Speaker

About the speaker: 

Marine Biologist, MSc on Aquaculture, co-founded Necton S.A. in 1997, where he has been the current Innovation Director and President of the Board of Directors, since 2016. Participated in several national and European research projects, holding more than 20 years of experience in microalgal biotechnology, from strain selection and isolation to intensive industrial cultivation in closed and open systems, downstream processing and product development. Co-founder of A4F, he was CTO for this company until 2014. In 2015 and 2016, he was consultant of Algafarm/Allmicroalgae. In 2018 he co-founded GreenColab, the Collaborative Portuguese Laboratory for algae biotechnology, and has been vice president since then. He was also the President of PROALGA, the Portuguese Association for Algae Producers (2020-2024). Following the acquisition of Allmicroalgae by Necton in late 2022, he is also the current President of the Board of Directors of that company.

Company info:

Necton – Companhia Portuguesa de Culturas Marinhas, S.A. is the oldest microalgae production company in the EU. Starting in 1997 developing microalgae products for aquaculture special feeds, the company now owns 3 different production technological platforms, it has more than 800 m3 of closed photobioreactors, where it grow most of the marine species in it product portfolio, 8.000 m2 of greenhouse covered race-way ponds for organic Spirulina production and 10 m3 of fermenters where it grow ii proprietary, white, yellow and pale green Chlorella clones. This production versality allows Necton to be in several markets, food, nutraceuticals, feed and biostimulants.

Presentation:

In it presentation, João will share the evolution of the company, the hurdles that all the pioneers face and how resilience is the master key for success.