# Hiroki Koga

> Hiroki Koga is the co-founder and CEO of Oishii, the New Jersey company that grows the Omakase Berry inside the world's largest indoor vertical strawberry farm. A Tokyo native who watched Japan's vertical-farming boom collapse a decade before he built his own, Koga bet on a fruit nobody else would touch - strawberries - because they were the hardest crop to grow at scale and the only one with the economics to matter. By recreating the climate of the Japanese Alps indoors and getting bees to pollinate at over 90% success, Oishii became the only player to produce pollinated fruit commercially, pesticide-free and year-round.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & CEO at Oishii
- **Organizations:** Oishii, Deloitte Consulting (former)
- **From:** Tokyo, Japan
- **Nationality:** Japanese
- **Education:** B.S. in Economics, Keio University, MBA, University of California, Berkeley (Haas School of Business)
- **Known for:** Built and runs the world's largest indoor vertical strawberry farm., Only company in vertical farming to produce pollinated fruit at commercial scale, using bees plus AI and machine vision., Created the Omakase Berry, which landed on Michelin-starred menus and earned Oishii the nickname 'the Tesla of strawberries.'

## Career timeline

- **2009** — Joined Deloitte Consulting Japan as a strategy & operations consultant, working in pharma and biotech before leading the firm's push into agriculture technology.
- **2015** — Began MBA at UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business; also did due diligence on vertical-farm investments for venture firms.
- **2016** — Co-founded Oishii with Brendan Somerville while still in business school.
- **2018** — Launched the Omakase Berry at New York City grocers at $50 per eight-berry tray.
- **2019** — Set up Oishii's vertical-farming operations in Jersey City, New Jersey.
- **2021** — Raised $50 million led by Mirai Creation Fund and others.
- **2022** — Cut the Omakase Berry price to about $20 a tray; opened a 74,000-sq-ft farm and moved HQ to Jersey City.
- **2023** — Launched the Koyo Berry and the Rubi tomato.
- **2024** — Closed a $134M Series B led by NTT (total funding then ~$189M); opened a 240,000-sq-ft indoor farm in Lopatcong Township, NJ.

## Achievements

- Built and runs the world's largest indoor vertical strawberry farm.
- Only company in vertical farming to produce pollinated fruit at commercial scale, using bees plus AI and machine vision.
- Created the Omakase Berry, which landed on Michelin-starred menus and earned Oishii the nickname 'the Tesla of strawberries.'
- Grew Oishii's product line to include the Koyo Berry and the Rubi tomato.
- Raised more than $300 million in total funding across rounds, including a $134M Series B led by NTT.
- TED speaker and Milken Institute Global Conference speaker.

## Latest updates

- **2024-02** — Closed a $134 million Series B led by NTT to fund new markets, a solar-powered facility and advanced robotics.
- **2024** — Opened a 240,000-sq-ft indoor farm in Lopatcong Township, New Jersey, and said Oishii was doing 'better than ever.'

## Links

- Website: https://oishii.com
- LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/hirokikoga
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oishii.berry/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/hiroki-koga
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-12