Meet the team

Pål Bakken. Founder.

After working with seaweed as a youth in Frøytang AS, a previously family owned seaweed operation in Norway, Pål started again with seaweed in 2006, when he founded SES. He was CEO until November 2014 and is now actively involved in the company as a director. Pål’s working experiences are all related to the ocean - as a successful entrepreneur in the aquaculture business with 12 years experience in the seafood and seaweed trade in Asia. Pål has a BSc with honours in Finance and Marketing from the University of Oregon, USA. He speaks Norwegian, English, Portuguese and Japanese.

Jon Funderud, MSc. CEO.

Jon joined SES in 2010 and has held several positions including Marine Biology Manager and Business Development Manager and has worked hands on with research, technology development, product development and sales. In 2015 he took over the role as CEO of the company. Previously, he spent 8 months at the Yellow Sea Fisheries Research Institute in Qingdao, China during his thesis working on Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) with field work in Sanggou Bay, one of the world's largest areas of seaweed cultivation. Jon has an MSc in Marine Coastal Development from NTNU, Trondheim. He speaks Norwegian and English.

Maren Sæther, MSc. Quality & Processing Manager.

Maren joined SES in 2013 where she is currently responsible for processing of the biomass and quality control, as well as customer follow up and sales. She has acquired hands on experience in the whole cultivation cycle, from breeding and hatchery techniques, to sea operations, processing and finished product. Maren has a MSc in biotechnology from NTNU. She speaks Norwegian and English.

Diogo Raposo, MSc. Production Coordinator.

Diogo joined the team in 2013, where he is currently coordinating the different stages of the production chain (hatchery, sea farm and processing). Over the seasons, he has aquired valuable hands-on experience at these stages, as he has been previously managing the hatchery operations and the sea operations. Diogo has a MSc in Animal Science Engineering. He speaks Portuguese and English.

Ana Borrero, PhD. Hatchery Manager.

Ana joined SES in 2020 to assist with seedling production, R&D and sea farm monitoring. She is now responsible for producing seedlings, both for deployment at the company's sea farm and for external customers. She is also responsible for R&D related to seedling production and for continuously refining and improving the company’s seeding protocols. Ana has a PhD in Marine Science and Technology and has been working since 2010 in science on characterization of aquatic systems for monitoring purposes related to marine pollution and ocean acidification. She speaks Spanish, English and a bit of Norwegian.

Frank Neumann, Dipl.-Ing. Marine Technology Manager.

Frank joined SES in 2012, initially working on energy-scale and offshore seaweed cultivation visions. He now works on improving farming techniques, harvest and deployment operations, and further exposed systems. He assists in strategic issues, public support and new ventures, liaises with suppliers and project partners. He has 12 years of ocean wave energy and coastal engineering experience, being appointed Associate Director of the Wave Energy Centre, which he helped to create. Frank graduated as a Civil Engineer from the University of Karlsruhe, Germany. He speaks German, Portuguese and English.

Tor Magne Volden, MSc. Finance Manager.

Tor Magne joined SES as Finance Manager in September 2023. With a background in finance and administration, he is responsible for financial management and planning. Before SES, he worked as a financial officer at NTNU, handling budgeting and reporting for R&D projects. Additionally, his time at DNB, a leading Norwegian bank, equipped him with a thorough understanding of financial systems. Tor Magne holds a Master's degree in Economics and Administration from Norges Handelshøyskole (NHH), with a specialisation in finance. He speaks Norwegian and English.

Kristian Cato Haugen. Sea Operations Manager.

Kristian joined the team in 2021. He has been working in the Aquaculture industry for more than 25 years. In the last 20 years, Kristian has been Site Manager at different Salmon farming locations, along the Norwegian coast. Now, he applies his valuable knowledge and long experience to the Seaweed industry, managing the sea farming operations in the region of Frøya and Hitra. He studied Aquaculture and speaks Norwegian and English.

Isaac Malca. Seaweed Technical Coordinator.

Isaac joined the team in November 2021 to improve hatchery processes and facilities. He has over 17 years of experience in agriculture, specializing in the mango industry, before transitioning to his current role at SES. He is responsible for maintaining and developing technical equipment used in seeding, monitoring, and other sea operations. Additionally, he trains temporary workers in spooling and supervises substrate production. He speaks English and Spanish.

Magnus Halvorsen. Seaweed Production Technician.

Magnus joined SES in 2019. He works mainly in the hatchery, where he is responsible for maintaining and preparing equipment and facilities for production of seedlings. He also assists in sea work out in Frøya during deployment, harvest and maintenance operations. He has an education in nature management. He speaks Norwegian and English.

Annachiara Pagnotta, MSc, Seaweed Production & Research Technician.

Annachiara joined SES in 2024. Her current role is as Seaweed Production and Research Technician. Her main tasks are to assist with seedling production in the laboratory and monitoring at the farm, and R&D. Annachiara holds a MSc in Global Change Ecology from the University of Trieste, Italy, with a Master thesis in Macroalgal forest ecosystems. She speaks Italian and English.

Hallvard Muri. Chairman.

Hallvard joined the team as Chairman in August 2020. He has had a long career in the seafood and aquaculture related industries, including CEO of Akva group ASA, CEO of Aker BioMarine, General Manager and CFO for American Seafoods Group and Executive VP in Aker. He is currently holding Board positions at West Coast Salmon AS (Chairman), EnFlow AS, Scanbio Marine Group AS and Estramar Invest AS. Hallvard has a MSc in finance from the Norwegian Business School. He speaks Norwegian and English.

Kamel Gabriel EL KHALOUI. Board Member.

Kamel is CEO of ScanBio after serving as Sales director of the Company. He was formerly Sales & Product Development Director of a European player in the Pet Food sector. Kamel has occupied various responsibilities in the Biotechnology multinational Diana-Symrise, both as Sales manager and R&D manager.

He holds a Msc in food science and agro industry and education in corporate finance.

David Buckeridge. Board Member.

David Buckeridge has 35 years of management experience in the life science and agribusiness industries. David has been a Partner/Retained advisor of Paine Schwartz Partners for the last 15 years, previously the CEO of Advanta, the largest independent agronomic seed business in the world at the time. He began his career with the multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, spending approximately 20 years in a variety of management positions. During this time, he spent eight years in the crop protection and nutrition business, holding several management positions with a European focus in agriculture and horticulture.

He also spent five years in Des Moines, Iowa, running the commercial operations for AstraZeneca’s seeds business in the US. From 1999, he was the global head of its plant biotechnology business. He has served as director and Chairman of a range of companies, from early stage to mature business in Crop, Livestock, Marine/Seafood, pharma, and public health industries, whilst also running his family farm 520 acres cattle/arable, on the Isle of Wight.

David has a Bachelor of Science and Ph.D. in Genetics and Plant Sciences from the University of Wales.

Alex Mayer-Wolf. Board Member.

Alex Mayer Wolf joined the Board of SES in 2022. He has 12+ years experience in the agribusiness industry in various countries, and was formerly Country Manager for Nidera’s commodity trading and industrial activity in the Iberian peninsula. He previously held management positions in Nidera Seeds – a South-American based seed company engaged in both R&D and production/commercial activities.

Alex has Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering from Lehigh University and an MBA from Wharton.