Yokogawa becomes reference shareholder of AlgaEnergy

An investment of €10 million in capital increase and contribution of technology and know-how

The Spanish biotech company AlgaEnergy, specialized in microalgae and its applications, has reached a strategic agreement for investment and collaboration with Yokogawa Electric Corporation, a Japanese provider of industrial automation, control and technology.

According to the agreement, Yokogawa commits to invest close to €10 million in the capital increase of AlgaEnergy, an amount which will position it as one of its reference shareholders. Furthermore, this investment will contribute toward the consolidation of AlgaEnergy's international leadership and its growth in the biotechnology sector.

The capital will be used to finance several projects, amongst which we must highlight the geographical expansion of the international sales structure of AlgaEnergy for the agricultural business line, new product development and its introduction within new sectors, like nutrition and cosmetics, in addition to the development of its solutions offer based on microalgae.

Sustainable resource
Microalgae are a biological resource of tremendous value, thanks to their fast reproduction speed in diverse environments, like oceans, lakes and rivers. In addition, they have numerous properties that make them a sustainable resource in sectors ranging from agriculture to nutrition, cosmetics and fish farming, and which in the future could revolutionize other sectors, like pharmaceuticals and energy.

As pioneer since 2007, it is based on studies since over four decades ago implemented by Professor Miguel García Guerrero, which have helped AlgaEnergy to position itself powerfully in the market. Currently, it has a microalgae industrial production plant in southern Spain. Its first product, launched in 2015, is a line of biostimulants for agricultural applications, which is well-received in the market and renowned for its results.

Automation of industrial processes
In addition to its financial investment, Yokogawa arrives at AlgaEnergy with the vision of establishing synergies to continue innovating in R&D&i, production, marketing and sales. For this purpose, it will contribute its technology and know-how in industrial process automation, of major importance to guarantee maximum quality and efficiency in production when volumes increase.

Augusto Rodríguez-Villa, President of AlgaEnergy, explains: “This agreement is the best alliance possible to achieve our objective of taking advantage, on a global scale, of the immense potential of microalgae. Yokogawa and we share the same future vision, the belief that a more sustainable development is possible and that microalgae play a key role in achieving this goal”.

For Yokogawa, Tsuyoshi Abe, Vice President and Marketing Director, adds: “This agreement is our first incursion in bioeconomy, which we recently included as a new focus area of our long-term commercial strategy, wherefore we have great expectations for this exciting strategic partnership.”