Bottom-trawling fishing that drags weighted nets across the sea floor, dredging activities and offshore construction are a few examples of commercial enterprises that adversely affect marine life. The South West eco-engineering company, ARC Marine, is helping redress sea-bed habitat degradation by championing nature-inclusive design and accelerating reef creation.
ARC Marine’s man-made solution to man-made problems is the Reef Cube®. These blocks have an integral chamber with six passages through which marine life can access and colonise. Composed from 98% recycled materials, they are made from low-carbon concrete, are plastic-free and are the only circular economy-based reef technology on the market.
After several years of testing at sea, Reef Cubes® have been shown to enrich marine biodiversity, becoming colonised and being used as spawning and nursery grounds. The cubes are already being taken up by oil and gas, offshore wind, aquaculture, and coastal defence projects. They can be placed on undersea cabling and provide a positive marine legacy, having the potential to be marine refuges for hundreds of years.
Tom Birbeck is the co-founder and CEO of ARC Marine. Tom has a specific focus on business strategy, raising investment, as well as overseeing product development and IP. He joined the Shott Scale Up Accelerator programme in 2022 and says, “I think the scheme will improve my knowledge of finance-related instruments and metrics. I hope to meet mentors that have scaled up and taken a company from being private to stock-listed. This accelerator should help us build solid foundations for our growing business.”
ARC Marine has recently secured more than £2 million in seed II funding and is aiming to rapidly expand before entering a Series A round. The company plans to build its first manufacturing plant on the South West coast to service its UK market. However, its ambitions are global. ARC Marine intends to use its worldwide patent to accelerate reef creation wherever there is a need to improve the amount of seabed fauna and flora.
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