BC Business
Co-founder and COO
AGE: 28
COMPANY: Industrial Plankton Inc.
“I don’t think my expertise would be in managing a 100-person company but getting everyone excited and moving quickly from a one- to 20-person company”
The story: For Ashley Roulston, family and entrepreneurship are a natural mix. The University of Victoria alumna founded Industrial Plankton, which manufactures algae bioreactors (machines that grow algae for use in aquaculture, biotech and research), with older brother Robert—a fellow UVic graduate in engineering and long-time business partner. The siblings had originally started a company called Reef Safe Fish, in 2012, with plans to develop the technology for breeding aquarium fish. But after discovering how difficult it was to produce the necessary algae, they adapted their existing equipment to create an automated algae reactor—and in 2013, Industrial Plankton unveiled its first machine. The hope is to sell 50-plus reactors in 2015 and ultimately sell the company within the next two years. As Roulston puts it: “I don’t think my expertise would be in managing a 100-person company but getting everyone excited and moving quickly from a one- to 20-person company.”
Markers of success: In the first month of 2015, Industrial Plankton had already sold four reactors, at a price tag of $32,000 each; they sold six in all of 2014. —Alix Drabek
Meet Ashley Roulston and the rest of the 2015 30 Under 30 winners at this year’s celebration event!