Hatchery Starter
For a hatchery that sells to a few farms
a month, about $15
- Up to 100,000 fish counted a month
- Count certificates
- 2 users
Fingerling counting for hatcheries
Count every fingerling in seconds.
Film a basin with your phone. Fincount gives the count, the sizes and a certificate your buyer can check.
Built for African catfish hatcheries. Works offline on an Android phone. Every count comes with a range.
Book a demoThe problem
Counting by hand costs youfish, feed and trust.
Every fingerling is counted before it leaves the hatchery. Today that count is a person with a bowl, or a weighed sample divided by a guess.
- 01
Counts are guesses, and guesses start arguments
“I counted 5,000. The buyer counted again and says it is short.”
Fingerlings are counted by hand, or by weighing a small sample and dividing. The errors carry through to harvest, where farmers often find fewer fish than they expected.
lost on a 5% miscount of 100,000 juveniles sold at ₦50 to ₦80 each
Source: Southern Regional Aquaculture Center, publication 395, AgricBusiness market survey
- 02
Big fry eat small fry
“By the third week the big ones had eaten half of the small ones.”
In a study of African catfish fry, survival after four weeks was 1.2% with no sorting and 49.17% when the fry were sorted by size every three days. You can only sort what you can measure.
survival after four weeks, no sorting against sorting every three days
- 03
Feed is most of the cost
“We feed by guess, and feed is where the money goes.”
Feed is estimated at 60% to 70% of what it costs to grow fish. Feeding by the real weight of the fish in a pond, not by a guess, saves money on every bag.
The market
of fish Nigeria needs each year, with a gap of more than 2.2 million tonnes
farmed each year, the most in sub-Saharan Africa
Source: Gazette, citing WorldFish
of farmed fish in Nigeria are catfish and their hybrids
Source: Hatchery International
The workspace
See the workspaceyour whole team uses.
This is the real workspace with test basins from the Fincount simulator. Click through the counts, a sale and a pond. Nothing here can be changed.
Read only tour. Test basins from the Fincount simulator.
Open the full tourFincount
Test hatchery
Loading the tour workspace.
Counts
1 in this tour
Walkthrough basin
One frame of the video
Stock count, 3 to 5 cm
Final0fish
Range 99 to 109
Low 99Count 104High 109
Model trained on test basins
How it works
Film, count, certify.
Three steps, one phone. Each step shows what you see on the screen.
One count, start to report
Seconds from the start of filming
- 01Film
10 seconds, phone on its stand about 50 cm above the basin.
- 02Phone count
First count on the phone, offline. Design target: under 10 seconds.
- 03Upload
About 3 MB for 10 seconds of video, sent when the phone has signal. It can start later than drawn.
- 04Cloud check
A stronger version of Fincount AI recounts on AWS. Design target: under 2 minutes. The one run we walk through took the engine 4.4 seconds.
2 min - 05Count report
Ready when the cloud check ends. Your buyer can scan it and check the count.
The filming rule
Design target
Waits for signal
Report ready
The bars show the order of one count and our design targets, not field timings. The 10 second film is the filming rule; the under 10 second phone count and the under 2 minute cloud check are the targets we are building to.
01Step 1
Film a basin for 10 seconds
Pour the fingerlings into a light basin with a little water, put the printed scale card on the floor and hold the phone above it. The Capture Guide checks the picture live and unlocks the record button only when it is good.
- Basin in view, scale card found
- Phone level, picture sharp, no glare
- Works offline, on a phone you can buy in Abuja
02Step 2
Get the count in seconds
The phone gives a first count straight away. When the video uploads, a stronger check recounts every basin and gives the final count, the size spread and an estimated weight, each as a range.
- A dot on every fish it counted
- A range, never a single hopeful number
- Too crowded? It tells you to split the basin
03Step 3
Send a count your buyer can check
Basins add up into one sale. Fincount signs the sale and gives your buyer a link and a QR code. The buyer scans it, sees the count as you issued it, and can recount on arrival with the same app.
- Any change to the count shows
- Buyer recount, fish that died on the way included
- A difference is only a dispute when it is outside both ranges
Fincount AI
What Fincount AI does,what code checks, what a person confirms.
Every feature has the AI doing the hard part, plain code checking it, and a person with the last word where it matters. Pick a stage.
Before the fish are counted, the picture has to be good.
- Fincount AI
- Checks the live camera: basin in view, scale card found, phone level, sharp, no glare, not too crowded.
- Code checks
- Sharpness, glare, tilt and card checks before recording unlocks.
- A person confirms
- The worker refilms when told.
1 of 13 features
A first count on the phone, a stronger check in the cloud.
- Fincount AI
- Finds every fish in each frame and adds back fish hidden under others.
- Code checks
- Frames must agree. The count must stay under the size group's crowding limit.
- A person confirms
- A reviewer looks at low confidence counts.
