Cascadia Seaweed Corp of British Columbia, Canada
Bloomsbury Natural Capital (BNC) has a 3.1% equity stake in Cascadia. BNC’s Director Martin Hollands is Senior Advisor to the Cascadia Board, on Ecosystem Services and Restorative Aquaculture.
Cascadia now has a team of twenty people. In 2024, it deployed more than 30 km of seeded line in four main locations, while continuing to test the potential of further locations. It works in close partnership with First Nations. Production is currently focused on Macrocystis as this is the main species used for production of agricultural and horticultural bio-stimulants. These have the ability to increase crop plants’ root growth, in turn increasing both yield and drought resistance, and reducing the need for inorganic fertilizers.
Primary processing is done at Nanaimo. Design is under way for a new and much larger plant in the north of the province. Three liquid bio-stimulants are under development, testing and registration. Products are marketed via ReFeed Canada. R & D continues on cattle feed supplements, which aim to improve livestock feed conversion ratios and reduce bovine methane emissions.
Kelp cultivation’s commercial and environmental benefits are clear. It absorbs excess nutrients from seawater and sequesters carbon, thus reducing ocean acidification. Seaweed cultivation also significantly increases local marine biodiversity and can reduce coastal erosion. Despite these positive factors, the sector still needs further investment to reach its full potential.
Xilva AG of Switzerland
Bloomsbury Natural Capital (BNC) holds 6% of Xilva’s convertible loan notes. BNC’s Director, Martin Hollands is BNC’s Director on the Xilva Board.
Xilva provides a digital platform for investing in regenerative forests. It sources, screens and funds projects. It provides three principal services. The Xilva GRADE service provides a proprietary forest evaluation methodology for investors, project developers and corporate buyers. Xilva SCREEN is the company’s AI-enabled filter and selection service for forest and nature based projects, helping companies that are inundated with proposals to choose between them. Xilva PLAN is a nature-based strategy building service.
By accelerating investment in forests, the company adds to the pace of carbon sequestration, besides yielding biodiversity, water and employment benefits.