozone is therefore particularly well suited for disinfection use in the food and marine industries. Within the aquaculture industry, the ozone systems are utilised to disinfect several parts of the value chain, including land-based facilities’ water intake and equipment between different batches of fish. 

Following disinfection of water and equipment, the ozone is automatically converted to oxygen and thus improves oxygen content in the water, which is positive for the environment and fish welfare. Redox has also developed a technology that supplies microbubble oxygen to further improve both water quality and fish welfare in the aquaculture industry. 

Manages close to half a billion

The investment in Redox Kjetil Haga and Simen Landmark’s first investment through Bluefront Equity. Bluefront Equity is the only independent Nordic investor that focuses solely on the seafood industry. The fund invests in small and medium sized suppliers that make the future seafood industry more sustainable. 

The fund’s total assets are now close to half a billion Norwegian kroner (NOK). This is expected to further increase towards the summer. 

“The interest in the fund is very high. We have ongoing dialogue with additional large investors who are keen to invest in a more financially and environmentally sustainable seafood industry, says Simen Landmark, partner at Bluefront Equity. 

For further information, please contact:

Kjetil Haga, partner, tel: +47 920 86 186

Simen Landmark, partner, tel: +47 452 24 648

The two former Broodstock Capital partners, Kjetil Haga and Simen Landmark, have launched their new seafood investment fund, Bluefront Equity.

“Taking the wisdom and experience from building the world’s first Private Equity seafood service fund, Kjetil Haga and I are now ready to launch our very own seafood fund: Bluefront Equity” according to Kjetil and Simen’s new post on LinkedIn.

“Having founded and built Broodstock Capital – this is quite sad. But, at the same time, we are now been given the opportunity to pursue an ambition we have had for a long time and this is the right time to do it!”