- Fincount AI
- Gives the range the true count falls in, set from hand counted basins.
- Code checks
- The range is checked against hand counts for every model version.
- A person confirms
- Nobody needs to confirm it.
- Fincount AI
- Tells the worker to split a basin that holds too many fish to count well.
- Code checks
- A crowding limit for each size group.
- A person confirms
- The worker splits the basin.
- Fincount AI
- A stronger model recounts every uploaded basin and gives the final count.
- Code checks
- Phone and cloud counts must agree within their ranges, or a reviewer looks.
- A person confirms
- A reviewer, when they disagree.
1 of 13 features
Length, weight and size groups from the same video.
- Fincount AI
- Measures every clearly visible fish against the scale card.
- Code checks
- Phone tilt is corrected from the card's four corners, and two length methods must agree.
- A person confirms
- Measuring board checks on each visit.
- Fincount AI
- Turns each length into a weight using your hatchery's own fitted curve.
- Code checks
- The range comes from how many fish were measured and how well the curve fits.
- A person confirms
- Group weighing on each visit.
- Fincount AI
- Splits the count into your size groups and flags fast growers.
- Code checks
- Your own group edges.
- A person confirms
- You decide when to sort.
1 of 13 features
Counts that a buyer can check and settle.
- Fincount AI
- Signs the sale's counts so any change shows.
- Code checks
- The signature and video fingerprints are checked on every look up.
- A person confirms
- Nobody needs to confirm it.
- Fincount AI
- Recounts both sides' basins with the same model so differences show basin by basin.
- Code checks
- The combined range rule.
- A person confirms
- Buyer and seller settle.
1 of 13 features
From the fish you bought to the feed you buy.
- Fincount AI
- Estimates the total weight of fish in a pond from a sample.
- Code checks
- Deaths are logged and stocking comes from certificates.
- A person confirms
- The farm manager.
- Fincount AI
- Works out the daily feed from the feed company's own table for the measured size.
- Code checks
- Arithmetic only, no general feeding advice.
- A person confirms
- The feed company sets the table.
1 of 13 features
Fincount AI gets better from corrections, with consent.
- Fincount AI
- Every reviewer correction becomes training data.
- Code checks
- Consent is checked before any training use.
- A person confirms
- Labellers.
1 of 13 features
How Fincount AI works
Follow one real count,step by step.
We took one basin through the whole pipeline and wrote down every number: the frames, the checks, the card, the dots, the range, the sizes and the weight. Nothing is hidden behind a black box.
- 01
Frames sampled
20 frames - 02
Picture checked
5 of 5 checks passed - 03
Scale card found
1.95 pixels to the millimetre - 04
Every fish marked
88 dots on one frame - 05
Frames combined
75th percentile 106 - 06
Range set
99 to 109
Numbers from a test basin made by the Fincount simulator.
The setup
The same setupfor every basin.
A light coloured basin with about 3 cm of water, the printed scale card on the floor and the phone on a stand about 50 cm above. The card is 50 mm across, so every fish can be measured against it.
Side view. Distances from the field protocol.
The old way and Fincount
Counting by handagainst counting with Fincount.
Counting by hand
7 steps
- 01A person counts the fingerlings with a bowl.
- 02Or a small sample is weighed and the weight is divided.
- 03The fish are poured from hand to hand at the gate.
- 04The buyer counts again and says it is short.
- 05The count turns into an argument at the gate.
- 06The errors carry through to harvest, where farmers find fewer fish than they expected.
- 07Feed is bought by guess, not by the real weight of the fish.
Fincount
One phone, ten seconds a basin
- 01
Film a basin for 10 seconds
Basin in view, scale card found
- 02
Get the count in seconds
A dot on every fish it counted
- 03
Send a count your buyer can check
Any change to the count shows
Who uses Fincount
Three people,three moments.
Fincount fits into the moment where fish change hands or get fed.
At the sale
Hatchery owner
Buyers are at the gate and the basins are lined up. Each basin takes ten seconds to film, the sale adds up on the phone, and the buyer scans a code and sees the count you issued. No pouring fish from hand to hand, no argument at the gate.
When the fish arrive
Farm manager
The truck has just arrived. You scan the certificate, film the basins and add the fish that died on the way. If the numbers sit inside the ranges, you sign off. If not, both sides see the same basins and settle it that day.
On a farm visit
Feed company field officer
At the pond you film a sample, and Fincount gives the pond weight and the day's feed from your company's own feeding table. The farm owner sees the number on the spot, and your office sees the farm, when the farm agrees to share.
Try it
Try it on your ownbasin video.
Upload a 10 second video or a photo of a basin and watch Fincount AI mark the fish. You get the count, the range, the picture checks and the replay. Your file is deleted after 24 hours and is never used for training.
