BACKGROUND

Searen was founded in 2013 to solve one of the world’s major challenges: water quality.
Its vision is rooted in the experience of co-Founder Emmanuel Briquet, a sustainable aquaculture pioneer.

In 1989, Emmanuel created Provence Aquaculture, the world’s first organic-certified fish farm.
In 2005, he also founded Corse Aquaculture, an organic-certified fish farm in Corsica.

For more than 20 years before moving to the U.S. with his American wife in 2013,
Emmanuel has been a recognized expert in sustainable aquaculture, and an active
member of leading Organic Aquaculture organizations, including France's
Department Of Agriculture, OrAQua (the official EU working group), the
European Commission and, in the U.S., the USDA's Organic
Aquaculture Task Force. He has been interviewed on CNN, BBC,
and other prominent World media.

In 2012, a researcher and mentor at the French Institute for Sea Research showed Emmanuel 
the Vacuum AirLift (VAL™) concept, developed and patented by IFREMER, a research institute
in Montpelier, France. IFREMER conducts cutting-edge research in sustainable development
and ocean science. It granted Coldep SAS an exclusive global license in 2012.

As an aquaculteur, Emmanuel immediately saw VAL’s™ potential to broadly revolutionize water
management processes. That same year, he moved to the U.S. and, with John Brooks,
an American business executive, created Searen in 2013. Searen LLC received
an exclusive sub-license from Coldep for North and South America the same year.

Tom Andrews, an experienced engineer, joined Searen in 2015 as Chief Technology Officer. 
Together, the three developed, tested and ran pilots in the aquaculture,
micro-algae production and municipal water segments. VAL™ launched
in the North American aquaculture market in late 2017.