Hello, I’m Arima, a partner leading the agri-food domain at Beyond Next Ventures. We’ve recently made a new investment in the seaweed tech startup Aqua Theon Inc. (formerly Cashi Cake). Here, I will be summarizing why we decided to invest in this venture, breaking it into three areas: Market, Technology, and Management Team.

Seaweed Capturing Global Attention: Why Its Popularity Is Rising

A Superfood Aligned with Global Consumer Trends

As people are becoming more conscious toward their health and environment, global demand for new food ingredients is rapidly increasing. Among these, seaweed—such as nori, kombu, and wakame—is drawing significant attention. Although seaweed has long been rooted in traditional Asian cuisine, it is now steadily gaining recognition worldwide as a superfood.

In fact, when Whole Foods Market ; the major U.S. grocery chain owned by Amazon, listed kombu in its “Top 10 Food Trends for 2023,” it sparked a surge of interest in seaweed across the globe.

In the U.S., a product called Dulse Bacon, which uses dulse (a type of red seaweed), has been developed. It has drawn attention as a bacon alternative for people who cannot eat bacon due to calorie restrictions or religious reasons.

One major reason for seaweed’s rising popularity is its low environmental impact. Seaweed cultivation requires minimal land and freshwater, and no fertilizers or pesticides. It also absorbs carbon dioxide during growth, making it a highly sustainable food choice.

Another key reason is its high nutritional value. Seaweed is rich in minerals, vitamins, and dietary fiber—particularly iodine, calcium, and magnesium, which are essential nutrients. Because of these properties, seaweed is seen as an ideal food for health-conscious consumers.

The Seaweed Market Is Growing at an Astonishing Pace

The seaweed market, which was worth around $40 billion USD in 2020, is projected to grow to approximately $96 billion USD (about 14 trillion yen) by 2027. The market is expanding particularly rapidly in North America, driven by rising demand for products that meet needs such as lower environmental impact, sustainability, and health consciousness.

This market trend is generating a wide range of new business opportunities involving seaweed.

For example, noma—a Copenhagen-based restaurant often called “the best restaurant in the world”—makes extensive use of seaweed like kombu. At Core in London, seaweed such as wakame and kombu are used as broth bases to add umami flavor to meat dishes and vegetable sauces, demonstrating the strong support for seaweed from top chefs around the world.

Furthermore, seaweed is increasingly being used in processed foods. One example is the U.S.-based traditional Japanese confectionery brand MISAKY.TOKYO that uses seaweed from Aqua Theon (then operating as Cashi Cake). Meanwhile, at the annual chocolate fair of Salon du Chocolat 2023, seaweed-based innovations such as chocolate cakes with aonori (green laver) and a non-alcoholic drink made from fermented seaweed called “Wine of the Sea” were featured.

In addition, healthy snacks made from seaweed, such as SeaSnax, have gained popularity. Products like seaweed-infused pasta and seaweed-derived supplements are also being launched one after another.

About Aqua Theon’s Product

Aqua Theon is a U.S.-based startup that develops and sells innovative products made from seaweed. The company offers next-generation foods that are both health-conscious and environmentally friendly.

Seaweed-Based Japanese Sweets That Looks Like Jewelry: MISAKY.TOKYO

MISAKY.TOKYO is a vegan Japanese confection inspired by kohakutō, a traditional crystal sugar candy from Japan, made using seaweed-derived ingredients.

The brand has achieved impressive milestones, including:

• Being selected as one of only 30 vendors (and the only Asian vendor) to participate in pre-parties for the Academy Awards and Emmy Awards
• Collaborating with KKW, Kim Kardashian’s fragrance brand, which boasts over 190 million followers
• Being featured in Bon Appétit, the largest food magazine in the U.S.
• Growing its TikTok brand account to over 1 million followers, with a total of 435 million video views

“OoMee” – The World’s First Functional Juice Drink Made with Japanese Agar

OoMee is the first juice-form functional beverage in the U.S. made using agar, which originated in Japan. Designed for daily consumption to support gut health, it is blended with fruits and herbs. The product is vegan, gluten-free, additive-free, and free of artificial coloring, aiming not only to be beneficial for the body but also to promote a sustainable future in harmony with the natural environment.