What makes a good video
- A light coloured basin with about 3 cm of water
- The printed scale card flat on the floor
- Phone about 50 cm above, level, in the shade
- 10 seconds, no hands in the picture
The model is early and is still learning from hatchery footage. Treat try it results as a demonstration.
Technology
Built on AWS.
Fincount AI is trained and checked on AWS. The first count runs on the phone, so it works without a signal. Your data is kept in the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region.
- 01
Amazon SageMaker AI
Fincount AI trains its own counting, sizing and quality models on Amazon SageMaker AI, and tests each new version before it is released. - 02
AI on the phone with ONNX Runtime
A small version of Fincount AI runs on the phone with ONNX Runtime. Counting works offline: the first count needs no signal and takes seconds. - 03
The cloud check on AWS
Every basin you upload is recounted on AWS by a stronger version of Fincount AI. That recount is the final count. If it and the phone disagree, a person looks. - 04
Amazon S3
Videos are kept in Amazon S3 with a fingerprint of each file, so a changed video shows. Only short lived links can read them. - 05
AWS KMS
Every count certificate is signed with a key held in AWS KMS. The key never leaves it, and any change to the count breaks the signature, so a buyer can check it. - 06
AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region
Your videos, counts and certificates are kept in the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region.
Pilots
Built withearly hatcheries.
The first hatcheries use Fincount free for 30 days. We help you set up the basin and the scale card, and we hand count some of your basins twice so that the range on your results is set from your own fish.
During the pilot
- You get count reports for your sales. They become count certificates once accuracy is published.
- You own your videos and records. We train on them only if you say yes in writing.
- We visit with a measuring board and a scale to check sizes and weights against your own fish.
- You tell us what is wrong, and we fix it.
Pricing
Monthly plansin naira.
Month to month, no contract. Each plan lists what it includes. The first hatcheries start with a free 30 day pilot.
Hatchery Pro
For a hatchery that counts all week
a month, about $44
- Up to 1,000,000 fish counted a month
- Sizes and size groups
- Batch records
- 10 users
Farm
For a farm that buys fingerlings
a month, about $11
- Recount on arrival
- Pond weight
- Feed plans
Feed company
For a company with field staff
a month, about $293
- Up to 50 field staff
- Farm dashboards
- Feeding tables
Lenders and programmes
For stock and delivery checks
Talk to us
for stock and delivery checks
- Stock and delivery checks
Dollar figures use about ₦1,367 to the dollar and are rounded.
A note from the team
Why we are buildingFincount.
Catfish farming in Nigeria begins with a bowl of tiny fish and a person trying to count them. The count decides what the buyer pays, how much feed a farm orders and whether a sale ends with a handshake or an argument.
We think that count should take ten seconds, come with an honest range, and be something both sides can check. We also think the people who raise the fish should own the pictures of their fish.
So we are building Fincount with hatcheries, not just for them. We publish how we measure accuracy, we show you every step Fincount AI takes, and we tell you when a basin is too crowded to count well. If you run a hatchery, farm or feed company and want to help us get it right, we would like to hear from you.
The Fincount team
Questions
Questionshatchery owners ask.
How do I film a basin?
Pour the fingerlings into a light coloured basin with about 3 cm of water, lay the printed scale card on the floor, and hold the phone about 50 cm above it in the shade. Film for 10 seconds. The Capture Guide tells you what to fix before it lets you record.
Does it work without internet?
Yes. The phone gives the first count without a connection. The video uploads when you are back online, and the stronger cloud check on AWS then gives the final count.
How accurate is it?
Every count comes with a range, not a single number. We publish how accuracy is measured on the accuracy page: two hand counts of every basin, and hatcheries and days the model never saw. Fincount AI is still learning from hatchery footage, and the early hatcheries help us measure it.
What if a basin is too crowded?
Fincount tells you to split it into two basins and film again. Too many fish in one basin cannot be counted well by anyone, so we do not pretend.
Is a count certificate a legal document?
No. It is an estimate made from video, with a range, the method and the model version printed on it. You and your buyer agree the recount rule in advance. The rule printed on every certificate is that a difference is only a dispute when it is bigger than the combined range.
Who owns my videos?
You do. Fincount uses your videos to train its AI only if you say yes in writing, and you can withdraw that at any time. A feed company sees a farm's data only while the farm agrees.
Where are my videos kept?
In Amazon S3, in the AWS Africa (Cape Town) Region, with a fingerprint of each file so a changed video shows. Only short lived links can read them. The security and privacy page says who can see what.
What phones does it run on?
Android phones, including the mid range phones that are common in Nigeria. The first count runs on the phone itself, so it does not need a fast phone or a fast connection.
What does the free pilot include?
The first hatcheries get 30 days free, with help setting up the basin and the scale card. After that you choose a monthly plan, with no contract.
Count your next basin with Fincount.
Film a basin, get the count, and send your buyer a count they can check. The first hatcheries get 30 days free.