SeafoodAI, an Oakland-area startup, is making waves in the $12 billion seafood tech market after securing strategic investment from Silicon Valley venture studio NEC X to propel its AI-powered biometric innovations for seafood traceability.
The centerpiece of SeafoodAI’s offering is the CrabScan360 system, which automates the measurement, weighing, grading, and sorting of crabs while capturing key biometric data such as weight, gender, and egg state for instant digital traceability and streamlined regulatory compliance – a major leap in a crab fisheries sector worth $11.5 billion globally and long plagued by $50 billion in annual inefficiencies due to manual processes.
Recent backing from NEC X follows SeafoodAI’s successful graduation from the Elev X! Ignite program, providing the resources to expand its biometric scanning solutions to other seafood species and roll out a trusted digital verification marketplace for processors, regulators, and retailers.
“Seafood sustainability is no longer optional; it’s imperative. With CrabScan360, we’re digitizing what was once a manual, labor-intensive process – bringing accuracy, transparency and trust directly to the seafood industry,”
said Rob Terry, CEO of SeafoodAI. The company’s hybrid hardware-SaaS business model also positions it for growth as major retailers like Whole Foods, Walmart, and Costco pledge to exclusively carry sustainably certified seafood by 2027.
For a deeper look at the technology, funding details, and industry implications, read SeafoodAI Secures Investment from NEC X, Accelerating AI-Powered Biometrics to Enhance Seafood Sustainability, learn about their market entry and startup journey in Crunchbase’s April 2025 Startup Deals roundup, and find additional context in SeafoodSource’s coverage of NEC X’s strategic investment in CrabScan360.