The startup Decameal announced on LinkedIn that it has secured EUR 700,000 in pre-seed funding from private and corporate investors, along with a EUR 1.4 million Green Demonstration and Development grant from Innovation Fund Denmark. This financing will accelerate the company’s efforts to transform invasive crabs, long considered a marine pest, into valuable, circular raw materials for feed and industry.
Founded by Leander Hessner and Happylan Natkunarajah, Decameal has developed a unique process that harvests overpopulated crabs and converts them into a range of ingredients with multiple applications:
- Protein-rich feed for organic laying hens.
- Nutrient concentrates for pet food and aquaculture.
- Extracts from shells, such as chitin and astaxanthin, used in industrial and nutritional products.
This circular approach not only reduces the environmental impact of invasive crab populations but also creates new value chains across food, feed, and bio-based industries.
The raised funds will be used to validate sustainability performance, optimize chitosan extraction, and conduct feed trials in collaboration with DTU (Technical University of Denmark) and aquafeed producer Aller Aqua. These steps are critical to proving both the environmental benefits and the commercial scalability of the technology.
Decameal is also working to expand its supplier network, scale up extraction methods, and strengthen documentation on quality, traceability, and climate impact to meet international market standards.
