Probotic is a newly established company that has recently acquired a patent on a method for cleaning the marine fauling on net. Mikkel Pedersen, General Manager, got the idea for Probotic after working in the service industry with various net cleaners and ROV systems for several years. He believed that there had to be safer, less time consuming, and cheaper way of keeping the net clean. This idea resulted in the company Probotic.
Mikkel will work alongside Rune Hansen to develop an automated net cleaner. Rune has worked in maintenance of F-16 fighter jets and different ROV systems offshore, and has a degree in economics.
The duo has recently received capital from CoFounder in Trondheim, as well as the northern Norwegian companies Norinnova and Kupa. Probotic has also received contributions from Innovation Norway. The goal is to have an MVP in the sea in the summer of 2020.
– The MVP 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 may 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, says Hansen in a press release.
With their vast experience from the aquaculture industry and support from investors, they have already established contacts with many customers who see the value of the product they are developing. Ballangen Sjøfarm and Cermaq Norway is already on board to participate in the development and testing of the product.
– 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, says Hansen.
The full press release can be read here: https://probotic.no/