Seaweed is a key raw material for a broad spread of industries, from agriculture and food to health supplements and the beauty industry.
There is no shortage of demand, but there is a shortage of supply, as the seaweed farming sector hasn’t yet reached a point where it can compete commercially with other inputs.
“From looking at how seaweed farming is developing internationally, one thing became very clear: the demand is there, but the economics don’t work at scale at the moment,” says Gareth Murphy.
Murphy has co-founded a regenerative ocean farming company, Óir Na Farraige, with engineer and entrepreneur Sam Roch-Perks, to address the problem.
“One of the biggest challenges facing the seaweed industry is a ‘chicken and egg’ problem,” Murphy says. “Producers can’t reach scale without demand, and industry won’t commit until there’s a clear, reliable supply at the right price. Our aim is to produce sustainably at scale using innovative farming models that can significantly reduce production costs.
“Ireland has some of the best natural conditions in the world and deep expertise in producing high-quality food, yet there’s still a kind of ‘sea blindness’ when it comes to fully embracing the marine opportunity,” Murphy says.
“That was the turning point for me. Instead of talking about the potential, I wanted to build something that could actually deliver it.”
Murphy has spent time exploring emerging technologies and farming methods that could bring production costs down to a viable level, and Óir Na Farraige is building its infrastructure based on Norwegian technologies, with local fabrication.
“At the moment, seaweed has a long life cycle with various stages before it goes to sea. The new technology we’re using allows us to ‘direct seed’ – applying the seaweed culture directly to the ropes, as opposed to growing it on twine in a hatchery and tying the twine to ropes at sea. This allows us to skip an entire stage in the growth process and reduce the cost of production.
“The second innovation is the use of a more condensed system that allows us to produce more seaweed per hectare than traditional methods, and thirdly, we’re using a novel grid system for growing the seaweed, instead of individual moorings. This allows us to operate in more hostile and robust conditions while offering better security for our lines.”
Óir Na Farraige is a spin-out from Irish renewable energy company Simply Blue Group, which was also co-founded by Sam Roch-Perks. Murphy joined Simply Blue as seaweed project manager in 2023.
“They were exploring how to unlock space for aquaculture within offshore wind developments, and at the time, the idea of combining seaweed farming with offshore energy infrastructure felt ambitious, but it immediately caught my attention,” Murphy says.
“I subsequently developed a long-term strategy focused on nearshore aquaculture and the future integration of aquaculture within offshore renewable energy markets.
To date the company has received no direct State funding, but support in kind from Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Nua Na Mara, the Marine Innovation and Development Centre
“This led to involvement in projects like North Sea Farm 1 – the world’s first commercially funded seaweed farm located within an active offshore wind farm. In 2025, as Simply Blue Group began placing a more structured focus on offshore wind, I saw a clear opportunity to spin out the seaweed division, and this ultimately led to the formation of Óir Na Farraige.”
The company is based in Galway, where it employs three. “In fact, we operate with a much broader team in practice,” Murphy says.
“Our board members are actively involved, and through our EU projects and partnerships, we collaborate closely with a wider network of technical and industry experts. That gives us access to a much larger pool of skills and resources than a company of our size would typically have,” he says, adding that the company’s environmental monitoring systems are being developed in conjunction with Trinity College Dublin and the University of Galway.
Óir Na Farraige was three years in the making, but since the spin-out, the founders have not let the grass grow under their feet. They secured funding from the EU’s EIT Foods (Europe’s food innovation community) and EMFAF (European maritime, fisheries and aquaculture fund) initiatives to develop their idea, and to date have raised about €2.75 million in backing between grants and private investment.
“Our funding stream gives us a clear runway through to the end of 2028, allowing us to focus on scaling our projects and proving the commercial model,” Murphy says.
“We’ve been strategic in selecting projects and partnerships that allow us to prove scalable production within defined timelines. Being able to produce seaweed at a cost and volume that works for established industries is the key to unlocking the international market, and we expect to have our first product available by May 2027.”
[ Seaweed: the next big step for Irish food and farming?Opens in new window ]
There are other players in the seaweed farming sector, but few are operating at the size Óir Na Farraige is targeting, and its real competition comes from existing inputs and ingredients. “In areas like crop nutrition, for example, that means competing with established fertilisers,” Murphy says.
“However, with fuel prices dominating the conversation, there are growing risks around fertiliser supply and cost, which creates an opportunity for more sustainable, locally produced alternatives like seaweed-based inputs.”
To date the company has received no direct State funding, but support in kind from Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Nua Na Mara, the Marine Innovation and Development Centre.
“There’s a real opportunity to better align supports as the sector continues to develop,” Murphy says. “I think the support system can be challenging to navigate, particularly for sectors like ours that don’t fit neatly into traditional categories.
“There’s an opportunity to better support founders at the early stage with more practical, accessible tools. For example, clearer guidance on how to put the right systems in place to avail of supports like R&D tax credits would be hugely valuable for SMEs.”
