Shinkei Systems

What Shinkei Systems does

Shinkei Systems is a vertically integrated seafood technology company that has industrialized the Japanese ike jime technique through robotics and computer vision. Founded in April 2021 by Saif Khawaja and headquartered in El Segundo, California, the company deploys its Poseidon robots free of charge to commercial fishing vessels operating in Atlantic and Pacific waters, purchases the catch at premium prices, processes it at company-controlled facilities, and sells the resulting product under the Seremoni consumer brand to upscale retailers and Michelin-starred restaurants. The platform is built around ShinkeiOS, an integrated operating system for seafood supply chains composed of Poseidon (on-vessel harvesting robot), NERA (real-time quality assessment sensor stack), and Chronos (market intelligence and supply chain routing platform). The system's core value proposition is that instant, humane harvesting eliminates stress hormones that degrade approximately 70% of fish quality, extending shelf life from 5-7 days to 12-14 days, which enables longer routing, dynamic pricing, and the first-ever export of American-caught fish to Japan via Yamato Transport.

The business model is built on margin capture between premium-priced fish purchased from fishermen (who reportedly see a doubling of take-home pay) and higher prices fetched from premium downstream customers. Revenue is generated through unit sales of Seremoni-branded seafood to retailers including Erewhon, Wegmans, Fresh Direct, Happier Grocery, and Santa Monica Seafood, and to Michelin-starred restaurants including Sushi Zo DTLA, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, and Family Meal at Blue Hill. Distribution currently spans more than 20 U.S. metro areas across six regions (Pacific Northwest, California, Atlantic, Gulf Coast, Alaska, New England) plus Japan. In February 2026, Shinkei acquired a 16,000-square-foot processing facility in Tacoma, Washington from Fathom Seafood for $4.2 million, deploying the NERA system as its first dedicated wild-caught fish processing hub with a core team of over 50 employees. Total disclosed funding is $30 million across a 2024 seed, a $22M Series A led by Founders Fund and Interlagos in June 2025, and a follow-on from Founders Fund in June 2026, with strategic participation from Yamato Holdings.

Name

Shinkei Systems

Legal name

Shinkei Systems

Website

https://shinkei.systems

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Shinkei Systems deploys AI-powered robotic systems that automate the Japanese ike jime technique on commercial fishing vessels, then sells the premium processed catch under the Seremoni brand to upscale retailers and Michelin-starred restaurants across the US and Japan.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Seafood Robotics and Automation

NAICS

Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (31171), Seafood Product Preparation and Packaging (3117), Fish and Seafood Retailers (445250)

SIC

Prepared Fresh Or Frozen Fish & Seafoods (2092), Food And Kindred Products (2000)

akta.pro primary industry

Frozen Meat, Poultry & Seafood Manufacturing (AFAKACAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Frozen Seafood Meals & Value-Added Seafood (CRADADAG), Freezing & Cold-Chain Seafood Processing (IQF, Blast Freezing, Glazing) (AFANADAE)

Keywords

• Seafood robotics
• Automated fish processing
• Humane fish harvesting
• Seafood supply chain
• Computer vision robotics

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Poseidon Hardware Deployment & Fish Purchase: Shinkei provides Poseidon machines to fishermen at no cost, pays premium prices for the catch, processes everything in its own U.S. facility, and sells the fish under the Seremoni brand. Revenue comes from the margin between the premium-priced fish purchased from fishermen and the higher prices fetched from premium retailers and restaurants.
2. Seremoni Branded Fish Sales: Consumer-facing distribution arm sells premium seafood processed by the AI system to restaurants and retailers across over 20 U.S. metro areas and into Japan. Products include wild-caught American fish with no preservatives or added chemicals, sold at premium pricing.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Shinkei Systems builds and deploys Poseidon, an AI-powered robotic system that automates the Japanese ike jime technique for humane fish harvesting on commercial fishing vessels. The company processes the resulting catch at its own U.S. facility and sells premium wild-caught seafood under the Seremoni consumer brand to high-end retailers and restaurants. The offering combines proprietary robotics (Poseidon), real-time quality sensing (NERA), and supply chain intelligence (Chronos) under the integrated ShinkeiOS platform.

Product overview

Shinkei Systems operates a platform-plus-modules architecture built around Poseidon, a refrigerator-sized AI-powered robotic system that performs the traditional Japanese ike jime technique for humane fish harvesting on commercial fishing vessels. Poseidon is provided free to fishermen and processes the catch at Shinkei's own facilities. The software stack includes ShinkeiOS, an integrated operating system comprising NERA (real-time quality assessment sensor stack) and Chronos/CHRN (market intelligence and supply chain routing platform). The consumer-facing distribution arm is Seremoni, which sells Poseidon-processed fish under the Seremoni Grade quality standard to retailers and Michelin-star restaurants across the US and into Japan. In February 2026, Shinkei acquired a 16,000-sq.-ft. processing facility in Tacoma, Washington as its first dedicated processing plant and West Coast hub. The company was founded in April 2021, deployed its first Poseidon in September 2024, launched Seremoni in October 2024, raised $22M Series A in April 2025, and launched NERA and CHRN in November 2025.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Seremoni: Consumer-facing distribution arm of Shinkei Systems selling premium wild-caught American seafood processed by the Poseidon AI system. Products sold at Erewhon, Wegmans, Fresh Direct, and to Michelin-star restaurants. Seremoni Grade fish is wild-caught, humanely harvested via ike jime, with extended shelf life and no preservatives.

