[Event Report] Learning from Local Startups: The Reality of Business Growth — Behind the Scenes of FISHPASS's Challenges and Decisions

On November 29, 2025, we held the TENJO KANAZAWA Entrepreneur Seminar, "Learning from Local Startups: The Reality of Business Growth — Behind the Scenes of FISHPASS's Challenges and Decisions," at the Kanazawa University Center for Future Knowledge Demonstration.

Our guest speaker was Narihiro Nishimura, Representative Director of FISHPASS Co., Ltd., a startup based in Fukui Prefecture.

FISHPASS started its business with a "fishing license app" for river fishing and has now expanded into a biodiversity data business utilizing environmental DNA. In this seminar, we took a deep dive into the approximately nine-year growth process of the business, as well as the trial and error and series of decisions behind it, through a dialogue with TENJO KANAZAWA mentor Miyake, who served as the facilitator.

1. The Origin of Entrepreneurship: Ideas Born from a Series of "Coincidences"

Miyake (Facilitator):
Mr. Nishimura, you have a somewhat unique career, having worked at a manufacturer and then managed a restaurant. To begin with, when did you start thinking about entrepreneurship? And what was the journey like until that desire led to the FISHPASS business?

Mr. Nishimura:
I had been vaguely thinking about entrepreneurship since my junior year of college. But I didn't have the courage to start a business right away, so I joined a top-tier company that would make my parents happy. After that, I returned to my hometown of Fukui, started a restaurant, and worked recklessly for about 10 years.

Just when the business had finally settled down and I was thinking, "Maybe it's time to think about the next thing," I suddenly remembered my childhood. The scenery of my hometown river where I used to fish with my grandfather. I was curious about what that river looked like now, so I went to visit it for the first time in a while. I was shocked to see that the river had changed completely from how it used to be.

Miyake:
So that became the trigger.

Mr. Nishimura:
Yes. While I was fishing there, two men called out to me, "Show me your fishing license." That was the first time I properly recognized the existence of a fishing license. When I looked closely, one of them was a childhood friend's father, who was the head of the local fisheries cooperative (laughs).

They taught me that to fish in the river, you need to buy a paper "fishing license" issued by the fisheries cooperative in advance. At the time, it was standard to buy them with cash at fishing tackle shops or fisheries cooperatives.

I couldn't help but ask, "Can't you buy this online like on Amazon?" Their reaction was, "What are you talking about?" (laughs). The simple question I had then, "Why can't I buy it on Amazon?" led to my later business idea.

Miyake:
Did you head straight toward commercialization?

Mr. Nishimura:
No, not at all. At the time, I was attending graduate school to learn about regional revitalization, so when I told my seminar professor about this idea, he dismissed it, saying, "That's in the realm of fisheries science." So I gave up on it once.

But by chance, at an information session for a Fukui City business plan contest that I attended for a report assignment for another graduate school class, I was handed a paper that said, "Let's turn your idea into a plan." When I wrote down the fishing idea that had been rejected once, the person in charge encouraged me, saying, "It sounds interesting, why don't you submit it?"

Miyake:
And from there, it just took off.

Mr. Nishimura:
That's right. I passed the document screening and was chosen as a finalist. However, I was deathly afraid of speaking in front of people. To perfect my 5-minute pitch, I memorized the script and practiced my speech not only at home and in front of my family, but finally, to train my spirit, I stood at the scramble crossing in front of Fukui Station and practiced among the passersby.

I practiced a total of 265 times. I genuinely thought, "Everyone who is a finalist must do this much" (laughs). As a result, that "misunderstanding" worked in my favor, and I was able to win the Grand Prix.

Miyake:
265 times is amazing (laughs). After winning the award, how did you go about setting up the funding and development structure?

Mr. Nishimura:
The contest prize money was 300,000 yen. Then, someone from Fukui City, the organizer, approached me and asked, "Would you like to apply for a 5 million yen city subsidy for new business development?"

I had absolutely no knowledge of IT, and at the time, I only had a feature phone (laughs), but I went to the Fukui Industrial Support Center for advice and explained, 'I want to make an app like this,' while showing them a hand-drawn image. They introduced me to a development company, and by utilizing subsidies, I was able to gradually bring it to life.

2. Initial Response and the Wall We Hit

Miyake:
The first place to introduce it was the local Takedagawa Fisheries Cooperative, right? It seems you had a major breakthrough there immediately.

