Background:
– Probotic was established in 2019. The company currently has 2 permanent employees, With office and workshop premises in Narvik. Probotic currently has a patent on. an Method for cleaning the marine fauling on net, and has recently acquired new owners and investors.
Case:
Mikkel Pedersen got the idea for Probotic after working in the service industry with various net cleaners and ROV systems for several years. There he saw how time-consuming, expensive, and not least risky these operations were for the fish and equipment, so he began to think of alternative methods to keep the net clean. The result was the company Probotic, which is established to develop an automated net cleaner based on the experience he has from the industry.
With him on the team he has now got Rune Hansen, who after working on maintenance of F-16 fighter jets and different ROV systems offshore, earned a degree in economics and has worked in the field of economics in recent years. Together they are now running the development of Probotic, and have now received capital from CoFounder in Trondheim, as well as the northern Norwegian companies Norinnova and Kupa. Innovation Norway has also contributed to the development.
The founders currently run the operating company Narvik Maritime Service AS, which conducts ROV inspections. Through extensive experience from the aquaculture industry, Probotic has now established contact with many customers who see the value of the product they are developing, and has now signed an agreement with Ballangen Sjøfarm and Cermaq Norway to participate in the development and testing of the product.
Net cleaning is estimated to cost Norwegian breeders about NOK 1 billion per year
Quotes:
– Mikkel Pedersen, general manager of Probotic – It is fantastic to include Cermaq and Ballangen Sjøfarm on the team in the development of Probotic’s autonomous net cleaner. We have a very good starting point, but know that it will be a demanding product development cycle, and it is crucial to have customers and test sites along the way to succeed. – We are going to have an MVP in the sea this summer that will teach us a lot about how correct our assumptions have been. From there and out, it will be focusing on what we consider critical parts of the system to succeed. We have many ideas for how to solve this for our customers in a good way, and now it remains to put those ideas to life. We now have the opportunity to succeed, since we have access to capital and that we have interested and talented customers in the cooperation.
Rune Hansen
– From my previous experience as an F-16 mechanic, and the ROV pilot Offshore, I have learned the value of having work structure, and the importance of focusing on the details. We will focus on what we consider to be critical functionality for the net cleaner, and not overdo it at first. We think this is important for creating a product that the operators are happy with and not cursing over – this is where the fight will be for automatic net cleaners; it must work.
Cermaq Norway / Ballangen Sjøfarm – Probotic has shown us very good ideas, and on previous occasions has proven their ability to execute. We believe the team they now have in place, can make a product that will eventually solve many challenges for the industry. That is why we now want to support the development with our resources.