In addition to these two products (MISAKY.TOKYO and OoMee), Aqua Theon is also developing medical-use products, and its seaweed processing technology is expected to be applied across a broad range of fields beyond just food.

Aqua Theon’s Seaweed Processing Technology

Aqua Theon has built a competitive advantage by overcoming a series of challenges related to seaweed processing that had long troubled the U.S. market.

1. Achieving Additive-Free Processing

Seaweed is an extremely difficult material to process without additives.
Its dietary fibers are highly unstable in acidic conditions, causing the fiber structure to break down. When combined with natural fruits or herbs rich in acidic vitamin C, the texture deteriorates—becoming gritty or forming lumps.

As a result, traditional methods have relied on synthetic acidifiers and artificial flavorings (additives) to adjust flavor of the product.

However, Aqua Theon has developed a core technology that enables flavor and texture adjustments using only natural ingredients, without any additives, thereby overcoming the hurdles of commercialization. It can already accommodate nearly 50 types of fruits and herbs, enabling a wide range of product development.

This innovation has earned high praise in the U.S. market, where interest in additive-free products is growing, and it serves as a strong source of competitive advantage that is difficult for other companies to imitate.

2. Achieving Mass Production with Proprietary Heat Treatment Technology

Seaweed has a high water content, making it prone to microbial growth and spoilage. Therefore, sterilization through heat treatment is a critical step in the manufacturing process.

However, seaweed is also extremely sensitive to heat, and the U.S. food manufacturing industry has not yet established an effective heat treatment method for seaweed.

Compounding the challenge, many U.S. food companies rely on OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) since they don’t own production facilities. However, it is usually difficult to customize OEM production lines for their own use, and this poses a major challenge—especially with the heat processing of seaweed products—raising the barriers to mass production.

To address this, Aqua Theon spent about four years co-developing a proprietary heat treatment technology with its OEM partners.

This technology now supports various seaweed products—from sweets to beverages—by allowing sterilization without damaging the unique qualities of seaweed, thereby enabling mass production.

An Outstanding Management Team

Behind Aqua Theon’s strong business execution and advanced technological capabilities is an exceptional management team led by Chief Executive Officer Ms. Miki, along with Chief Innovation Officer Mr. Ari and Chief Operating Office Ms. Lauren. Each member brings unique expertise and leadership from different fields, collectively driving the company’s growth.

CEO Miki plays a vital role in expanding the company’s presence in the U.S. market by leveraging her extensive experience in marketing and branding. She has built a broad network within the U.S. food industry and developed a strategic approach to adapt Japanese seaweed technology to the American market. Her ability to engage and mobilize key stakeholders is remarkable, enabling the company to form strong partnerships with key figures across many industries and leading companies.

CIO Ari is at the core of Aqua Theon’s technology and product development. Drawing on his experience leading technology development for flagship brands at the major U.S. food giant The Wonderful Company LLC, he is driving the establishment of core technologies and product development at Aqua Theon.

Notably, he has developed proprietary technologies that allow for flavor and texture adjustments without additives, as well as the unique heat treatment process for the mass production of seaweed products—both of which distinguish Aqua Theon from competitors.

Ari also brings a powerful industry network built over years of experience. When technical challenges arise, he can swiftly connect with the right experts, helping Aqua Theon maintain a technological competitive edge.

COO Lauren, an expert in operations and cost management, leads business development. At her previous role in a plant-based egg startup, she successfully expanded the number of retail locations from 300 to 1,200. At Aqua Theon also, she is driving distribution expansion and cost reduction in parallel, reinforcing the company’s operational efficiency.

Thanks to this well-balanced leadership team, Aqua Theon possesses competitive strength across all fronts of branding, product development, and business development. The company holds great potential to become a leading seaweed startup in the U.S. We have high expectations for Aqua Theon’s future growth, supported by this powerful team.

Aqua Theon Website: https://aquatheon.com/en
Aqua Theon Press Release：https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000009.000095881.html