Founders Fund is betting on an unlikely category: robots that kill fish. The firm has backed Shinkei Systems, a startup that built a refrigerator-sized machine called Poseidon that fishermen install on their boats to humanely kill each fish instantly using computer vision and precision mechanics. The technology automates ike jime, a centuries-old Japanese technique that delivers better flavor and longer shelf life compared to the conventional slow death most fish experience.
At TechCrunch’s StrictlyVC event in Los Angeles, Shinkei founder Saif Khawaja and Founders Fund partner Delian Asparouhov discussed why a venture firm known for backing SpaceX, Anduril, and OpenAI is now deploying capital into fish processing. The answer comes down to an overlooked market with a massive inefficiency: roughly 18% of seafood spoils between dock and store, and much of America’s domestically caught fish is shipped to China for processing before returning to U.S. shelves.
Shinkei’s model is vertically integrated. It gives Poseidon machines to fishermen for free, pays them a premium for the catch, then takes full possession of the fish. The catch goes to a 16,000-square-foot plant in Tacoma, Washington, where it is processed and sold under the consumer brand Seremoni as “ceremony grade” fish. The company already supplies restaurants holding a combined 50 Michelin stars and claims to be the first to export American-caught fish into Japanese markets.
A pilot at Erewhon’s Manhattan Beach location sells Seremoni Miso Black Cod at the prepared foods bar. The quality pitch is clear: fish that would normally last 5 to 7 days can stretch to 12 or 14 days. Khawaja says the company has cooked fish three weeks after catch with no issue. A new in-plant sensor system even projects individual shelf life for each fish, reducing the estimated 18% spoilage loss across the supply chain.
For Founders Fund, Shinkei fits a pattern of backing founders in unfashionable categories. Asparouhov noted that AI and defense together make up only 15% to 20% of the fund’s deployed capital. The rest goes to bets like robots that kill fish — an industry with essentially no competition for the fully automated, at-sea approach.
Source: TechCrunch
