From raising crop yields to lowering diabetes: Start-ups get funding boost at Future Food Asia Awards

An Australian start-up that has developed technology to increase crop yields has won US$100,000 in the second Future Food Asia Award, while Singapore’s Alchemy FoodTech — which develops products to lower GI — was one of four firms to secure a SG$50,000 Startup SG Grant.

The Future Food Asia Award, of which FoodNavigator-Asia is the media partner,  recognises and rewards entrepreneurs from Asia Pacific who are building disruptive and sustainable innovations to tackle the inefficiencies and scarcities in the agri-food value chain.

This year, the competition received a record number of applications from 19 different countries in Asia Pacific.

Founded by Andrew Logan, this year’s winner OneCrop’s solution increases crop yields and tackles the issue of plastic waste in agriculture through a unique degradable mulch film.

It provides a technologically advanced yet cost-effective film that stores soil moisture, increases soil temperature, and drives vigorous early germination and plant growth, allowing commercial farmers around the world to significantly boost their productivity with no impact on the environment.

Logan said: “OneCrop has a vision to radically change global farming. However, we need opportunities like FFAA to engage with influential individuals and organisations to accelerate our growth, otherwise we would be still sitting back in Australia trying to get heard.”

Grant awards

Enterprise Singapore, in consultation with the FFAA judging panel, selected Alchemy Foodtech from Singapore, FIB-SOL Life Technologies from India, PureSpace from South Korea and Shenzhen Qianhai Xiaozao Technology from China as winners of its S$50,000 grants.

Alchemy Foodtech has developed 5ibrePlus, a patent-pending food composition that lowers the GI of traditionally high-GI refined carbohydrates such as jasmine and Japanese white rice, white bread and noodles.

They are seeking to work with manufacturers to incorporate their technology and ingredients into their food products to create lower GI variants of carbohydrate food staples.

CEO Alan Phua said: “Future Food Asia Award was a rigorous process that forces us to think through our business case, IP strategy and commercialisation plan. It also gave us a great opportunity to interact with MNCs, science agencies and startups from around Asia, which served as a great technology validation to our work. This would not be possible without the great support from Enterprise Singapore, bringing in parties from and beyond Singapore."