Hatch Blue teams up with consultancy to launch Japan innovation accelerator
Aquaculture investor Hatch Blue and Japanese global marine sustainability consultancy UMITO Partners have announced a strategic partnership to develop and deliver aquaculture innovation programmes in Japan.
Their first initiative will be the Japan Aquatech Innovation Studio, a structured programme connecting Japanese industry, capital, and government with high-potential technologies and companies from Japan and around the world.
Japan’s seafood economy is among the largest and most dynamic in the world, worth 1.7 trillion Japanese yen in 2023, which converted to approximately £9.75 billion at 2023's exchange rate.
Innovation for growth and the environment
The country’s government has set out significant growth, self-sufficiency, and export targets for the sector, and Hatch Blue and UMITO say that meeting those targets in the face of rising feed costs, labour shortages, increasing environmental pressures and an ageing, slowing domestic market will depend heavily on innovation.
At the same time, as aquaculture expands, environmental pressures can also increase depending on how that growth takes place.
Innovation is therefore important not only for improving productivity and commercial performance, but also for enabling lower-impact and more restorative approaches to aquaculture.
Beyond production
The partners said the Japan Aquatech Innovation Studio’s ambition reaches beyond supporting production.
Japan is already home to a growing wave of deeptech and biotech companies with roots in aquaculture whose applications extend well past the farm gate, into food, health, nutrition, advanced materials and biomanufacturing. The Studio is designed to identify and scale these high-potential technologies, giving Japanese corporates, investors, and government partners early, structured access to the companies building them.
This mission aligns with Japan’s national direction. In July, the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi adopted Japan’s Growth Strategy, including public-private investment roadmaps across 17 strategic sectors such as synthetic biology, biotechnology, and food tech, complemented by public R&D and commercialisation support, including the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries’ Comprehensive Startup Support Programme.
Hatch Blue will lead
Under the partnership, Hatch Blue will lead and co-design the Innovation Studio programme, drawing on its global network of founders, mentors and investors. UMITO Partners will act as a strategic local partner to co-design the programme and lead on-the-ground delivery, contributing market knowledge and marine sustainability expertise, and connecting domestic and global aquaculture innovations with Japan’s seafood industries and government bodies.
The partners said the studio offers direct access to Hatch Blue’s global network and hands-on guidance from a team that has backed aquaculture companies worldwide.
Participants in the programme also gain a clear read on the global aquaculture market and investment landscape, including sustainability considerations, helping them position their technology for customers and capital beyond Japan.
Global insight
Shunji Murakami, founder and chief executive of UMITO Partners, said: “By partnering with Hatch Blue, we can combine their global insight and ability to identify high-potential aquaculture startups with UMITO’s deep connections across Japan’s industry and government ecosystem, and our expertise in marine sustainability. Together, we aim to create a programme that drives real economic growth while advancing a more sustainable future for the ocean.”
Wayne Murphy, co-founder and partner at Hatch Blue, said: “We have spent eight years building programmes that turn early-stage aquaculture innovation into real commercial businesses.
“Japan is one of the most important seafood markets in the world, and UMITO Partners is the ideal partner on the ground. Together we can give Japanese corporations and investors a front-row seat to the technologies defining the future of the industry, and give innovators a serious route into Japan.”
The two firms are now inviting Japanese corporations, government bodies and funders interested in sponsoring or partnering on the programme to get in touch. As a first step, Hatch Blue and UMITO Partners plan to convene a study session for prospective partners in late October 2026, to shape the programme focus ahead of its 2027 launch.
