What to do with an overabundance of crabs disrupting the Danish coastal ecosystem? Danish biologists Leander Hessner and Happylan Natkunarajah had the idea to turn this underused resource into a new source of marine protein. Their start-up, Decameal, uses every part of the crab to produce ingredients for aquaculture, pet food and beyond through a chemical-free process.
From by-catch to marine protein
In Denmark, overfishing reduced shore crabs’ natural predators by 90%, allowing crab populations to grow too much. That disrupts coastal ecosystems, and affects fisheries as the crabs prey on valuable fish and mussels. But shore crabs themselves have little commercial value and are often caught accidentally and discarded. This is where Decameal comes in. They first built a laboratory inside a shipping container and began processing by-catch supplied by Danish fishermen. They attracted interest from major feed producers and raised private capital.
Today, Decameal operates a pilot plant capable of processing two tonnes of crabs per day and is producing its first larger-scale order for an aquafeed customer.
An innovative approach
Usually, crab processing reduces nutritional value. Instead, Decameal uses a process based on mechanical and thermal separation, using the entire crab, increasing the value of each catch. The result? Protein ingredients for aquaculture and pet food, and shell-derived chitosan that helps plants withstand disease. The same technology could also be applied to millions of tonnes of other crustacean discards.
Scaling up with BlueInvest
From an idea that emerged during a bio-entrepreneurship course at university, Hessner - now CEO - and Natkunarajah founded their start-up in 2022, and they are now preparing to scale up to industrial production.
Winning the Ocean Bioresources category at BlueInvest Day 2026 gave Decameal greater visibility among investors, corporates and other blue economy actors, expanding its investor network as the company prepares to grow.
So far, the company has raised around €3 million in grants and equity from business angels, venture capital funds and corporate investors. A seed round is planned for the end of 2027 to fund a plant capable of processing up to 40,000 tonnes of crabs a year.
Decameal is looking for investors comfortable with capital-intensive projects. In the longer term, shell-derived chitosan could open doors in pharmaceuticals and human nutrition.
For Hessner, the mission remains rooted in science. “We run a business now, but we started out as biologists, and we still are,” he says. “Sustainability and ethics guide our decisions.”
About BlueInvest
BlueInvest is the EU’s innovation and investment platform for the blue economy, offering business coaching, fundraising support and networking opportunities for ocean technology companies. Companies and individuals can register through the BlueInvest Community to access programme features and opportunities.
The next BlueInvest Day will take place on 2 March 2027, with applications to pitch on stage opening through the Community. For further information, contact lu-blueinvest@pwc.lu.
More information
Website: Decameal
Social media: Decameal on LinkedIn