UK prawn pioneer raises £3.5m for new RAS facility
A land-based prawn grower currently based at a research and development facility at Swansea Docks, Wales, has raised £3.5 million to expand its operations.
Three-Sixty Aquaculture has pioneered a proprietary, patent-pending method of producing fresh prawns in a clearwater recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) farming method.
The funding will enable the company to increase capacity via a new facility in Neath, Wales, and commercialise its prawn farming at scale to supply the UK’s restaurant and hospitality trade as well as selling direct to consumers.
Sales are expected to commence in early 2025, with a view to the business expanding its UK prawn farming operations to over 2,000 tonnes annually and expanding internationally.
Fresher, better, greener
In a press release, the company said its prawns will provide an alternative to the some of the 78,000 tonnes of prawns brought in annually from overseas, and which Three-Sixty said contribute to environmental damage due to unsustainable farming practices and long-distance frozen shipping.
The business provides sustainable, locally sourced prawns that offer better quality, taste and reduced environmental impact and fresh next day delivery anywhere in the UK.
Three-Sixty Aquaculture raised the money in a Series A funding round led by PrimeStar Industries, a company offering management consultancy activities. It is run by Henry William Haywood Chamberlain, who has now joined Three-Sixty Aquaculture's board.
The funding round also saw participation from investors including chef and Masterchef judge Marcus Wareing, and public relations agency owner Matthew Freud.
International opportunities
Chief executive James Fox-Davies said: “Demand for prawns is growing globally but the expansion of traditional prawn farming puts increasing pressure on the natural environment.
“Completing this round of funding puts us well on the way to expanding our sustainable British sushi-grade prawn farm which will not only help address these environmental issues but will bring locally grown, fresh and delicious-tasting prawns to UK diners. We’re starting in the UK but in reality, any country could benefit from our technology, so we’re excited to explore international opportunities to build further prawn farms as we scale up.”
Three-Sixty Aquaculture Limited, founded in 2014 by chief technology officer Lee Tanner, initially established the UK’s first commercial tilapia hatchery and later developed a lumpfish facility.
Shellfish experience
In 2019, Fox-Davies joined, bringing extensive shellfish industry experience from operating the UK’s first organically certified mussel farm, Fowey Shellfish Company Ltd in Cornwall, and one of the largest scallop businesses in the UK.
Fox-Davies is also a director of Aquacultured Seafood, which aims to build a 5,000-tonnes-per-year salmon RAS at New Clee, between Grimsby and Cleethorpes.
He was also chair of discontinued Aquaculture Leadership Group of the UK seafood marketing body Seafish.
Fish Farming Expert understands that Three-Sixty Aquaculture's planned facility in Neath would be one of only two shrimp facilities in the UK, and by far the largest. The other is the Eden Valley Prawns RAS facility run by RAS Technology at Guardbridge, St Andrews, in Fife.