As part of our Sacramento Inno coverage of the startup, technology and innovation economy, the Business Journal has compiled a list of startups to watch in the new year. These startups are poised to make big moves, either in growth, funding, technology or development. We're highlighting 15 startups, generally with fewer than 100 employees, about 5 years old or less and that have raised less than $50 million.
A 2020 startup, Macro Oceans Inc. is developing techniques to create valuable products from seaweed for use by cosmetic, food and industrial companies. The company’s pilot plant and research and development team are in offices in West Sacramento and in Woodland.
The San Francisco-based company started in the fall of 2020. In May 2021, it took lab space at the Lab@AgStart in Woodland, an incubator for agriculture and food technology startups. Macro Oceans still maintains bench space at the Lab@AgStart to have access to some of its specialized lab equipment. The company’s new space in a West Sacramento business park is in 12,500 square feet, which will allow the company to grow into it.
Macro Oceans works with farmed Alaskan sugar kelp, an abundant and renewable source of minerals, proteins, carbohydrates and other useful nutrients, said CEO Matthew Perkins. “Seaweed is great. It needs no pesticides, no fertilizer and no fresh water.”
Macro Oceans picked Woodland, and then West Sacramento, for access to the University of California Davis. Four of the company’s five employees are Ph.D.s, Perkins said.
In addition to nutritious foods and cosmetic ingredients, other applications include biodegradable packaging. With increasing corporate responsibility in regard to carbon sequestration and climate change, Macro Oceans' products offer some built-in incentives for manufacturers to use them because they are natural, carbon neutral and traceable.
