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Our Venture Exchange Program (VEP) supports entrepreneurs to engage with research and industry partners in both countries with complementary capabilities through first class events, coaching and mentoring.

About the VEP

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The VEP offers a three-month opportunity for Australian and Singaporean deep-tech start-ups in emerging industries to engage with the innovation ecosystems in both countries and access to complimentary research capabilities to accelerate industry development.

Venture Exchange Program Future Food CohortThrough intensive coaching, mentoring and market familiarisation visits, participating teams were supported to:

  • explore new reciprocal market opportunities
  • develop go-to-market strategies
  • engage across the value chain in both countries to identify synergies and build partnerships.

Future Foods Cohort

The 2024 VEP cohort focused on Future Foods and supported six Australian teams and three Singapore-based start-up companies to:

  • Generate new, world-leading knowledge and technology in novel food that can be translated into marketing insights, business products, new companies and development for the agriculture and food industry.
  • Build novel food and future protein scientific capability for both countries to address major challenges for the economy (food security, industry development), environment (food system sustainability), and society (reducing impact of chronic diseases, ageing and food safety threats).
  • Bring together complementary capability and capacity to support innovation ecosystem development.
  • Facilitate connections between science and technology professionals, entrepreneurs and businesses to drive the development of research and commercial applications for future protein innovations.
  • Connect key players across the value chain, for example, to help ensure Australian food ingredients are tailored to match the specific needs of Asian food manufacturers.

Participants benefited from

  • Access to world-class R&D facilities and collaboration opportunities with leading scientists both countries.
  • Coaching sessions identifying potential research collaboration and value chain opportunities.
  • Pitching opportunities at Food and Hotel Asia trade show in Singapore and the Protein Futures Symposium in Australia.
  • Networking sessions with cohort peers and key ecosystem stakeholders.
  • Specialist consultations with relevant providers of legal, marketing, commercialisation and other services to facilitate know how and connections.
Meet our Future Foods Cohort
Team Description
Allium Bio Allium Bio are creating a platform for better ingredients, for better products, for people and the planet. They bring together the powers of multiple microorganisms, using a proprietary model to discover symbiotic combinations of algae, fungi, and other species to create high-value food ingredients at lower cost.
Cellular Agriculture Ltd Cellular Agriculture Ltd revolutionises cultivated protein production with their high-density, low-footprint bioreactors and advanced bioprocess technology. They provide efficient, sustainable solutions that ensure high-quality protein output, bridging the gap to industrial-scale production and transforming the future of food.
Eclipse Ingredients Eclipse Ingredients is a cutting-edge biotech ingredients startup incubated in CSIRO making high-value, hard-to-source ingredients important for health from yeast, using precision fermentation. Our first ingredient is human lactoferrin, which is a wonder protein found in breastmilk and immune cells with immune-building and iron-boosting properties important for health and well-being across the lifespan, from infants and children to adults and the elderly.
Evolve Evolve's technology reduces the sugar content of fruit and vegetable based products using a natural fermentation process by up to 70 per cent. The company is currently working on commercialising the technology for the manufacture of reduced alcohol wine and low calorie/reduced sugar fruit juices, baby food, snacks and confectionary products.
Grainstone Grainstone is developing integrated multi-product biorefining technology to revolutionise the barley value chain, including the ability to recover and upcycle brewers spent grain and support decarbonisation objectives. Building on Australia's major competitive advantages in grains they are working on technologies to produce a range of affordable in-demand ingredients, health supplements, animal feeds and bioproducts in a way that to maximises value and minimises waste.
Just Meat Co. Just Meat Co. is turning red meat into a nutrient dense, high protein ingredient with a wide range of applications across the food and beverage market.
Mobius Farms Mobius Farms turns waste into value using insects. From hyper local food waste recovery systems to natural substitutes for anti-biotics in animal production; from sustainable protein sources for livestock feed to functional fertilisers for farmers - Mobius Farms aims to build resilience into our food systems through insect derived technologies.
NutriV NutriV focus on repurposing surplus vegetables from Australian farms and diverting the 'waste' to create shelf stable products for both consumers and businesses. NutriV aim to create a circular economy through seeing 100 per cent of what is planted and harvested, converted into nutrient dense powders that are then used in food manufacturing and home cooking.
Seadling Seadling is a seaweed biotech company, developing functional ingredients that naturally enhance the well-being of animals, plants, and humans with an aim to revolutionize the agri-food sector through the power of seaweed nutrition.

