This article is an English translation of a Foovo article, published with permission from Foovo.
AgriTech company NEXTAGE, which is tackling the challenge of automated wasabi cultivation amid declining domestic production, announced the completion of its Series A Round 1st Close funding this month.
Aiming to cultivate high-quality wasabi regardless of location
The graph showing the wasabi production trends, with blue representing the total production in Japan and orange representing production in Nagano Prefecture. ©Foovo
According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ special forest product production statistics, Japan’s wasabi production has been declining for four consecutive years, dropping from 2,017.1 tons in 2020 to 1,383.6 tons in 2023. Even in Nagano Prefecture, one of the main production areas, production in 2023 fell to less than half of that in 2020 due to the aging population of farmers.
NEXTAGE was established in 2018 to address the declining domestic wasabi production using technology. Takuya Nakamura, the company’s founder, who felt a sense of urgency over the deteriorating wasabi fields, began cultivating Mazuma, a premium domestically grown wasabi variety, in 2019.
The company points out that growing wasabi in natural conditions, such as in cool environments with flowing spring water, is becoming increasingly difficult, and due to the challenges of developing new farmlands, it’s hard to expect growth from new entrants.
In order to address this challenge, NEXTAGE developed a wasabi cultivation module. By packaging forced cultivation techniques and management methods into this module, it enables anyone to cultivate wasabi regardless of location or experience.
photo credit:NEXTAGE
To realize automated wasabi cultivation, the company began accepting orders for its cultivation modules last fall, and in December last year, Macnica became the first company to install one.
The module is a small 40-foot-sized plant factory, designed with insulation and moisture control crucial for growing wasabi. It allows wasabi to be harvested in about half the time compared to open-field cultivation. The module is equipped with cameras and sensors, allowing NEXTAGE to analyze conditions and provide AI-powered and human-based services for the cultivation process.
By introducing mobile farming technology to wasabi cultivation, which is typically constrained by experience and geographical factors, NEXTAGE sees the potential for wasabi cultivation not only in Japan but worldwide.
Wasabi is not only used in Japanese cuisine, such as sushi, but is also valued for its health benefits, including anti-inflammatory properties, antibacterial qualities, and aiding digestion. Due to these factors, the global wasabi market is expected to grow from $398.1 million in 2022 to $906.7 million by 2032.
With the funds raised in this round, NEXTAGE plans to accelerate its research and development and business expansion. Additionally, the company will showcase its products next month at the Agri-Food Tech Expo 2024 in Singapore, in preparation for international expansion.
