What Impact9 does

Impact9 Energy & Marine Limited is an Irish offshore aquaculture engineering company headquartered in Skerries, Ireland, founded in 2018 by CEO John Fitzgerald. The company designs submersible, pressure-adaptive structural systems that enable aquaculture production across coastal, nearshore, and exposed open ocean environments that conventional steel pens cannot safely service. Its proprietary SeaStrut technology uses inflatable tubes that derive structural compression strength from internal fluid pressure rather than rigid materials, enabling autonomous buoyancy management, wave-activated storm submersion, and compliant structures for highly dynamic marine conditions. Building on this technology, Impact9 has developed the Net9 open ocean containment platform, combining SeaStrut beams with elastic tendons around a central feed platform, designed for 125,000 m3 containment in 60m+ water depths with a sub-scale 10,000 m3 Net9-S demonstrator design completed in December 2022.

The company's product portfolio spans SeaStrut modular grids for seaweed and shellfish cultivation, pressure-adaptive submersible fish pens for finfish operations (targeting salmonid producers), and the Net9/Net9-S open ocean fish farming platform. It monetises through two streams: sale of SeaStrut hardware (in HDPE pipe or soft-shell inflatable beam variants) and bespoke engineering services covering farm design, hardware integration, installation, and operational optimisation. Go-to-market is consultative and sales-led, delivered through direct engagement with aquaculture operators, technology developers, and project partners via website inquiry and project partnerships, supplemented by collaborative research projects with European universities and marine research institutions.

Impact9 targets the estimated €5 billion sustainable aquaculture opportunity in UK and Ireland waters, with global expansion potential, particularly into the Norwegian offshore salmon farming sector. The company has raised approximately €168,000 in pre-seed funding from the HATCH Aquaculture Accelerator (Cohort 2019) and approximately €950,000 in cumulative grant funding from Marine Institute Ireland, the European Commission (ULTFARMS project), the UK Seafood Innovation Fund (IMPACT project), SEAI, BIM Ireland, and ProtoAtlantic. Strategic partnerships include TTI Marine Renewables (mooring and fibre rope engineering), Sea & Believe (seaweed-for-cosmetics production in Galway), and Teal Marine Technologies (HDPE component design and prototyping). The company operates with 1-10 employees and remains in pre-commercial stage, with commercialisation efforts led by engineering services and pilot deployments rather than scaled hardware sales.

Name

Impact9

Legal name

Impact9 Energy & Marine Limited

Website

https://impact-9.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Impact9 is an Irish offshore aquaculture engineering company that designs submersible, pressure-adaptive structural systems using patented SeaStrut tube technology and the Net9 open ocean platform. It serves salmonid, shellfish, and seaweed farmers seeking resilient, storm-protected production in coastal to exposed marine environments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Offshore Aquaculture Equipment

NAICS

Aquaculture (1125), Finfish Farming and Fish Hatcheries (112511), Other Aquaculture (112519)

SIC

Farm Machinery & Equipment (3523)

akta.pro primary industry

Offshore & Open-Ocean Aquaculture (AFAEAAAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

Retrofits & Modernization (Scrubbers, Ballast Water, Alternative Fuels, Energy-Saving Devices) (IMAJAFAH)

Keywords

• Offshore aquaculture systems
• Submersible fish pens
• Aquaculture engineering services
• Seaweed cultivation grids
• Open ocean fish farming

Headquarters

HQ city

Skerries

HQ country

Ireland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. SeaStrut Hardware Sales: Sale of SeaStrut pressure-adaptive tube grids for seaweed, shellfish, and suspended cultivation applications. Grids offered in two construction options: HDPE pipe or soft-shell inflatable beam, with various buoyancy capacities tailored to customer needs.
2. Engineering Services: Marine engineering expertise including farm design, hardware integration, installation, and operational optimisation tailored to specific sites, species, and operating conditions. Provides site-specific aquaculture challenges solutions.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Impact9 (Impact-9 Energy & Marine Limited) designs, manufactures, and deploys offshore aquaculture hardware, including its proprietary SeaStrut pressure-adaptive tube grids and Net9 open ocean containment platforms. The company works directly with farm operators to develop project plans using tailored SeaStrut modular grids and manages the supply and installation of grid hardware for seaweed, shellfish, and finfish cultivation in exposed marine environments.

