AGRI SMILE Food-Residue Biostimulants and Evaluation INDEX

AGRI SMILE, Inc. is a Tokyo-based agricultural technology company founded on 31 August 2018, with a second office in Hamamatsu. It works with Japanese agricultural cooperatives (JA) to help production regions cut chemical fertilizer use and keep yields stable under heat and other climate stresses, with biostimulants as its core business.

Its biostimulant R&D unit turns regional food residues into biostimulant materials and selects them with a patented evaluation index that combines phenotype, gene expression, nutrient uptake and metabolite analysis to explain mechanisms of action. A patented screening method and a library of validated materials let it propose an input for a specific regional problem, test rates and timing in the field and verify results. Customers are cooperatives, production regions and partner companies.

• Food-residue biostimulants: crop inputs made from regional food waste, covered by a Japanese patent.
• Evaluation INDEX: patented index combining phenotype, gene expression, element uptake and metabolite data.
• Screening method: patented homogenized screening that shortens development time with reproducible results.
• Material library: a patented collection of biostimulant materials proven effective under the index.
• Omics and soil analysis: plant hormone, metabolite, soil and soil microbiome analysis linked to cultivation data.
• Field programme: diagnosis, trial design, fertilizer planning and harvest verification with production regions.

• Seed companies and rice cooperatives in the Red River and Mekong deltas bundling a biostimulant with seed to protect yields in hot seasons.
• Fertilizer distributors adding a residue-based biostimulant line with field data for registration.
• Food processors turning their residues into a crop input for contract-farming suppliers.

• Higher yields under stress: a five-month rice demonstration in Hung Yen, Vietnam reported 688.7 kg per 10 ares versus 482.8 kg untreated, a 43% increase.
• Return on input cost: the same trial estimated a return of more than six times the application cost.
• Explained mode of action: gene expression data showed over 40-fold higher expression of heat-stress genes and over 4-fold higher expression of nutrient-uptake genes.
• Circular inputs: regional food residues are upcycled into crop inputs that support lower chemical fertilizer use.

Biostimulants are gaining attention as a way to keep yields stable under heat stress while reducing chemical fertilizer, and Japan's green transformation strategy names them explicitly. In Vietnam, rice and vegetable growers face rising temperatures and fertilizer costs, and seed and input companies are looking for registered biological products with measurable returns.

Founded in 2018 in Tokyo; capital of 1.32 billion yen and 81 employees as of April 2025. Completed a Series A in 2023, formed a capital and business alliance with Rohto Pharmaceutical in 2025, and has worked with NTT Docomo, Mitsui & Co., Kyoto University and over 100 JA cooperatives. Named to Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia in 2022 and founded the Eco-LAB council in 2023.