The SeaBest project will be the first to close the circle from seaweed spore to a high quality organic food product using a large-scale and cost-competitive approach in Europe. The project will allow 1,000-14,000t of seaweed to be produced in Europe at up to 56% less cost compared to current practises. Our project will satisfy the high unmet demand of the global market for cultivated organic seaweed worth €9.3bn and of the European organic food market worth €30 billion in 2015. For the first time ever, we will enable low-cost high-volume organic seaweed to be produced in Europe, fully traceable, foodgrade certified and ready for use as an ingredient on its own or in a multitude of products. We are already in talks with over 15 EU food producers and we have Letters of Intent documenting demand for over 3,200t just from 5 large clients who are awaiting the ability to purchase organic European seaweed on a large-scale - so that they can pursue catering to dominant global food outlets such as IKEA and Schouten. We have performed a Phase 1 Feasibility Study funded by Innovation Norway (VIDAN - 2014/104777) that validated our pilot plant at TRL 7 and commercial viability. Over €14 million has been invested in our unique and game-changing solution since 2009 including SEAWEED-STAR Eurostars (#6027) project that verified our offshore farming technology. We are part of the H2020-BG-2016-1 project GENIALG aiming to boost the EU Blue Biotechnology Economy (BBE) by increasing the sustainable production of EU seaweed. Phase 2 funding will allow us to reach full commercial viability through technology maturation, piloting and market maturation activities. SeaBest will generate 30 new FTEs within SES and another 36 in our production partners, and we estimate an accumulated €76.5m in revenues after 5 years. By mechanising seaweed farming and reducing production costs, SeaBest will also open the way to new markets in bioenergy, biopharmaceuticals and animal nutrition.

The GENIALG project aims to boost the Blue Biotechnology Economy (BBE) by increasing the production and sustainable exploitation of two high-yielding species of the EU seaweed biomass: the brown alga Saccharina latissima and the green algae Ulva spp. GENIALG will demonstrate the economic feasibility and environmental sustainability of cultivating and refining seaweed biomass in multiple use demanded products of marine renewable origin. The consortium integrates available knowledge in algal biotechnology and ready to use reliable eco-friendly tools and methods for selecting and producing high yielding strains in economically feasible quantities and qualities. By cracking the biomass and supplying a wide diversity of chemical compounds for existing as well as new applications and markets, GENIALG will anticipate the economic, social and environmental impacts of such developments in term of economic benefit and job opportunities liable to increase the socio-economic value of the blue biotechnology sector. In a larger frame, conservation and biosafety issues will be addressed as well as more social aspects such as acceptability and competition for space and water regarding other maritime activities. To achieve these objectives GENIALG will foster a trans-sectorial and complementary consortium of scientists and private companies. • GENIALG will involve a diversity of private companies already positioned in the seaweed sector individually for different applications (texturants, feed, agriculture, bioplastics, pharmaceuticals, personal care products…) in order to strengthen interactions for developing a bio-refinery concept and accelerate efficient and sustainable exploitation of seaweed biomass to bring new high-value products on the market.