Hatch Blue Invests $2m in Nernst Electric from Blue Revolution Fund

BRAY, IRELAND, 22 July 2026: Nernst Electric, an Irish startup developing on-site oxygen generation for fish farms, has raised a $2m seed investment from Hatch Blue's Blue Revolution Fund.

Fish farms rely on a continuous, large-volume supply of oxygen to keep fish healthy and growing. Today, most operations source it via trucked liquid oxygen from centralised facilities or on-site PSA/VSA generators – costly and logistically complex arrangements, particularly for remote coastal locations.

Nernst changes this by generating high-purity oxygen (>99%) directly at the farm using ceramic membranes to separate it from ambient air. This technology gives fish farms a reliable supply at dramatically lower cost and higher energy efficiency, and without the supply chain dependency or operational burdens of conventional methods.

The transformational potential of Nernst's technology extends far beyond aquaculture. Heavy industries such as mining, steel manufacturing, and the energy sector all depend on high-volume oxygen as a critical input, and face the same supply constraints at massive industrial scale.

“For decades, the limitations of conventional on-site oxygen generation have held back productivity across industries including aquaculture, mining, metallurgy, and steelmaking. Our breakthrough reactor technology removes those barriers, enabling the most efficient oxygen production at any scale with near-zero maintenance and the industry's lowest operating costs,” said Nick Farandos, CEO, Nernst Electric

“Aquaculture is generating commercially attractive innovation at pace, and the sector's own fundamentals are strong. Much of that innovation also has reach well beyond it. Nernst is a clear example: the platform that solves critical oxygen supply for fish farms has industrial-scale application across heavy industry. That is exactly what gives the Blue Revolution Fund the conviction to back it," said Carsten Krome, Managing Partner and Co-Founder, Hatch Blue.

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Building Toward Commercial Scale‍

Nernst first joined the Hatch Blue portfolio in July 2025, receiving pre-seed funding from Hatch Accelerator Fund II and joining Hatch Blue’s accelerator program. The company later participated in an Aquatech Innovation Studio organised jointly with BIM (Bord Iascaigh Mhara), Ireland's Seafood Development Agency. Speaking of Nernst's journey with Hatch Blue, Caitriona Kelleher, Managing Director of Early Stage Investments at Hatch Blue, said:

“Since Nernst joined our Accelerator Fund, their progress has been fast and convincing. The team came in with a manufacturing concept and have built it into a working system ready for its first aquaculture deployment. That kind of technical execution is impressive – and it is precisely why the Blue Revolution Fund is the right backer to take it further."
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Richard Donnelly, CEO of Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s seafood development agency, welcomed the announcement, and added: 

“Today’s announcement shows the continued investor appetite for financing Irish aquatech, and the growing recognition that aquaculture can meet rising global demands for sustainable and nutritious food. Efficiency and sustainability are the key components of Nernst technologies - a key concern for aquaculture operators the world over, who want to lower costs and emissions.”  

The seed capital will fund the construction of a demonstration unit. A successful demonstration will validate the system's performance in a real farming environment, the stepping stone to commercial customer trials and a Series A to scale across the aquaculture sector.

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