Québec City-based startup XpertSea has raised a $25 million CAD ($20 million USD) Series B round to support the growth of its seafood tech, which helps shrimp farmers farm and trade fish more efficiently.
United States-based firm QED Investors and São Paulo’s Atlantico led the all-equity round with Investissement Québec. Previous XpertSea investors Real Ventures, Obvious Ventures, Dutch sustainable aquaculture fund Aqua-Spark, Tony Fadell’s Future Shape, and edō Capital also participated in the round. QED partner Lauren Morton will join XpertSea’s board as part of the round.
The round brings XpertSea’s total funding to date to about $37.5 million CAD. XpertSea did not disclose whether the round involved any secondary capital.
Following significant growth in Latin America, XpertSea plans to use the fresh capital to bring its sustainable aquaculture solution to new international markets.
XpertSea plans to use the fresh capital to bring its solution to new international markets.
“This investment will not only help accelerate the development of our data-driven solutions, but will allow us to leverage our unique capabilities to bring transparency and efficiency to the entire supply chain, getting us closer and closer to providing sustainable seafood for everyone,” said Valerie Robitaille, XpertSea’s CEO.
Founded in 2012, XpertSea aims to transform how seafood is farmed and traded. XpertSea’s platform leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to help farmers modernize their operations and boost their profits through access to fast payments, production insights and a data-driven marketplace of vetted sellers and buyers.
Initially, XpertSea focused on helping farmers farm more successfully. More recently, the startup began providing farmers with access to cash flow and market opportunities. In 2018, XpertSea raised a $10 million Series A round to help farmers manage aquaculture inventory.
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According to XpertSea, after seeing revenue growth of more than 1,000 percent year-over-year, fuelled by its Latin American operations, the company is ready to expand into new markets and bolster its financial services and new product development efforts. XpertSea currently operates in Asia and Latin America. Last year, the company launched its new marketplace in Ecuador, where it currently has an office. With the new capital, XpertSea intends to bring its marketplace to countries in Southeast Asia.
“XpertSea has all the key ingredients we look for in a world-class fintech: a sticky customer acquisition strategy, valuable proprietary data for underwriting, and the ability to sit at the center of complex transactions that are fraught with friction today,” said QED partner and XpertSea board member Lauren Morton. The addition of Morton gives XpertSea both an executive team and a board consisting of a majority of women.
UPDATE (08/11/21): This story was updated to include responses from XpertSea.
Feature image from XpertSea