Unreasonable

Pearl oyster farms in Southeast Asia turned out to be a pretty good classroom for Unreasonable Fellow Nusqe Spanton. Years of tweaking algal diets to grow better bivalves convinced him algae could do far more than feed shellfish. In 2018 he founded Provectus Algae to prove it. The company has recently secured US$12.6M (Series A plus grant funding) to scale Surf-n-Turf®, a methane-reducing feed supplement made from Asparagopsis. Instead of ponds or ocean plots, Provectus runs closed, modular bioreactors lit with precisely tuned LEDs. That control over light and therefore gene expression lets the team hit consistent levels of bioactives and avoid contamination. The output is a stable dry powder that drops into existing feed systems, from lick blocks to feedlot rations. Production is ramping from ~110,000 L to ~260,000 L, with large commercial trials next so producers can see both methane cuts and on-farm performance gains. The same platform is also surfacing new molecules for food, cosmetics, and longer-term therapeutic work. Congrats to Nusqe and the entire Provectus Algae team. 🔗 More on Nusqe - https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/ecBqSwSJ 🔗 More on Provectus Algae - https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/eR7EQNJ4

At OCEANIUM, we’re meeting the growing demand for sustainable ingredients in food, health, and materials - driving systemic change. Our proprietary technology transforms regeneratively farmed seaweed into clinically proven ingredients that support gut health and reduce redness in skincare. Our mission is to catalyse the next-generation seaweed industry across Europe, the Americas, and Africa. 🔗 Karen Scofield Seal featured in Sifted: 👉 https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/eKiT-9uW 🙏 Thanks to Unreasonable Impact for championing both business growth and founder wellbeing.

Thank you Unreasonable for your hugely impactful ongoing support!

We're proud to support these incredible companies through our long-standing partnership with Unreasonable 🤝 The Unreasonable Impact programme supports high-growth ventures to scale and address global issues, through networks, resources and mentorship.

All eyes to the UK's green economy 🌱 Despite a global decline in climate tech funding, the UKs' climate tech sector has displayed growth and resilience. Unreasonable Group has partnered with Barclays to run the Unreasonable Impact programme, which supports growth-stage entrepreneurs to address pressing global challenges with scalable, profitable solutions. Read the full article: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/ehtgNZBe Thanks to Andrew Scott CEO of Orbital Marine Power Ltd, James Hygate OBE CEO at Firefly Green Fuels, Karen Scofield Seal cofounder of OCEANIUM and Daniel Epstein, Founder and CEO of Unreasonable Group for sharing their insights and expertise.

It’s not always the flashiest ideas that move the needle. Sometimes it’s the ones buried in sludge, drifting in tidal currents, or growing quietly in the sea. This week, Sifted sat down with three Unreasonable Impact Fellows building real-world climate solutions in the UK. - James Hygate OBE is converting sewage into jet fuel at Firefly Green Fuels. - Karen Scofield Seal is scaling seaweed-based materials and food ingredients at OCEANIUM . - Andrew Scott is generating reliable power from tides at Orbital Marine Power Ltd. All three are part of Unreasonable Impact, a programme we run in partnership with Barclays to support growth-stage ventures tackling pressing global challenges. You can read the full piece here: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/eKiT-9uW You can learn more about each of the Fellows here: 🔗 More on James - https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/eykM4zHz 🔗 More on Karen - https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/eNPnHpih 🔗 More on Andrew - https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/eMzVqvnF

Can we help the body heal itself, one organ at a time? That’s the question Unreasonable Fellow Tamer Mohamed has been exploring since his days as an engineering student, when a late switch to biology changed the course of his career. Together with his co-founders, he built Aspect Biosystems out of a university lab in Vancouver with a bold idea: to develop living, implantable tissues that restore lost biological function. Over a decade later, that idea is taking shape. At ENDO 2025, the team shared early preclinical results from their adrenal program—lab-grown tissues that mimic natural cortisol rhythms and respond to stress in real time. It’s a major step forward for patients with primary adrenal insufficiency, a life-threatening condition where the body can’t produce enough cortisol. Current treatments rely on hormone replacement, but they fall short of replicating the body’s internal clock,leaving patients vulnerable to serious complications. Aspect’s approach is different. By using living human cells, their implants are designed to sense, respond, and adapt, working in harmony with the body, not just around it. Tamer was recently named to the BC500 list of British Columbia’s most influential business leaders, recognized for his work pushing the boundaries of biotechnology and regenerative medicine. 🔗 More on Tamer: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/eTD78KJB 🔗 More on Aspect Biosystems: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/eGZ3XgS7

Most of us don’t think about cement. Cody Finke, Ph.D. does. Cement is responsible for more than 5% of global CO₂ emissions, roughly the same as all the world’s cars combined. And unlike cars, there hasn’t been much of a roadmap for how to decarbonize it. Structural engineers almost always specify one type: ordinary Portland cement. It’s reliable, tested, and known. So any breakthrough needs to be the same material, just made differently. That’s exactly what Brimstone , co-founded by Unreasonable Fellow Cody, has done. Rather than using limestone (which releases CO₂ when processed), Brimstone uses calcium silicate rock, which doesn’t emit CO₂ and even leaves behind a byproduct that passively absorbs it from the air. Their process produces ASTM C150-certified ordinary Portland cement, with a second output that qualifies as a supplementary cementitious material. The industry is increasingly short on those materials as coal use declines. Same cement. Lower cost at scale. And for a wide range of energy sources? Carbon negative. Cody’s path into this work didn’t begin with cement. He’s a chemist by training who spent years working on wastewater treatment, hydrogen, and fertilizer before landing on what he calls one of climate’s “orphan problems.” Along the way, he’s stayed anchored in a simple but hard principle: If your solution only works under ideal conditions, like a carbon tax or 100% clean power, it’s probably not the right solution. Brimstone’s approach doesn’t rely on what might happen. It’s built to work now. And when it comes to decarbonizing heavy industry, “now” is the only timeline that matters. You can learn more about Cody here: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/eNygJBUy And you can learn more about Brimstone here: https://xmrrwallet.com/cmx.plnkd.in/e9avwbPC

🎉 Our partners at Barclays, through their adoption of the dishware-as-a-service model from Re:Dish Co.,  just hit 1 million single-use items avoided! That’s a million forks, cups, and containers that didn’t end up in landfills. 🌎🙌 Re:Dish was part of our Unreasonable Impact Americas program with Barclays back in 2022, and seeing this kind of scale and sustainability leadership in action is exactly why we do what we do. Congrats to the teams at Re:Dish and Barclays for proving that systems change is possible, one (reusable) dish at a time. #Sustainability #CircularEconomy #ClimateAction #ImpactAmericas #ReDish #Barclays #Reusables #ImpactInAction

Barclays just hit 1 million single-use items avoided! Today, we joined our client Barclays to celebrate a major milestone: together, we’ve avoided over 1 million single-use foodservice items with reusable cups and containers across their offices in NYC, Whippany, and Wilmington. The weight of that avoided material is roughly the weight of over 56,000 lbs or 5 elephants! Why does this matter? Reuse beats single-use by every measure. Making the switch to reusables means less waste, lower emissions, and less water used. Barclays is showing what’s possible when organizations commit to a better system. We appreciate that they have joined us in showing what is possible everywhere. Thank you to Frances Cabrera, Casey Cullen-Woods, Christian Knox, and Sean Bradshaw for your work, which has been instrumental in making this happen. Cheers to the next million and beyond!