SeafoodAI Secures Investment from NEC X, Accelerating AI-Powered Biometrics to Enhance Seafood Sustainability

Elev X! Ignite Graduate Launches CrabScan360, Revolutionizing Crab Fisheries through Automated Verification and Digital Traceability

/EIN News/ -- PALO ALTO, Calif., April 09, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NEC X, the Silicon Valley venture studio backed by NEC’s advanced technologies and global businesses, today announced a strategic investment in SeafoodAI, an innovative startup revolutionizing sustainable seafood with real-time biometric data and AI-powered traceability. The announcement coincides with SeafoodAI's graduation from NEC X's prestigious Elev X! Ignite program.

CrabScan360 - Automated crab scanning and sorting system for verifiable, traceable harvests

SeafoodAI addresses the seafood industry's $50 billion in annual losses due to outdated, manual processes that hinder compliance, traceability and efficiency—starting with the crab fisheries sector, valued globally at $11.5 billion. Leveraging AI-powered biometric scanning technology, SeafoodAI’s flagship solution, CrabScan360, automates crab measurement, sorting and data recording, replacing error-prone manual processes. This transformative solution significantly enhances traceability, simplifies regulatory compliance and delivers precise operational insights to stakeholders across the supply chain.

Leading retailers, including Whole Foods, Walmart and Costco, have committed to exclusively selling sustainably certified seafood by 2027 or earlier. SeafoodAI's innovative approach enables fisheries and processors to achieve verifiable sustainability certifications rapidly, efficiently and at scale, meeting the growing demand for transparent seafood sourcing.

SeafoodAI is revolutionizing seafood sourcing with advanced technology, enhancing sustainability and profitability through real-time data insights and instant verification.

"Seafood sustainability is no longer optional; it's imperative," said Rob Terry, CEO and Founder of SeafoodAI. "With CrabScan360, we're digitizing what was once a manual, labor-intensive process—bringing accuracy, transparency and trust directly to the seafood industry. The strategic investment and technical expertise from NEC X significantly accelerate our ability to drive meaningful change across seafood supply chains."

NEC X's Elev X! Ignite program provides early-stage startups with strategic guidance, cutting-edge technology access and business resources to drive innovation. SeafoodAI directly leveraged NEC X’s expertise in image recognition and artificial intelligence, rapidly advancing its technology during the program as part of cohort Batch 9.

“SeafoodAI represents the impactful innovation that NEC X is committed to nurturing,” said Shintaro Matsumoto, CEO of NEC X. “Their biometric scanning technology unlocks new value across seafood supply chains by addressing global challenges with scalable, AI-driven solutions. We’re excited to support SeafoodAI’s journey toward redefining seafood supply chain standards.”

Alongside its new investment from NEC X, SeafoodAI is gaining significant momentum. The company successfully launched a beta of its field scanner, is rapidly advancing its digital logbook and is adapting its scanner for aquaculture in collaboration with the University of Mississippi. A graduate of Techstars’ Water Tech and Sustainability cohort, SeafoodAI is also part of Blue Swell’s Sea Ahead program and is working with partners like Hyperion to enhance its AI-powered seafood scanner for factory automation.

SeafoodAI is actively collaborating with leading certification bodies and seafood industry stakeholders, including Aruna, ASIC and Where Food Comes From, to implement digital verification solutions.

Beyond hardware, SeafoodAI is building a scalable data infrastructure—laying the groundwork for a trusted digital verification marketplace that connects harvesters, processors, regulators and retailers with real-time, actionable data. The startup is also expanding its biometric scanning innovations to additional seafood markets such as tuna, salmon and shrimp. It is in pilot discussions with government agencies and recently won the Open Sphere Startup Awards 2024.

SeafoodAI generates revenue through a hybrid model of hardware sales and recurring SaaS subscriptions, supporting long-term growth across the $12B seafood tech market.

For more information on SeafoodAI and its groundbreaking technology, visit https://seafoodai.com/.

About SeafoodAI
SeafoodAI provides AI-powered tools and technologies that enable a smarter, more connected seafood economy. Its intelligent scanners, sorters, graders, and digital logbooks help producers and processors improve efficiency while seamlessly capturing critical, verifiable data across every stage of the supply chain.

By embedding productivity tools that enhance operations and generate ground-truth insights, SeafoodAI supports real-time traceability, streamlined compliance, and data-driven decision-making from harvest to distribution. The company’s solutions help reduce waste, accelerate sustainability certification, and unlock access to premium markets.

With inefficiencies and data gaps costing the global seafood industry over $50 billion annually, SeafoodAI addresses a major need in an underserved, high-value sector. Its hybrid business model—combining hardware sales or leasing with recurring software subscriptions—positions the company for scalable, defensible growth.

For more information, visit www.seafoodai.com.

About NEC X 
NEC X is an innovation powerhouse and curator of disruptive startups backed by the global technology leadership of NEC. Leveraging 125 years of IT and network technologies expertise, NEC X’s startup-focused approach transforms visionary ideas into commercial successes that revolutionize how we work and live. Since its inception in 2018, NEC X has helped launch and grow more than 150 startups. 

Their Silicon Valley programs – Elev X! Ignite and Elev X! Boost – equip early-stage startup founders with the tools to fast-track their tech development and adoption. Elev X! fuels startup success from inception to launch, connecting innovators with NEC’s 45,000 patents; global network of partners, mentors and advisors; reach into 55+ international markets; and $8 billion R&D ecosystem.  

For more information, visit https://nec-x.com and https://www.elev-x.com. 

About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation has established itself as a leader in the integration of IT and network technologies while promoting the brand statement of “Orchestrating a brighter world.” NEC enables businesses and communities to adapt to rapid changes taking place in both society and the market as it provides for the social values of safety, security, fairness and efficiency to promote a more sustainable world where everyone has the chance to reach their full potential.

For more information, visit NEC at https://www.nec.com.

NEC is a registered trademark of NEC Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Other product or service marks mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners. ©2025 NEC Corporation.

Media Contact:

Robert Brownlie
Bob Gold & Associates
310-320-2010
necx@bobgoldpr.com

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at: 

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a6b250bd-383c-4d49-a37b-ab8ff9ab56cf

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A video accompanying this announcement is available at: 

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4e9aa436-4ac8-4e5a-96d4-1eed76da5a57

CrabScan360

Automated crab scanning and sorting system for verifiable, traceable harvests

Sorting Freshly Caught Crabs With CrabScan360

SeafoodAI is revolutionizing seafood sourcing with advanced technology, enhancing sustainability and profitability through real-time data insights and instant verification.

Inspecting the Catch With CrabScan360

Captures location, date, and all critical biometric information, including weight, gender, egg state and size.

Crab

A freshly caught crab is scanned with CrabScan360 platform, ensuring quality and reducing processing time.