Mr. Nishimura:
That's right. At Takedagawa, sales increased to 1.5 times the previous year, and we went from seven consecutive years of losses to immediate profitability. Monitoring costs were also reduced, and I felt that this was a service that would define the era.

Triggered by that success, we were approached by the nationally famous Kuzuryu River Fisheries Cooperative, and we introduced it with high spirits, but...

Miyake:
Was it a big hit?

Mr. Nishimura:
Not at all. It was a disastrous result. Sales of fishing permits via the app were only 2% of the total. While about 40% of sales at Takedagawa were via the app, it wasn't used at all at Kuzuryu River. It was a storm of complaints saying, 'Nobody is using this,' and honestly, I wanted to quit.

Miyake:
How did you recover from there?

Mr. Nishimura:
Well, I stayed in bed for half a day... (laughs). After that, I started by sincerely facing the complaints. For example, since many of the monitors are elderly, there were urgent voices saying, 'The text on the smartphone screen is too small to see' or 'The screen reflects when I wear sunglasses, making it hard to see.'

So, I thought about what ICT is most familiar to the elderly, thoroughly studied the UIs of hospital reception machines and bank ATMs, and repeatedly improved the design so that anyone could operate it intuitively.

This accumulation of unglamorous improvements gradually regained the trust of the field, and people at fisheries cooperatives started recommending us to others at different cooperatives.

3. Early-Stage Funding and an Organizational Culture That 'Doesn't Chase Profit'

Miyake:
After overcoming the setbacks and beginning full-scale horizontal expansion, how did you proceed with the organizational structure and fundraising?

Mr. Nishimura:
At first, it was a two-person team consisting of myself and an acquaintance from graduate school. In terms of funding, we prioritized the use of subsidies and grants. For example, we were able to receive about 15 million yen (for personnel costs) over three years from the
Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Future Fund of the Norinchukin Bank.

It was a method of using the subsidy award letter to receive 'bridge loans' from banks, securing funds first to keep the business running. That was how we did it.

After that, the members increased to 4-5 people (one system person, several sales members), but sales were never easy. The number of fisheries cooperatives we could partner with per year was only a few. We weren't seeing rapid growth.

The organization at that time was an 'organization that didn't aggressively chase profit,' prioritizing a culture of 'wouldn't it be fun if we all did something interesting together' over numbers.

4. The Light and Shadow of Rapid Growth: Investment from Public-Private Funds and the Decision Beyond

Miyake:
From there, you raised funds from public-private funds to scale the business to the next level, right? How did that come about?

Mr. Nishimura:
After the verification phase using subsidies, the number of partner fisheries cooperatives increased, but I had a feeling that 'at this speed, we won't make it in time.' That was when we were approached by a public-private fund and decided to receive investment.

With the infusion of fund capital, we were able to take the plunge into hiring talent that we had previously hesitated to do, and our organization expanded all at once. The number of partner fishery cooperatives, which had only been increasing by a few per year, surged from under 30 to nearly 200 in just one or two years. I truly felt the 'bright' side of things, realizing just how much money can accelerate a business.

Miyake:
But that relationship didn't last long, did it...

Mr. Nishimura:
Financial institutions were also involved in the public-private fund, and they put a lot of effort into strengthening organizational management and compliance. On the other hand, as a startup, we had a strong desire to 'run hypothesis testing at high speed' and 'act flexibly according to the situation on the ground,' and a gap in thinking emerged in that area.

Preparing the monthly management reports sometimes took me and the person in charge nearly two weeks, and the atmosphere within the company gradually became strained.

If things continued this way, I felt we would completely lose sight of why we were doing this business and where it was headed. Feeling this, I ultimately made the decision to buy back all the shares that had been invested.

It took about half a year from the time I communicated our intention to end the relationship until we reached an agreement. The buyback price was also significantly higher than the initial investment, but I made up my mind because I wanted to take the helm of the business with our own will once again.
In the end, I think it was a good learning experience.

Miyake:
Being able to say that is what makes you wonderful, Mr. Nishimura.

5. From a 'Zoo' to a Team Facing the Same Direction

Miyake:
I heard that after the share buyback, you also reached a major turning point in terms of organizational development.

Mr. Nishimura:
Yes. At the timing when the reorganization of our capital structure had settled, I gathered all the employees and spoke to them. I said, 'Honestly, I feel like the current organization is a bit scattered,' and 'Because we have so many unique members, I want to align the direction we are heading.'

Looking back on that time, it was like a 'zoo'—a state of freedom, for better or worse (laughs).

