Ranking: May Startup Funding Top 20—Next-Gen Vertical-Farm Player Oishii Farm Raises a Massive ¥24 Billion
- Toyo Keizai publishes the top 20 startup fundraising rounds for May
- Oishii Farm, developing next-gen vertical farms, tops the list with ¥24 billion
- Generative AI's rise and monetary tightening have made fundraising harder
- Intensifying talent competition is reshaping the startup environment
In a broadly chilly fundraising climate, a vertical-farming startup landing a ¥24 billion round is itself a contrarian signal—capital concentrates on assets with strong themes and deep moats when money tightens. Vertical farming sits at the intersection of agriculture, automation and energy efficiency, riding long-run narratives of food security and climate adaptation.
More telling is the structure behind the ranking: generative AI siphons funds and talent while higher rates raise the bar, sharply polarizing the market—a few stars draw cash while most face a winter. Securing a mega-round now amounts to a market endorsement of scalable economics.
When capital backs only a few "certain" bets, is this healthy selection for the innovation ecosystem—or a freeze that smothers diverse experimentation?