About us

We didn’t invent a better source of Omega-3.
We found the original one.

Our story

In 2016, founder and CEO Douglas Martin started with a question that the entire fish-oil industry had stopped asking: where do Omega-3s actually come from?

The answer is algae and always has been. Fish are just the carriers, not the maker, so MiAlgae took on the mission to grow the algae directly using its’ patented fermentation platform – utilising by-products from the whisky industry as feedstock.

Today we are based in Scotland and produce a fish-free, DHA-rich Omega-3 ingredient from our purpose-built facility.

Recognition

The Earthshot Prize Finalist 2024 – Revive our Oceans (founded by Prince William).

Featured in the BBC, The Times, The Guardian, The Scotsman and STV

The problem

  • Our oceans are overfished which means numbers of fish are dropping faster than they can reproduce. This is having a disastrous effect on marine ecosystems.
  • The world’s population is growing and so the demand for Omega-3s are rising. But fish based Omega-3s are running out. By 2030 demand is expected to outstrip supply by 20,000 metric tonnes.
  • Levels of Omega-3s in fish oil are becoming increasingly variable
  • Fish oil can contain harmful heavy metals, microplastics, PCBs and dioxins
  • ALA is often promoted as a plant-based source of Omega-3s but the truth is pets struggle to convert into DHA that provides most of the health benefits.

What we believe

  • Algae are the original source of Omega-3s. Fish just carry them
  • It doesn’t make sense to overfish and empty the oceans for something they don’t produce. And then feed those Omega-3s to animals.
  • The health of our oceans is crucial to our survival
  • Biotechnology can reduce the over-reliance on our oceans.