AI Seed Proves Sustainability Pays: 8x Return as AKVA Buys Observe Technologies for $30M

• AI Seed portfolio company Observe Technologies acquired by AKVA Group
• AI for agritech deal worth $30M
• Exit delivered an 8x return to investors
• AI Seed proves viability of AI for sustainability investing

Klepp, Norway. Monday, 30 June 2025:  Europe’s number one pure-play, vertical AI venture capital firm, AI Seed,  has successfully exited its AI for agritech investment Observe Technologies.

Observe Technologies, the world’s leading AI for automating the feeding and care of fish stock in salmon fish farms, was acquired by Norwegian multinational  AKVA Group, the world's largest supplier of technology and services to the global aquaculture industry, in a deal worth $30M that delivered an 8x return to AI Seed’s investors.

Observe Technologies’ AI not only delivers cost savings to fish farm operations but also significantly reduces feeding waste and the release of antibiotics into the environment. With this exit, AI Seed has proved its thesis that AI for sustainability investing can both have a positive environmental impact and deliver attractive investment returns.

The acquisition by AKVA Group complements its in-house digital products, and Observe Technologies’ AI expands its reach to new markets and new types of fish stock as AKVA Observe.

Commenting on their success, AI Seed’s Managing Partner, Jacques de Cock, said:

“Observe Technologies is an example of a vertical AI company with a deep understanding of its customers and its market. Being a niche application does not necessarily mean low commercial viability; it can also mean an opportunity for market dominance. The team at Observe Technologies knew their market, knew how AI could deliver real bottom-line cost savings, and knew how this would result in better-quality fish stock for salmon farms.

“It was easy to make our decision to invest in Observe Technologies due to the founders Hemang Rishi and Pieter Fabry’s combination of deep domain expertise and deep AI technical skills, allowing them to develop their own defensible and proprietary AI tailored to what customers cared about.

“When AI Seed invests, we provide much more than a check. We also provide technical and business support, help our founding teams acquire new customers, assist them in building long-term AI defensibility, and prepare them for exit when the time is right. We supported the team at Observe Technologies in all these ways in their growth to AI category leader and their exit to AKVA Group.

“Our AI investment thesis focuses on vertical AI companies with proprietary AI and proprietary data, backed by a founding team that combines deep market knowledge with deep AI technical expertise. This is the only way to consistently unlock real value in the forever-shifting AI landscape.”