Announcing the 10 AgriFoodTech startup finalists competing for the USD 100,000 Future Food  Asia Award 2021

The AgriFoodTech sector has reached a tipping point, with a host of new innovators and investors from  both within and outside the industry. The sector in Asia Pacific has entered a stage of maturity that some  may call ‘AgriFoodTech 2.0’. The strength of the support system in the regional ecosystem has never been  stronger and is home to many novel technologies and solutions. As part of our continued support as a  platform to acknowledge and showcase the innovative AgriFoodTech solutions within the APAC region,  Future Food Asia 2021 will host 10 start-up finalists from 7-11 June 2021. The conference will enable the  start-up finalists to present their innovation to investor, industry leaders and sector experts, and one will  be award the US$100,000 Future Food Asia Award. The 10 finalist startups are: Allozymes (Singapore);  Bondi Bio (Australia); Bygen (Australia); Change Foods (Australia); Fasal (India); Iamus (Ireland); IXON  (Hong Kong SAR, China); REharvest (South Korea); Senior Deli (Hong Kong SAR, China); and Sustainable  Foods (New Zealand).  

The pool of applicants was of exceptional quality this year, and the jury has shortlisted 10 of them after  several months of assessment. The same jury will select the winner of the Future Food Asia Award, and  consists of Dr. Ralph Graichen, Senior Director of Food & Consumer Cluster at Agency for Science,  Technology and Research’s (A*STAR) Biomedical Research Council; Xiuling Guo, Managing Director, Cargill  Global Edible Oil Solutions, Asia; Francesca Kleemans, Managing Director, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate, Asia;  and Isabelle Decitre, Founder and CEO of ID Capital. 

This year saw a 24% rise in total award applicants, with India, Australia, Singapore, Israel and South Korea  being the top 5 contributors. Alongside the US$ 100,000 grand prize, the Future Food Asia 2021  conference will feature two more awards presented by this year’s partners.  

•  Cargill, in line with its commitment to nourishing the world in a safe, sustainable and responsible  way, will award a prize to one start-up that is building an innovative solution to progress Health  through Nutrition.  
• Thai Wah will award the ‘Circular Bio-Economy Prize’, to one start-up that is able to help  repurpose biomass into a useful or valuable product.

Future Food Asia’s fifth edition will be held virtually. Over the course of 5 days, attendees will be provided  with virtual networking opportunities and be able to visit exhibitors’ virtual booths. Registrations for the  event is now open at: https://futurefoodasia.com/ffa2021/ 

“Whilst coming up with the most diverse value propositions, what unites these entrepreneurs is this  capacity to keep their feet on the ground and their heads in the clouds. They are the testament to human  ingenuity. At a time of travel restrictions, we would like to thank them for being undeterred, and embark  our delegates on their journey into a better food future,” said Isabelle Decitre, CEO and Founder of ID  Capital.

Future Food Asia 2021 has been made possible by continued support from our partners: Cargill, one of  the world’s largest agricultural commodity traders and food processors; Agency for Science, Technology  and Research (A*STAR), Singapore’s lead public research agency; Thai Wah, the regional leader in plant  based food products, a pioneer in Thailand for starch, vermicelli and noodles; Dole Sunshine Company,  one of the world's largest producers and marketers of high-quality packaged and fresh fruit; HaoShi  Foundation, a non-profit organization, which focus on fostering agrifood startups growth through  innovative approaches with international perspective; Bühler Group, the leading global technology  supplier to the food processing industry; and the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), the lead  government agency responsible for strategies that enhance Singapore’s position as a global centre for  business, innovation and talent. 

Overview of the Future Food Asia 2021 Finalists

Allozymes (Singapore) 

Allozymes applies its proprietary microfluidics technology to develop custom-designed enzymes for  cleaner and sustainable manufacturing of complex natural products. Allozymes’ interdisciplinary  innovation enables 10x faster enzyme engineering with 200X higher chance of success compared to the  robotics which enables breakthrough development in a wide range of industries. 

Bondi Bio (Australia)

Bondi is a Sydney-based solar bioengineering company sustainably producing traditionally plant-derived  Natural Products from light, water and CO2. We use light-driven biofactories to sequester & valorise CO2,  biomanufacturing useful biochemicals on-demand. Bondi produces targeted compounds for B2B clients  across markets including Agriculture, Aquaculture, Cosmetics, Flavors, Fragrances, Nutraceuticals,  Pharmaceuticals and Specialty Chemicals. 

Bygen (Australia)

Bygen are the world’s first producer of sustainable and tailored activated carbon. Our technology allows  us to produce high-quality activated carbon that is used in water treatment, soil remediation, and precious  metal recovery from common agricultural by-products in a carbon-negative production method with  significantly reduced OPEX and CAPEX.

Change Foods (Australia)

Change Foods is creating real, animal-free dairy foods by leveraging precision fermentation technology,  starting with cheese. We harness the power of microbes instead of animals to create foods that are  indistinguishable from their animal-based predecessors on taste, texture, and performance while  delivering products that are better-for-you and more sustainable. 

Fasal (India)

Fasal is a full stack platform for progressive horticulture, anchored on a patent-pending low cost IoT  powered, AI-SaaS platform providing farm level, crop specific and crop stage specific actionable  intelligence to significantly boost farm profitability and sustainability. Fasal is deployed on farms covering  land size greater than 23,000 acres in India. 

Iamus (Ireland) 

Iamus has developed an autonomous robot called ‘Gallus’ that works within the chicken house to  constantly monitor key welfare variables in the farm environment of the chickens. Iamus’ technology  allows farmers to make data-driven decisions to increase efficiency and sustainability outcomes while also  improving biosecurity and welfare of the flock. 

IXON (Hong Kong SAR, China)

IXON has developed a revolutionary technology called advanced sous-vide aseptic packaging (ASAP) that  enables the storage of fresh meat, fish and seafood at room temperature for up to two years. The company was founded by two scientists, Felix Cheung and Elton Ho, who met when they were studying  their master degree in food analysis and food safety management at Hong Kong Baptist University eight  years ago. 

REharvest (South Korea)

REharvest Co., LTD. is Korea’s first food-upcycling company that repurposes by-products from beer and  shikhye (traditional Korean drink), amongst others. These by-products are transformed into flour, pasta,  pizza dough, granola bars, cereals and puffs with a higher nutritional profile than existing products on the  market through the use of Re:Harvest’s unique patent pending technology.

Senior Deli (Hong Kong SAR, China)

With the mission to provide quality care and promote healthy lifestyles for the elderly, Senior Deli  specialises in various aspects of holistic healthcare, including food engineering, biotechnology & product  development. Our proprietary technologies have obtained utility patents, and our leading R&D products  include thickener, food softener, food gellant & pre-packed soft meals for people who have dysphagia  (swallowing difficulties). 

Sustainable Foods (New Zealand)

Our vision for Sustainable Foods is to be a leading innovator and provider of delicious, nutritious, plant based protein that helps us better nourish ourselves and also nurture our planet. Our tasty food is NZ made, using thoughtfully sourced, natural ingredients. We believe in empowering conscious consumption  choices without compromise.