On June 4, 2026, Leave a Nest Malaysia hosted Sustainable Aquaculture Summit 2026 (SAS 2026) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. At the summit, Leave a Nest Co., Ltd. and Institut Marin Borneo (IMB), part of Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) to strengthen collaboration in marine research, fisheries, and the blue economy.
Through this LOI, Leave a Nest will connect researchers, startups, and companies from Japan and around the world with Sabah. At the same time, the partners will learn from Sabah's rich ecosystems, talent, and on-the-ground challenges as they work together toward an Inclusive Sustainable Blue Economy.
As the first concrete initiative, Japanese deep-tech companies ARK and Inoca joined SAS 2026 as main partners and presented their plans for future research and business co-creation with Sabah.
The blue-economy challenge begins in Sabah
Sustainable Aquaculture Summit is an international conference hosted by Leave a Nest Malaysia. It aims to realize a blue economy that balances marine ecosystem conservation with regional economic growth through the development of sustainable aquaculture. The first summit was held in Penang in 2024, and SAS 2026 was the third edition and the first to be held in Sabah.
Sabah is one of the world's most biodiverse marine regions, with rich ecosystems including coral reefs and mangroves. It also plays an important role in fisheries, accounting for a significant share of Malaysia's aquaculture production.
In his keynote address, YB. Tuan Jordan Jude Ellron, Deputy Minister of the Sabah Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation (KPSTI), said that possessing abundant natural resources alone is not enough. He emphasized that Sabah must strengthen its connections with knowledge and technologies from around the world to create new industries and research and development in an era of rapid advances in AI and other technologies.
The LOI is a first step toward turning this vision for Sabah into concrete action.
Japanese deep-tech companies propose co-creation with Sabah
Leveraging Leave a Nest's domestic and international knowledge networks, Inoca and ARK participated in SAS 2026 as main partners and took the stage.
Making ecosystems a research platform — Inoca
Inoca is a venture developing its own environmental transfer technology, which recreates natural environments artificially, and advancing research and development that uses biodiversity and environmental value.
Inoca established a Malaysian subsidiary in 2024. It signed MOUs with Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) in 2024 and Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT) in 2025 to advance joint research and development locally. In 2026, with support from Leave a Nest, Inoca opened a Nature Positive Lab in Malaysia using the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry's subsidy program for future-oriented co-creation in the Global South, establishing a full-scale research and development base.
Building on these initiatives, Inoca announced plans to promote research and development using marine ecosystems in Sabah, deepen understanding of ecosystems, and create new industries.
Creating the sea on land so the ocean can recover — ARK
ARK is a deep-tech startup that uses recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) technology to create a system and culture in which anyone can practice land-based aquaculture anywhere. It has bases in Shonan, Okinawa, and London, and established a Malaysian subsidiary in 2025.
ARK is accelerating its global expansion toward sustainable protein production, including participation in a large-scale project in the UAE. At SAS 2026, ARK presented its vision of creating an eighth sea for the world and its intention to use Malaysia's extensive aquaculture research and marine biological resources as a foundation for breeding marine organisms suited to RAS and advancing aquaculture technologies.
Leave a Nest will continue connecting researchers, startups, and companies in Japan and around the world with Sabah while creating a cycle of knowledge by learning from Sabah's ecosystems, talent, and regional challenges.