Aquaculture tech company Minnowtech closed on $600,000 in seed financing with an eye on bringing its system for imaging shrimp to the Southeast Asian market.

The round included a $150,000 joint investment from the Maryland Momentum Fund, which is the venture fund of the University System of Maryland, and the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science (UMCES). The HATCH Aquaculture Accelerator participated, along with individual investors. The round comes after a $225,000 federal grant was awarded to the company in the spring.

Minnowtech is developing a data-based imaging tool that measures how many shrimp are growing in the murky waters where they thrive. As CEO Suzan Shahrestani told us earlier this year, it’s a “a sonar-based monitoring system that is coupled with species-specific algorithms to track and predict shrimp behavior and growth.” Along with helping farmers understand quantity, this can help inform how they feed shrimp, which in turn can help farmers raise shrimp more efficiently.

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