AQUAFARM EQUIPMENT AS

Their core work

Aquafarm Equipment AS is a Norwegian equipment company specializing in closed-cage aquaculture systems for marine fish farming. Their core product addresses a major industry challenge: growing high-value marine species (such as sea bass, turbot, or Atlantic halibut) in enclosed sea cages that prevent sea lice infestation, fish escape, and disease transfer — problems that plague conventional open net-pen farming. They progressed from feasibility to full commercialization of their NEPTUN closed-cage system, following the classic product development path of an equipment manufacturer bringing a hardware innovation to market. Their work sits at the intersection of marine engineering and sustainable aquaculture production.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Aquafarm Equipment AS has a short but focused H2020 trajectory spanning 2016 to 2020, entirely devoted to a single technology: the NEPTUN closed-cage system. Their early phase (2016) was a feasibility and market validation exercise typical of SME Instrument Phase 1. The subsequent Phase 2 project (2017–2020) represented full-scale development and commercialization of the same technology, indicating they successfully validated the concept and secured funding to build it out. There is no detectable pivot or diversification — this is a company with a clear, singular product focus.

Their trajectory is that of a product company that has completed its EU-funded development cycle — the question for future collaborators is whether they are now selling their NEPTUN system commercially or seeking next-generation R&D partnerships to extend the technology.

How they like to work

Aquafarm Equipment AS operated exclusively as a sole coordinator under the SME Instrument scheme, which is designed for single-company product development rather than multi-partner research consortia. Their zero recorded consortium partners reflects this instrument's structure, not necessarily a preference for isolation. Companies using this path typically partner with customers, pilot sites, and suppliers outside the formal consortium — so their real collaboration network may be broader than the EU project data suggests.

Based on available H2020 data, Aquafarm Equipment AS has no recorded formal consortium partners — both projects were executed as sole-beneficiary SME Instrument grants. Their collaboration footprint within the EU funding system is therefore limited to Norway, though their commercial aquaculture equipment business likely connects them to fish farmers and engineering suppliers across the Norwegian coast.

What sets them apart

Aquafarm Equipment AS occupies a specific niche in Norwegian aquaculture: they are an equipment manufacturer focused on closed-cage marine systems, not a research institute or a large industrial fish farming company. This positions them as a technology supplier to the aquaculture industry rather than a producer, which makes them relevant to any consortium that needs hardware expertise, pilot infrastructure, or industry validation for marine farming innovations. Norway's global leadership in aquaculture gives this small company strong credibility with European and international partners looking for real-world deployment capability.

Highlights from their portfolio

• NEPTUN (Phase 2)
  With €1.88M in EC funding — one of the larger SME Instrument Phase 2 awards — this project represents the full-scale development of a closed marine aquaculture cage system, suggesting the technology passed rigorous commercial viability screening.
• NEPTUN (Phase 1)
  The successful Phase 1 feasibility grant (2016) that unlocked the larger Phase 2 award, demonstrating that the closed-cage concept was validated as technically and commercially viable by EU evaluators.