Indoor vertical farming company Oishii has announced the first closing of a $150 million Series C financing round, led by SPARX Asset Management, with participation from Nomura Real Estate Development, MISUMI Group, Mizuho Bank and others.
The raise comes at a critical juncture for the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) sector, which has seen a wave of high- profile bankruptcies and shutdowns over the past three years.
Against that backdrop, Oishii’s ability to attract fresh capital signals a notable vote of confidence – not just in the company, but in a different operating model for vertical farming.
The company said the financing will support increased production capacity, further integration of robotics, expansion of farm infrastructure, and continued investment in R&D across the US and Japan.
Why others failed: scale, cost and commodity crops
The contrast with failed vertical farming players is stark. Companies such as Plenty, Bowery Farming and AppHarvest collectively raised billions of dollars but ultimately struggled with challenges such as high energy and operating costs, weak unit economics on low-margin crops like leafy greens, aggressive scaling before profitability and over-reliance on venture capital.
An Oishii spokesperson told AgTechNavigator: “For anyone watching vertical farming, this feels like a notable moment as the category has spent the last few years under real pressure, with plenty of questions around cost, scale, and whether indoor farming can move beyond early ambition.”
Oishii’s alternative playbook: premium – first, then scale
Oishii has taken a markedly different approach – starting not with scale, but with crop differentiation and pricing power.
Founded in 2016, the company initially launched its Omakase Berry at nearly $50 per tray, positioning itself firmly in the ultra-premium segment. Rather than competing directly with field-grown or greenhouse produce, Oishii focused on delivering a product that could not easily be replicated.
That premium-led strategy has allowed the business to gradually refine its production system before scaling.
Since launching the Omakase Berry, the company has added the Koyo Berry and Nikko Berry and introduced new pack sizes and retail formats designed for more everyday purchasing, with offerings today spanning $4.99 to $15. Its new Premium Preserves line also extends the brand beyond fresh berries into a range of ‘elevated’ pantry staples.
The evolution reflects a deliberate shift: leveraging early premium margins to fund efficiency gains, then translating those gains into wider consumer access.
Automation and robotics at the core
A second differentiator lies in Oishii’s deep integration of automation.
The company’s Smart Farm™ model combines robotics, AI and controlled environment systems with traditional Japanese farming techniques. Robotics play an increasingly central role in pollination, harvesting and quality control: critical processes for strawberries, which are among the most complex crops to grow indoors.
That capability was strengthened in 2025 through the acquisition of Tortuga AgTech, adding harvesting robotics and engineering expertise.
A subsequent partnership with MISUMI Group has further bolstered Oishii’s automation infrastructure, supporting deployment across both the US and Japan.
Oishii said that robotics and automation have become central to its approach to scaling strawberry production with greater consistency, precision, and quality control.
Choosing the hardest crop – for a reason
Oishii’s focus on strawberries is itself a strategic departure from industry norms.
Many vertical farms concentrated on leafy greens – crops that are easier to grow but have limited pricing upside. Oishii instead opted for a technically demanding crop with higher retail value.
CEO Hiroki Koga acknowledged the difficulty of that choice: “When we chose strawberries, we knew we were selecting one of the hardest paths in indoor farming. They require precision at every stage… and there were moments where solving one challenge revealed the next.”
That complexity, however, has become a competitive advantage. Mastering strawberries indoors requires expertise across pollination, climate control, harvesting and post-harvest handling. These are capabilities that are difficult to replicate.
Linking production to real demand
Another key factor separating Oishii from failed peers is its emphasis on retail alignment and demand.
The company has expanded distribution across 18 US states and entered Toronto as its first international market. It has also introduced new packaging innovations, including a top-seal design that extends shelf life while reducing plastic use by 80%.
Crucially, product development appears tightly linked to retail insight. Oishii said the Nikko Berry, introduced in 2025, has become a strong proof point for how it applies demand, retail, and production insight to product innovation.
This contrasts with earlier vertical farming models that prioritised engineering ambition over market fit.
A more disciplined path to scale
For investors, execution discipline has been a defining strength.
SPARX CEO Shuhei Abe said Oishii has successfully moved from R&D to commercialisation while maintaining momentum:
“One of the company’s key strengths lies in its exceptional execution capability, which has enabled rapid technological advancement.”
The company is now entering a new phase, including the development of an Open Innovation Center in Tokyo to accelerate R&D.
Redefining the vertical farming narrative
For an industry often framed in binary terms – either the future of agriculture or an overhyped failure – Oishii’s trajectory suggests a more nuanced reality.
The spokesperson noted: “The hope is that these milestones start to move the conversation beyond the usual ‘vertical farming works or doesn’t’ binary.”
Instead, Oishii points to a more specific formula for success: “one built around crop differentiation, smarter automation, retail demand, and the ability to translate efficiencies into more accessible consumer products.”
What comes next
With fresh capital in hand, Oishii plans to scale its Smart Farm model, expand production capacity, deepen automation capabilities and continue product innovation.
Whether this model can be replicated across other crops – or adopted by other players – remains an open question.
But in a sector still reeling from high-profile failures, Oishii’s latest raise offers a rare signal that vertical farming, done differently, may yet deliver on its promise.
