Square Roots announces new company in Japan

Square Roots has announced Square Roots Japan, a new company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan.

Square Roots Japan has licensed and will build upon the modular and flexible indoor farming platform developed and deployed by Square Roots in the United States, while partnering with traditional Japanese farmers to future-proof the production of specialty crops.

"We've created a flexible and scalable platform for innovation that is enabling partners across the global agri-food ecosystem to shape the future of food," said Tobias Peggs, Square Roots' CEO and cofounder. "We're honored that the team behind Square Roots Japan has chosen to build on our platform, with a business model inspired by tradition while looking firmly towards the future."

The partnership originally took root during a joint field trip to visit specialty farmers in Hokkaido, an island in the north of Japan.

The founding team of Square Roots Japan brings experience from a wide range of industries, including media and technology, sustainability, and a portfolio of food companies that blend a reverence for Japanese food and farming culture with a modern approach.

"The Square Roots technology platform is flexible and impressive," said Kotaro Shiba, co-founder of Square Roots Japan. "But equally important is the cultural alignment between our two teams. We all want to nourish people and the planet, while honoring our farmers, all driven by a deep love of delicious food."

"I've spent more than 20 years working on innovative, scalable solutions that make farmers and end-consumers happier and healthier," said Kimbal Musk, co-founder and executive chairman of Square Roots. "I'm thrilled to be working alongside such mission-aligned partners in Japan in our goal to nourish global communities through food."

The Square Roots platform includes modular growing systems and smart operating software, an extensive database of crop recipes and SOPs, along with services in both agricultural R&D and production farming.

As Yasaki Mai, CEO of Square Roots Japan, explains: "Our long term vision is for a wide range of specialty crops to be grown across a network of indoor farms, available year-round, resilient to the impacts of climate change, and honoring the farmers' legacy for generations to come."