Lina Sakai

Lina Sakai is the CEO of Fermenstation Co., Ltd., a company she founded in 2009, which manufactures alcohol from unused resources, such as biomass.

The company's sustainable and eco-friendly business model, which turns any by-product into a value-added ingredient or its own product, is key to its success. Fermenstation produces and supplies premium ethanol as a raw material, which is mainly found in cosmetics, perfumes, foods and beverages. It also develops and markets several original products, such as premium facial soap and cosmeceuticals.

Lina's curiosity to make use of the resources that have not been effectively utilized drove her to study fermentation technology. With this knowledge, she converted the rice grown in the unused paddies in the Tohoku region of Japan into ethanol. This was when she decided to become an entrepreneur. Through Fermenstation, she someday hopes to give rise to a renewable society — a society that encourages and supports the creation of raw materials from unused resources.

Lina holds a degree from the Department of Brewing and Fermentation Science at the Tokyo University of Agriculture. She has also graduated from the International Christian University. Prior to establishing Fermenstation, she worked at the Fuji Bank, Ltd. (currently, Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd.) and Deutsche Securities Inc. Lina’s achievements include the 1st Beauty tech special award, the Audience Award at Global Brains Alliance Forum 2018, Special Award at JR East Startup Demo Day 2018, the Development Bank of Japan (DBJ) 3rd Women Entrepreneurs New Business Plan Competition, Special Innovation Award and the 2014 British Business Award for her contribution to the community.

“We aim to create a global society that encourages and supports the conversion of unused resources into raw materials — giving rise to a renewable society,” Lina said.