At this year’s Blue Food Innovation Summit in London (8th – 9th April, 2025), OCEANIUM’s Co-Founder and CEO, Karen Scofield Seal, joined fellow changemakers from Sea6 Energy and GreenWave to explore the critical challenges and opportunities facing the seaweed sector today. Their panel, “Seaweed at a Crossroads: Navigating Market Expansion and Pathways for Growth,” came at a moment when the industry is experiencing both unprecedented momentum and mounting pressure to scale.
A huge thank you to Seafood Source for the coverage and for continuing to spotlight key voices at the forefront of the blue food movement.
Seaweed has emerged as a cornerstone of the blue economy, offering sustainable solutions across a wide range of sectors including food, nutrition and materials. But realising that potential at scale requires a new phase of support. The panelists emphasised that while early innovation and pilot projects have brought the industry to the edge of transformation, crossing into meaningful global impact will depend on bold, growth-stage investment.
“This is a very pivotal time for the industry. We’ve had our heads down – scaling our tech, developing products, filing patents, and running trials. Now, we need a new group of investors to come in and support the industry. It’s about backing the wider seaweed economy – one that has the power to feed the planet and clean our oceans for future generations. It’s really important we get this industry going.”
– Karen Scofield Seal, OCEANIUM Co-Founder & CEO
This sense of urgency was echoed by fellow panelists from Sea6 Energy and GreenWave, both of whom are driving innovative models for seaweed farming and downstream applications. While smaller funding rounds have been essential to date, the next leap forward requires bridging the gap in mid-to-large-scale financing – the kind of investment that can support infrastructure, scale manufacturing, and unlock mainstream adoption, plus securing buy-in from major buyers with distribution reach and customers.
The innovation is there, the demand is growing, and the climate case is compelling. Now, what the industry needs is the financial backing to deliver on its promise at scale.