So, we thoroughly discussed 'why we are doing this business' and realigned our vectors. We also flattened the organization once, creating a simple two-tier structure of the president and all employees. By facing all employees every day, I eliminated gaps in communication and rebuilt a system where we could run while facing the same direction.

Strangely enough, not a single employee quit during this period of turmoil. I feel that the process of questioning 'why we are doing this' together strengthened the team's unity.

6. Returning to the 'Core' of the Business—Encountering Environmental DNA

Miyake:
What was the trigger for making a major shift toward the current environmental DNA business from there?

Mr. Nishimura:
When I kept thinking about 'what our origin is,' I arrived at 'the presence of fish in the river.' For anglers and fishery cooperatives alike, that is the most important thing, isn't it?

In the midst of that, a professor from Ryukoku University proposed a joint research project, saying, 'There is a technology that can tell you what kind of fish are there and how many, just by drawing a cup of water. Shall we popularize it together?' That was my encounter with environmental DNA. I intuitively felt that this was the true path we should follow and the very core of our mission.

Miyake:
I think there are some people who are hearing the term 'environmental DNA' for the first time. Could you tell us a little about it?

Mr. Nishimura:
River water contains the DNA of living creatures at an invisible level. Environmental DNA is a technology that estimates 'what kind of creatures are there and how many' by collecting and analyzing that tiny amount of DNA.

Now, next to decarbonization, 'loss of biodiversity' is attracting attention as a major global risk. Companies are being required to show in 'numbers' how much they are reducing or protecting living creatures through their business activities.

I felt that if we combined this technology with the network we have built with fishery cooperatives nationwide, we could provide value as a 'river infrastructure' that connects 'fishing,' 'resource management,' and 'environmental conservation,' not only to fishery cooperatives and local governments but also to companies.

Miyake:
It seems that initiatives overseas have already begun, haven't they?

Mr. Nishimura:
Yes. For example, we are working with government agencies in Cambodia and Malaysia on initiatives to monitor using environmental DNA.

Miyake:
Could you tell us once more about your future vision?

Mr. Nishimura:
What we are aiming for is to become a world-class river infrastructure company, as the company with the most river data and technology in Japan.
I want to continue moving forward one step at a time so that the initiative that started from a single river in Fukui can contribute to solving water environment issues across Japan and in countries throughout Asia.

7. Conclusion: Accumulating 'Trust' Right in Front of You

Miyake:
Honestly, nine years ago, did you even slightly anticipate that this kind of world was waiting for you?

Mr. Nishimura:
Not at all. I was really just working as hard as I could on goals for the next week or two.

Miyake:
Listening to you, I felt that the 'chain of growth'—where you always responded to the opportunities right in front of you with full effort and sincerity, leading to the next connection—and the fact that you saw through difficult decisions like buying back shares from a fund, even when it was painful, were major factors that allowed the business to survive and grow to this point.

What is the most important thing you have cherished while continuing the business, Mr. Nishimura?

Mr. Nishimura:
For someone who was running a restaurant to go into IT, it wouldn't work without support. So, when I thought about 'what I need to do,' it was 'to do things properly.'

If I get a request, I reply immediately, and I meet delivery deadlines. If I do something wrong, I apologize. I believe that continuing to respond sincerely without running away from difficult situations created the next connections and the chain of growth.

Miyake:
Some people say that 'business is, in the end, an exchange of trust.' You respond sincerely to what is in front of you, and when those things connect, you grow rapidly. Or, I felt that not giving up and turning things back when you think 'something is wrong' might be a big hint for business growth.

In the Q&A session after the talk, many questions were asked about business operations, organizational development, and fundraising. Among them, what was impressive was the question about 'personality as an entrepreneur.'

Mr. Nishimura looks back on himself as originally being the negative type who wasn't good at standing out. The trigger for change was the presence of a very positive member who joined the company. Even when they failed on an important project, they would say, 'Lucky! Now we can move on to the next thing.' Taking even a tough situation as 'lucky.' Stimulated by that strength, Mr. Nishimura says he has consciously started to view things positively since then.

Behind the growth of FISHPASS, there was not only strategy and systems, but also the process of the entrepreneur himself continuing to change.

This entrepreneur seminar was not a guide on 'how to succeed,' but rather
one that showed 'the figure of someone continuing to move forward even while struggling' just as it is.
For those who are trying to start a business in a regional area or those who are trying to continue one, I think it was content that gave them a little push.

TENJO KANAZAWA has held various entrepreneur seminars in the past.
Please take a look at the past event reports here.