Products and services

• Poseidon Refrigerator-sized robotic system deployed on commercial fishing vessels that uses computer vision and AI to perform the Japanese ike jime technique for humane, instant fish harvesting immediately after catch. Processes thousands of fish daily across Atlantic and Pacific fleets and is provided to fishermen free of charge in exchange for Shinkei purchasing the processed catch at premium prices.
• ShinkeiOS Integrated operating system for living seafood supply chains that combines robotics (Poseidon), real-time quality sensing (NERA), and supply chain intelligence (Chronos) to optimize every layer from deck to dinner plate.
• Seremoni Consumer-facing distribution brand and quality standard for Poseidon-processed wild-caught American fish. Seremoni Grade products are wild-caught by American fishermen, humanely harvested via hands-free ike jime, with extended shelf life up to 14 days and no preservatives or added chemicals. Sold at retailers such as Erewhon, Wegmans, Fresh Direct, Happier Grocery, and Santa Monica Seafood, and to Michelin-star restaurants across more than 20 U.S. metro areas and into Japan.

Quantifiable outcome

• Shelf life extended from 5-7 days to 12-14 days (3x improvement)
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Fathom SeafoodcoreOthers · 1 February 2026Shinkei acquired Fathom Seafood's 16,000-square-foot processing facility at 2544 S. Fawcett Ave. in Tacoma, Washington for $4.2 million. The facility became Shinkei's first wild-caught fish processing facility and strategic hub on the West Coast.
• Yamato TransportcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 October 2024Yamato Transport handles international logistics for Seremoni brand fish exports to Japan, enabling Shinkei to become the first to export American-caught fish to the Japanese market.
• ErewhonmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 October 2024Premium grocery chain that stocks Seremoni Grade fish, selling Shinkei's humanely-harvested, premium-quality American seafood to consumers.
• WegmansmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRegional grocery chain partner selling Seremoni Grade fish to consumers through their stores.
• Fresh DirectmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline grocery delivery service partner for Seremoni Grade fish distribution to consumers.
• Santa Monica SeafoodmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSpecialty seafood retailer partner for Seremoni Grade fish sales.

Scale indicators11 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights7 records

Direct peers

• Miso Robotics: Miso Robotics applies AI and robotics to automate food preparation in commercial kitchens. Both companies target food industry transformation through robotics, though Miso focuses on restaurant back-of-house while Shinkei targets harvest/primary processing.
• Chef Robotics: Chef Robotics builds AI-driven robotic systems for meal assembly and ingredient portioning in food service. It is comparable to Shinkei as a Series A-stage robotics startup bringing automation to legacy food preparation workflows.

Broad incumbents

• Trident Seafoods: Trident Seafoods is one of the largest vertically integrated seafood companies in North America. Comparable to Shinkei in vertical integration from vessel to finished product, though at vastly greater scale and without Shinkei's robotics-led approach.
• Pacific Seafood: Pacific Seafood is a vertically integrated US seafood company with harvesting, processing, and distribution. It is comparable as a domestic incumbent that Shinkei could either compete with or supply into premium channels.
• Thai Union Group: Thai Union is one of the world's largest seafood processors and a CPG brand owner (Chicken of the Sea). Comparable to Shinkei in seafood processing and branded packaged seafood, but at global commodity scale rather than premium niche.
• Clearwater Seafoods: Clearwater Seafoods is a major North American shellfish and premium seafood harvester/processor. It is comparable as a premium seafood processor competing for similar chef/retail customers in North America.
• Nomad Foods: Nomad Foods is a major European frozen seafood CPG company (Birds Eye, Iglo brands). Comparable as a branded frozen seafood CPG owner at scale, providing a template for what Seremoni could become as it scales.

Emerging players

• Wildtype: Wildtype is a cell-based salmon startup targeting premium sushi and restaurant customers. It is comparable to Shinkei as an emerging player attacking the same premium seafood narrative, though via cultivated alt-protein rather than robotics-enabled wild catch.
• BlueNalu: BlueNalu is a cell-based seafood company focused on premium fish products. Comparable as a premium-positioned seafood innovator addressing sustainability and quality, but addressing a different supply mechanism (cultivated vs. wild-caught automation).

Regional players

• Maruha Nichiro: Maruha Nichiro is Japan's largest seafood company and a global fisheries conglomerate. It is comparable as a vertically integrated seafood giant and is directly relevant to Shinkei's Japanese export partnership and ike jime heritage.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ShinkeiSystems

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors20 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Shinkei Systems