Californian seafood robotics start-up Shinkei Systems raised $22 million in Series A funding to expand its Poseidon technology and consumer packaged goods (CPG) brand focused on providing Michelin-quality seafood to the masses, Saif Khawaja, CEO and co-founder of Shinkei, told AgTechNavigator.
Launched in 2021, Shinkei provides an automated way to slaughter fish more humanely while creating fresher and more flavorful fish for consumers, Khawaja explained. Khawaja came up with the idea for Shinkei while studying in college and after reading animal rights advocate and philosopher Peter Singer’s essay If Fish Could Scream.
Shinkei’s Poseidon technology is a box-shaped device installed onto commercial fishery boats that processes the animal on the boat itself, within seconds of capture, Khawaja explained. Once the fish enters the machine, Poseidon scans the fish with AI to determine the species and best way to remove the animal’s gills, brain and tail, he added.
Poseidon then knocks out the fish, and the blood of the fish is drained by osmosis and the pumping of the fish’s heart, which continues after it has been slaughtered — similar to Kosher processes — he added. Lastly, the machine cools the meat down quickly in a “half ice, half water slurry,” before the meat is placed in the hull of the ship, Khawaja said.
The whole process is designed to humanely slaughter the fish and reduce the animal’s stress, which normally is transported to land for slaughter, Khawaja explained. Several on-ship conditions can result in the fish spoiling early, from bacteria in stagnant water and fish producing “acidic hormones that speed the deterioration,” he added.
Shinkei’s technology is inspired by the Japanese ike jime method of fishing, where fish are quickly slaughtered after being caught to boost quality and reduce suffering for the animal, the company explained.
Shinkei is cautious on becoming a tech provider
Shinkei’s Series A round was co-led by Founders Fund and Interlagos, with participation from new investors, including Yamato Holdings, Shrug, CIV, Jaws and Mantis. Last April, Shinkei closed a $6 million seed round, led by Cantos with participation from 8VC, Carya Venture Partners, Impatient Ventures, Ravelin Capital, Red & Blue Ventures, Susa/Humba Ventures, Undeterred Capital and others.
“Everyone always says, ‘You want to be selling shovels during the gold rush.’ I actually think that you should just be selling gold, but you are the only person with a shovel.”
Saif Khawaja, CEO and co-founder of Shinkei Systems
The latest funding will help scale the technology and develop a technology roadmap to improve the seafood supply chain, Khawaja explained. Shinkei is encouraging smart and clever engineers to apply for open positions as well as anyone with ideas to scale the company’s technology.
“We are producing robots every two weeks that have multi-year shelf lives that we can then copy-paste across all these different fishing vessels. ... We do a few 1,000 pounds of fish a week,” Khawaja said.
Shinkei does not charge anything for installing Poseidon on commercial fishing ships, and fishers can sell the fish they catch back to Shinkei at a premium, Khawaja explained. These fish are then used for Shinkei’s CPG brand, Seremoni, he added.
Seremoni launched last year with black cod and black sea bass and plans to bring red snapper, salmon, rockfish, porgy, Spanish mackerel and pollock to market soon. Additionally, Shinkei partnered with Yamato Transport to distribute its fish in Japan, the company shared.
Many aqua-tech companies enter strategic partnerships with larger companies to reach scale and profitability. Shinkei explored this possibility, but ultimately decided that it could achieve market success by owning its entire value chain, Khawaja explained.
“Everyone always says, ‘You want to be selling shovels during the gold rush.’ I actually think that you should just be selling gold, but you are the only person with a shovel,” he elaborated.