Product overview

Impact9 offers a modular aquaculture technology portfolio centered on SeaStrut pressure-adaptive structures that enable flexible, submersible systems for coastal, nearshore and exposed environments. The product line includes SeaStrut modular grids for shellfish and seaweed cultivation, Submersible Fish Pens with pressure-adaptive collar technology for finfish farming, and Net9/Net9-S open ocean containment solutions. The systems integrate compliant structural principles with autonomous buoyancy management, wave-activated pumps, and collapsible elements. Engineering Services provide site-specific support across design, installation and operational optimisation, tying the product ecosystem together.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SeaStrut: Pressure-adaptive inflatable tube technology for shellfish and seaweed cultivation support systems, featuring autonomous buoyancy management and submersible control.
• Net9
• Net9-S

Products and services

• SeaStrut

Quantifiable outcome

• Increased area intensity through denser grid arrays enabled by SeaStrut tubes maintaining substrate separation in dynamic conditions
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• ULTFARMScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerULTFARMS is a pan-European research network enhancing Europe's capacity for low-trophic aquaculture. Impact-9 worked closely with University of Gent, Deltares, and Bantry Marine Research Station to deliver the Belgian Pilot, designing and supplying a submersible kelp longline for testing.
• Sea & BelievecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSea & Believe grows Palmaria palmata (red seaweed) for cosmetic applications. Impact-9 partnered with them to deploy a submersible Palmaria production system at their Cleggan, Co.Galway site and develop a scalable SeaStrut Grid design to expand production.
• TTI Marine RenewablescoreTechnology or IntegrationBased in Inverness, Scotland, TTI brought fibre rope and mooring design expertise to the design of Net9-S as part of the IMPACT project funded by UK Seafood Innovation Fund. They have experience developing similar structures for marine renewables sector, including Netbuoy.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• AquaMaof Aquaculture Technologies: Israeli-headquartered aquaculture technology firm specializing in recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS) and turnkey fish farming solutions. A broader incumbent offering alternative production technology that competes for the same aquaculture capex dollars.
• Akva Group: Listed Norwegian aquaculture technology supplier (cages, sensors, feeding, software) that sells submersible and exposed-site pens globally. The dominant incumbent in conventional fish-farm equipment against which any new entrant like Impact-9 must differentiate and win standards.
• Steinsvik (Akva Group): Long-standing Norwegian aquaculture equipment manufacturer (now part of Akva Group) supplying cages, feeding systems, and software. Comparable to Impact-9 as a supplier of structural aquaculture hardware, but with a much broader conventional product portfolio.

Direct peers

• InnovaSea Systems: US-based aquaculture technology company offering fish pens, sensors, and feeding systems, with growing focus on submersible and offshore-capable structures. Directly comparable as a hardware-and-services aquaculture technology provider targeting exposed environments.
• Nordlaks: Norwegian salmon farmer that has developed and deployed the Havfarm/Havfarmen, one of the world's largest offshore fish farming concepts. Direct competitor for offshore salmonid containment innovation targeting the same exposed-site production challenge Impact-9 addresses with Net9.
• Cflow: Norwegian supplier of fish handling, wellboat, and aquaculture processing equipment. Comparable to Impact-9 as a specialized equipment and engineering services vendor serving the salmon farming industry, including exposed-site operators.
• Aqualine: Norwegian manufacturer of fish-farm cages, nets, and mooring systems, including submersible pen designs. Overlaps directly with Impact-9's structural hardware and submersible pen value proposition.
• SalMar Aker Ocean: Norwegian offshore salmon farming venture (operator of Ocean Farm 1) that is developing and deploying large submersible and offshore containment structures, directly competing with Impact-9's Net9 concept for the same early commercial offshore salmon market.

Emerging players

• OptoScale: Norwegian aquaculture sensor and software company providing biomass, welfare, and environmental monitoring. An emerging player in the offshore salmon farming technology stack, partially overlapping with Impact-9's monitoring and automation ambitions.
• Stingray Marine Solutions: Norwegian aquaculture technology company providing sea lice removal systems (laser/camera-based). An emerging player addressing the same offshore and exposed-site salmon farming pain points that motivate submersible pens like Impact-9's Submersible Fish Pens.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/impactnine
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/jfitzg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Impact9