Two of Norway’s most ambitious technology companies in aquaculture are now joining forces. OptoScale, a provider of AI-powered technology that delivers real-time insights for fish farming, has entered into an agreement to acquire Optimeering Aqua, provider of Bioplan, an AI-powered production planning software. The companies are combining with one clear goal: to provide customers with better decision support, even more precise predictions, and a more powerful tool for planning future production.
“We’ve followed Optimeering Aqua closely for many years and have been genuinely impressed by both the technology they’ve developed and the insight they’ve built. By combining our strengths through this acquisition, we can give fish farmers more than just data. We can provide insights and recommendations, based on deep industry experience,” says Sven Kolstø, CEO of OptoScale.
OptoScale has developed market-leading camera technology for documenting growth, welfare, and lice conditions in real time. Bioplan has established itself as the market-leading product for production planning by integrating predictive modeling of growth, mortality, wounds, and welfare with its advanced decision support models. These technologies are now being connected to the benefit of existing and new customers.
“Our customers want actionable insight, not just data. Camera data, prediction models and decision support systems must work hand-in-hand to answer questions like, ‘How is the lice situation developing?’ or ‘What should we do with consideration to growth, mortality and welfare development?’ These are the hard questions that combining our forces now enables us to answer in one solution,” says Kolstø.
Both OptoScale and Bioplan are experiencing strong growth. While their complementary technologies have developed in parallel, their direction has been clear: both have worked to make insights more relevant, accessible, actionable and forward-looking.
“It takes a lot to develop technology that actually works in the field. It’s about persistence and understanding what day-to-day life in the pens really looks like. Bioplan is an extremely robust prediction and decision support engine, and we believe this combination forms the foundation for what will become the most accurate insight platform in the industry,” Kolstø continues.
Optimeering Aqua has delivered technology-neutral decision support to the aquaculture industry for over 10 years. Erlend Torgnes will continue as leader of an integrated Bioplan team and sees great opportunities in the partnership.
“With access to even more granular, precise and relevant data from OptoScale, our models become stronger. That means better answers for customers and new possibilities to understand what’s happening in the pens. This takes our product development to the next level,” says Torgnes.
What does this mean in practice?
Optimeering Aqua’s expertise and Bioplan technology will now become an integrated part of OptoScale’s toolbox. Customers will continue to work with the same people as before – but now with access to more tools, more integrated insight, and even stronger predictions.
“Organizationally, we’re becoming one company. Our teams are already working closely together, and this fall, Bioplan and its models will be more deeply integrated into OptoScale’s platform. For customers, this means fewer systems to manage and better answers in one place, while still maintaining the flexibility to integrate the data from any provider ” says Kolstø.
The acquisition is a strategic move to meet an industry that increasingly demands integrated solutions. Not just for documentation, but for predicting developments and taking proactive measures.
“Now we can help customers answer earlier—and more accurate—questions like: ‘How many wounded fish will I have in three months?’, ‘How is the level of female lice developing?’, or ‘What is the best harvest plan, considering growth, production windows, and lice pressure?’ No one has been able to answer these questions well enough, but now, together, we’re on the way,” Kolstø concludes.
About OptoScale
OptoScale provides real-time insights for fish farming, using advanced underwater imaging and AI. Founded in 2016 and based in Trondheim, the company now has 60 dedicated employees and offices in both Norway and Chile. Today, OptoScale is a trusted partner to fish farmers worldwide, supporting better decision-making through precise, non-invasive monitoring of fish weight, welfare, and lice levels.
About Optimeering Aqua and Bioplan
Optimeering Aqua, through its flagship product Bioplan, helps fish farmers optimize production planning and harvest strategies. Bioplan combines predictive algorithms with decision support models based on mathematical programming to improve harvest timing, reduce costs, and enhance fish quality. By merging deep aquaculture expertise with advanced technology, Optimeering Aqua empowers producers to make smarter, data-driven decisions throughout the production cycle
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