Tidal AI chooses Bergen to expand - leveraging aquaculture cluster

- The location was a no-brainer. Salmon farmers are our target group. Several of the biggest aquaculture companies in Norway are headquartered in Bergen and account for much of the salmon export. They belong to a complete seafood value chain, all which makes Bergen a unique location for companies that want to be a part of a more sustainable aquaculture industry, says Anders Fossøy who is General Manager in Tidal Norway.

We meet him at the company’s office at Marineholmen, a location he shares with several other companies in the aquaculture value chain. Meeting fellow industry colleagues by the coffee machine is a great way of networking.

- Things are just easier when you are located in proximity to both customers, competitors and collaborators, concludes Fossøy.

Anders Fossøy is General Manager in TidalX Norge. The Bergen office will allow Tidal to collaborate closely with local industry leaders, harnessing expertise to develop solutions that improve efficiency and sustainability in aquaculture. Photo: Tidal. 

AI improves fish health and profitability

Tidal gives fish farmers the power of AI to visualize and understand what’s happening below the ocean’s surface. The project was originally launched under Alphabet’s “X, the Moonshot Factory," and focuses on revolutionizing aquaculture with cutting-edge technology. The initial moonshot aimed to build tools for a resilient ocean economy, focused especially on how to preserve ocean health while feeding humanity sustainably. TidalX has launched their first product, applying their learnings to empower sustainable fish farming, improving efficiency while reducing environmental footprints.

The company’s solutions use artificial intelligence, advanced sensors, and big data to monitor ocean health, improve fish welfare, and optimize aquaculture operations.  

- Tidal’s perception models have been trained on data collected in hundreds of commercial pens and put to the test by customers including the world’s largest Atlantic salmon producer. Our system enables fish farmers to improve production efficiency, reduce costs, and improve fish welfare and feeding efficiency with the first adaptive AI-powered autonomous feeding system, explains Fossøy.

Partnered with MOWI

The technology has been developed over several years, and has been implemented, tested, and scaled at MOWI, who also is headquartered in Bergen. The aquaculture giant will continue to implement technology into further operations.

One of the issues Tidal’s technology aims to address – both for MOWI and other farmers - is sea lice, that is currently a huge problem for fish farmers. The lice treatment is expensive and affects the fish health for both farmed salmon and the wild fish as lice are spread as escaped individuals breed with wild fish and compromise their genetic fitness. The digitalisation of the aquaculture industry is an important driver to make fish farming a more sustainable business.

- Farmers are really concerned about fish welfare and put a lot of effort into improving the fish health. We solve two problems in one, because improved fish health also means improved profitability, says Fossøy.

Why Bergen?

When spinning off a Norwegian company, X looked for both capital and the perfect location.

Tidal garnered investment from Perry Creek Capital, Futurum Ventures and a new venture fund in the Kverva portfolio - IVC  – a company with major aquaculture investments.

When meeting Tidal for the first time, Tone Hartvedt in Invest in Bergen found it easy to argue that Bergen’s aquaculture hub offers the perfect ecosystem for Tidal’s innovative approach to scale globally.

- An office location in Bergen gives you access to educational institutes with seafood and aquaculture expertise, an industry cluster with a diverse membership base and a network of some of the biggest companies and innovative start-ups in the industry, says Hartvedt, who is happy to now count Tidal as one of the region’s aquaculture companies.