Industrial Plankton Inc.

Industrial Plankton Inc., a for-profit Canadian biotechnology firm based in Victoria, British Columbia, manufactures and maintains photobioreactor systems and closed-loop algae density controllers for federal marine research and aquaculture programs as a prime contractor. The vendor competes exclusively in unrestricted, full-and-open procurements with no set-aside utilization across its federal footprint.

Industrial Plankton operates in two concrete capability areas: the design and delivery of fully automated algae photobioreactor systems (ranging from 100-liter research units to 2,500-liter industrial-scale systems with integrated controllers and dosing equipment) and annual PlanktonCare maintenance services (on-site and remote technical support, preventative maintenance, software updates, parts kits, and emergency repair). Representative prime work includes a $141.97 thousand firm-fixed-price purchase order from the USDA Agricultural Research Service (ARS) awarded July 2021 for photobioreactor equipment and services supporting the National Cold-Water Marine Aquaculture Center's Eastern oyster selective breeding program in Ottawa, Ontario; a $189.77 thousand August 2021 ARS award for large-scale photobioreactors, controllers, and integrated algae systems with training and maintenance; a $42.02 thousand August 2023 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration award for a closed-loop algae density controller and doser system and annual PlanktonCare 2.2 services for the Northeast Oyster Breeding Center; and a $100.275 thousand April 2026 USDA ARS purchase order (with performance through March 31, 2031) for comprehensive maintenance, repair, and technical support on three Industrial Plankton Brand photobioreactors and two shared head tanks at the Pacific Shellfish Research Unit in Newport, Oregon.

Customer concentration sits entirely within federal research and fisheries agencies, with USDA Agricultural Research Service accounting for nine of ten awards across Northeast, Pacific West, and unnamed Area sub-offices ($538 thousand combined potential value, representing 66% of the portfolio), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration representing the sole non-ARS customer (one award, $42 thousand). The vendor operates as a pure prime contractor with zero subcontract exposure. Activity has been episodic — three awards in 2021, two in 2022, two in 2023, one in 2025, and one in 2026 — with only one award (combined potential value $22 thousand) facing ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months, suggesting limited near-term recompete exposure but also low current-pipeline velocity. The vendor's award footprint is classified under Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (nine awards) and Electronic and Precision Equipment Repair and Maintenance (one award), with Laboratory Equipment and Supplies as the primary PSC.