Regional Fish

About Regional Fish

Regional Fish is a Kyoto University-based startup founded in 2019 by CEO Tadanori Umekawa and CTO Masato Kinoshita. The company leverages genome editing technology to significantly accelerate the breed improvement process for aquaculture, reducing it from a potential 30 years to just two to three years. This high-speed breeding technology is aimed at addressing the global protein crisis and revitalizing Japan's aquatic industry. The firm's core technology promotes natural evolutionary changes at the DNA level without introducing foreign genes, distinguishing its method from traditional GMOs.

The company's business model spans the aquaculture value chain, including the production and sale of new fish breed seeds, franchising a smart aquaculture system, and sales of the resulting seafood. Their products, a specialized sea bream and tiger puffer, were the first genome-edited animal foods to be commercialized globally. Beyond these, the company has a pipeline of over 20 new varieties in development. To complement its breeding technology, Regional Fish develops and promotes a smart land-based aquaculture system that utilizes AI and IoT to monitor and automate the growth environment. This system is designed to optimize conditions like water temperature and oxygen levels, save manpower, and create an environmentally friendly aquaculture model through clean energy and waste recycling. By combining their fast-growing breeds with this smart system, the company projects a fourfold increase in productivity per area compared to conventional methods.

Regional Fish has established an open innovation network with over 70 enterprises and academic institutions. It has secured significant investor confidence, raising a total of $40.42 million over two funding rounds. A Series C round in December 2024 brought in $25.88 million from a diverse base of 16 investors, including Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Mizkan. The company has received numerous awards and has been selected for government-backed support programs like "J-Startup" and "J-Startup Impact" for its work in solving the protein crisis.