OctaPulse, a YC W26 startup, is deploying robotics and computer vision technology at North America's largest trout producer to automate fish inspection and measurement. The company was founded by Rohan from Goa, India, and Paul from Malta and Puerto Rico, who met at CMU and bonded over ocean technology. Their motivation stemmed from discovering that America imports 90% of its seafood while fish serves as the main protein for 55% of the world's population.

Traditional fish farming involves labor-intensive manual processes where workers net fish, anesthetize them, and measure each one individually - taking about 5 minutes per fish. OctaPulse's system uses Luxonis OAK cameras with onboard Myriad X VPU for edge inference, running YOLO variants for detection and custom models for segmentation and keypoint extraction. The company built custom labeling and model management tools after finding existing platforms inadequate for their needs.

The biggest technical challenges include corrosion from salt water, unpredictable fish movement, and the need for food-safe materials. OctaPulse is currently focused on hatchery operations outside water, using soft robotics grippers with delta robots for gentle handling. Their work addresses a massive opportunity: most farmed fish species lack genetic improvement programs, unlike chickens which grow 4x faster than in 1950 due to selective breeding.