The company's founder, Saif Khawaja, sees the automation of the ike-jime technique as the start of a major shift in the seafood economy, potentially reducing waste and overfishing. The longer shelf life of fish killed via ike-jime could lead to restaurants buying fewer, higher-quality fish, which could in turn impact the entire supply chain, including overseas processing. Khawaja also hopes that the higher value of each fish could discourage overfishing. The funding round was led by Cantos, with participation from 8VC, Impatient Ventures, Susa Ventures, Carya Venture Capital, Ravelin Capital, Red & Blue Ventures, Undeterred Capital and existing investors.
Key takeaways:
- Shinkei is developing an automated system for harvesting fish that is more humane and reliable, potentially leading to a longer shelf life and higher quality of seafood.
- The company's machines identify the species and shape of the fish, and then quickly and accurately spike the fish's brain, a method based on a Japanese technique called ike-jime.
- Shinkei has raised $6 million in funding and aims to have 10 machines in actual use by the end of the year.
- The company's founder, Saif Khawaja, believes that this automation could lead to a major shift in the seafood economy, reducing waste, potentially bringing processing jobs back to local markets, and putting negative pressure on overfishing.