ViAqua Therapeutics, an Israel-based biotechnology startup specializing in aquaculture well being, secured an $8.25 million funding spherical. The spherical was led by S2G Ventures with participation from Rabo Ventures, The Trendlines Group, Agriline, Nutreco, I-Lab Angels, and Circle Investments. The funding goals to speed up the corporate’s first product to market, additional R&D efforts, and validate the scalability of its RNA-based options.
Aquaculture is more and more important for meals safety and sustainability, but it surely faces a big problem: illness administration. In keeping with Kontali’s evaluation, illnesses have an financial impression of over $8.5 billion on the shrimp business alone. ViAqua goals to deal with this difficulty by creating an oral supply platform for RNA-based options designed to reinforce illness resistance in marine species.
The tactic of oral supply eliminates the necessity for particular person vaccination of shrimp, considerably decreasing operational prices and bettering illness administration outcomes.
Shrimp are significantly prone to illnesses just like the White Spot Virus (WSSV), which causes an annual lack of round $3 billion and a 15% discount in world shrimp manufacturing. And illnesses in shrimp farming can result in mortality charges of as much as 50%, inflicting 25-30% of shrimp farms to fail yearly. ViAqua’s first product is a feed complement designed to reinforce shrimp’s resistance to viral infections, particularly focusing on WSSV. Their innovation goals to stabilize manufacturing for farmers and even enhance manufacturing with out elevating illness dangers.
The startup plans to start manufacturing in India in early 2024 and has entered right into a joint growth and advertising and marketing settlement with Skretting, a Nutreco firm.
ViAqua Therapeutics’ final funding spherical was in 2021 when it raised $4.3 million. The startup was based in 2014 by Shai Ufaz and Shai Einbinder.
