Seafood traceability company BlueTrace nets additional funding for growth

Cloud-based traceability solution creates logs, allows producers to tag their products

Shellfish-tagging and traceability company BlueTrace announced $3.2 million in seed funding, bringing its fundraising total to $4.1 million. The latest round was led by mainly local investment groups and various angel investors, including SeaAhead.

“Sustainable seafood is great for our communities, our planet, and our health,” said Chip Terry, CEO. “Our mission is to keep the seafood supply chain safe, efficient and compliant by digitizing key transactions to make seamless traceability possible. We have a long list of desired features from our clients — this new funding will help us deliver them.”

Joe Raczka, co-founder and managing partner at York IE, one of the latest investors, has joined BlueTrace’s board of directors. “BlueTrace is bringing a unique digital solution to a traditionally non-digital, tech-laggard industry,” Raczka said. “Chip and the rest of the talented team have proven their product market fit and will continue improving the seafood landscape.”

BlueTrace was founded as Oyster Tracker in 2018 and has since expanded its digital platform to support the broader seafood industry. Seafood organizations of any size can use BlueTrace’s cloud-based solutions from their smartphones to create logs (harvest, HACCP, receiving, shipping, cooling, etc.) and tag their products. The system empowers frontline employees to easily track and trace shipments. A regulatory rules engine increases compliance while reducing redundant paperwork.

In November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the final food traceability rules for the Food Safety Modernization Act, which will begin to take effect in 2023. BlueTrace already enables seafood businesses to comply with these increasingly stringent requirements.

“BlueTrace is a game-changer that’s meeting the unique needs of the seafood industry,” said Joe Lasprogata, VP-new product development at Samuels Seafood in Philadelphia. “Our company moves millions of pounds of seafood each year, which obviously means a lot of moving parts. BlueTrace’s platform helps us organize our shipments and give us confidence that we’re staying compliant. ”

BlueTrace expanded its customer base from 150 clients to more than 350 in 2022.

Follow the Advocate on Twitter @GSA_Advocate