Mirai Saien Selected as Investment Recipient by "Iyō Primary Industry Future Fund" Jointly Established by Iyō Bank and Japan Finance Corporation

Mirai Saien Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Showa-ku, Nagoya City, Representative Director: Tomofumi Hatakeyama, hereinafter "Mirai Saien"), an agritech startup originating from the University of Tsukuba, is pleased to announce that it has received investment through the underwriting of a third-party allotment of new shares from the "Iyō Primary Industry Future Fund," jointly established by Iyō Bank, Ltd. (President: Takashi Sagayama, hereinafter "Iyō Bank"), Iyō Bank Capital Co., Ltd., and Japan Finance Corporation (hereinafter "Japan Finance Corporation").

This is the first case in Japan where a fund jointly established by a regional financial institution and Japan Finance Corporation, based on the "Investment and Development System for Agricultural, Forestry, and Fishery Corporations, etc." established by the government, has invested in an agriculture-related startup.

In addition to being an investment that does not involve interest payments or scheduled repayments, unlike a loan, Mirai Saien will be able to tackle the research and development that takes time to monetize, and the nationwide deployment of its pest and disease prediction AI app "TENRYO" with an even longer-term perspective, by welcoming a fund that includes the public-sector Japan Finance Corporation as a stable shareholder.

TENRYO AI Occurrence Prediction Screen TENRYO Occurrence Information Sharing Map

Developed "Stink Bug Prediction AI" in collaboration with Ehime Prefecture and Prefectural JAs, aiming for nationwide adoption

Mirai Saien began its expansion in Ehime Prefecture after being selected for "Triangle Ehime," one of Japan's largest public-private co-creation digital implementation projects led by Ehime Prefecture, in 2024. In recent years, stink bugs have occurred in Ehime Prefecture at a scale approximately 80 times larger than usual (in 2024), causing severe damage to fruits such as citrus, including mandarins. These abnormal outbreaks have become difficult to manage with conventional pesticide application schedules (pest control calendars) alone, posing a nationwide challenge, not just for Ehime Prefecture.

Farmer using TENRYO (Matsuyama City, Ehime Prefecture)

"TENRYO," developed by Mirai Saien, is a pest and disease prediction app that uses proprietary AI, trained on 20 years of weather data and pest/disease occurrence history, to analyze recent weather data and alert users to the risk of occurrence one week in advance.

Pest control is all about timing. By achieving pest control at the "optimal timing," it simultaneously maximizes the effectiveness of pesticides, reduces the number of applications (labor saving), and stabilizes yields.

Through "Triangle Ehime," Mirai Saien collaborated with Ehime Prefecture, prefectural JAs, and producers to develop a stink bug occurrence prediction model, which has already been implemented in TENRYO and brought to market. Currently, adoption is progressing not only among producers and JAs in Ehime Prefecture but also in other prefectures.

TENRYO Explanatory Video

Funds will be used to strengthen the AI development system, promote adoption by farmers nationwide, etc. (Comment from Representative Director, Tomofumi Hatakeyama)

We are deeply honored to have been selected as the first investment recipient for the "Iyō Primary Industry Future Fund" targeting agriculture-related startups. Since our adoption into "Triangle Ehime," we have received continuous support, and we are very pleased and humbled that this investment has now been made financially.

The funds raised through this investment will be used to strengthen our AI development system, conduct demonstration tests in experimental fields, and promote adoption by farmers nationwide.

We are confident that the environment created by this funding, which allows us to pursue our business with a longer-term perspective, will be a great force in realizing our mission: "Protecting the health of agricultural products and connecting food and agriculture to the future."

The app name TENRYO originates from "Tenryo," the directly controlled territories of the shogunate in the Edo period, which were symbols of abundance, and carries our wish for all farmland to become fertile land.

What we aim for is not just to issue forecasts. We aim to be like an "AI instructor" standing beside farmers, capable of proposing concrete actions such as, "For this risk, let's apply this pesticide at this timing."

Building on the connections gained from our initiatives in Ehime, we will spread a future of agriculture nationwide where farmers are freed from worries about pests and diseases and can focus on crop cultivation with peace of mind.

Tomofumi Hatakeyama, Representative Director

Company Overview

Company Name: Mirai Saien Co., Ltd.

Representative: Tomofumi Hatakeyama, Representative Director

Founded: May 2019

Location: STATION Ai, 1-2-32 Tsurumai, Showa-ku, Nagoya City

Business Activities: Development and sales of DX services for pest control utilizing AI

Company HP: https://www.mirai-scien.com/