In pictures: Spanish entrepreneurs swim out of troubled financial waters

Ardora Sea Preserves associates Alberto Sanchez, left, and Sergio Baamonde collect seaweed off Picon beach in Ortigueira, northern Spain. The duo and another friend joined up in April 2012 to launch Ardora and to sell edible seaweed. Miguel Riopa / AFP

Ardora Sea Preserves associate Sergio Baamonde cleans seaweed at the factory site in Ortigueira, northern Spain. Miguel Riopa / AFP

Daniel Lopez, a chef at O Camino do Ingles, is a regular customer of Ardora Sea Preserves. Miguel Riopa / AFP

Boxes of seaweed from the Ardora Sea Preserves at the Ortigueira factory site ready for delivery to customers. Miguel Riopa / AFP

Ardora Sea Preserves associate Sergio Baamonde shows a handful of harvested seaweed off Picon beach in Ortigueira, northern Spain. Miguel Riopa / AFP

A dish prepared with seaweed and fish by Daniel Lopez, chef at O Camino do Ingles and a customer of Ardora Sea Preserves. Miguel Riopa / AFP

The three entrepreneurs invested €300,000, which they raised from relatives, loans and a small state subsidy which allowed them to buy the land for the factory, which prepares the seaweed for sale. Miguel Riopa / AFP

The three associates at Ardora Sea Preserves do everything from harvesting to preparation to sales of the seaweed – canned, fresh or dried – as well as finding new customers. Miguel Riopa / AFP

Ardora Sea Preserves associates Alberto Sanchez, left, and Sergio Baamonde carry bags of harvested seaweed off Picon beach in Ortigueira, northern Spain. The duo and another friend joined up in April 2012 to launch Ardora and to sell edible seaweed. Miguel Riopa / AFP

Ardora Sea Preserves associates Alberto Sanchez, left, and Sergio Baamonde collect seaweed off Picon beach in Ortigueira, northern Spain. The duo and another friend joined up in April 2012 to launch Ardora and to sell edible seaweed. Miguel Riopa / AFP

In 2012, sales of ecological seaweed and related foods in the Galicia region where Ardora Sea Preserves operates amounted to €3.8 million. Miguel Riopa / AFP

Ardora Sea Preserves associate Sergio Baamonde collects seaweed off Picon beach in Ortigueira, northern Spain. Miguel Riopa / AFP

Three young Spaniards have plunged into unchartered waters to start a business that promises them a way out of the country’s financial crisis: seaweed.