Our Venture Exchange Program (VEP) supports entrepreneurs to engage with research and industry partners in both countries with complementary capabilities through first class events, coaching and mentoring.

About the VEP

[Music plays and image appears of a people looking at hydroponics, and then the images move through to show people walking in a display centre, and then CSIRO pamphlets, and text appears: Australia-Singapore Venture Exchange Program Future food cohort, The Venture Exchange Program 2024 Future Food Cohort offered a three-month opportunity to engage with the Australian and Singaporean agrifood ecosystem through first-class events and mentoring and coaching sessions. This allowed participants to allows complementary research capabilities to accelerate industry development]

[Images move through to show Siobhan Coster presenting to an audience, Siobhan talking to the camera, Siobhan presenting, and then a photo of Siobhan with colleagues around a table, and text appears: Siobhan Coster, Founder & CEO, Eclipse Ingredients, Roundtable with Mondelez AMEA – Open Innovation Team and Consumer Insights]

Siobhan Coster:  I'm loving the program so far. It's been insanely valuable, not only the mentorship that we've received, but also the networks that have been facilitated and the introductions that have been made.

[Images move through to show a group of colleagues posing for a photo, a medium view of the audience applauding, and then a medium view of Amelia Fyfield presenting, and text appears: Pitching to Kellanova Research & Development ANZ, Amelia Fyfield, Director of Southeast Asia, CSIRO]

Amelia Fyfield:  I'm in particular excited by the opportunity that this program represents for startups who are participating to better understand market opportunities in both countries.

[Images move through to show Tan Shu Yee talking with colleagues, a medium view of the audience listening, and then Tan Shu Yee presenting to the audience, and text appears: Tan Shu Yee, Deputy AgriTech, Enterprise Singapore]

Tan Shu Yee:  Our companies provide solutions to the whole value chain of farm to fork.

[Images move through to show a medium view of Tan Shu Yee presenting, Tan Shu Yee with colleagues posing for a photo, and then a phone photo of cooked meat beside uncooked plant meat, and text appears: Site visit to Singapore Institute of Technology Foodplant]

Most of our startups are also in the deep tech space and adding to the vibrancy and capabilities of our research ecosystem.

[Images move through to show Max Sim talking to the camera, Max with colleagues posing for a photo, and then a male presenting to the audience and the camera pans in to the male, and text appears: Max Sim Senior Manager Research Partnership, CSIRO, Facility tour at Buhler-Givaudan Protein Innovation Centre, Showcase and exhibition at FHA- Food & Beverage 2024]

Max Sim:  I'm really pleased that we managed to get a good cohort of not just diverse technologies and also offerings, but more importantly higher TRL, which actually what both consumers and collaborators are looking for.

[Image changes to show Max talking with a female colleague, and then the image changes to show a close view of Simon Davis talking to the camera, and text appears: Simon Davis Founder & Managing Director, Seadling]

Simon Davis:  The program has been absolutely fantastic and it has really exceeded my expectations.

[Images move through to show various views of presenters presenting to audiences, colleagues talking around a table, and then colleagues and locals talking together, and text appears: Kick-off event at the Australian High Commission Singapore, Regulatory Discussion with Singapore Food Agency, Breakfast with Founders at Cliftons]

You know, the quality of both the other startups on the program and the quality of the introductions to the government agencies, to the corporates that we've met so far has just been absolutely fantastic.

[Image changes to show Simon Davis talking with a colleague, and then the image changes to show Jonathan Ho talking to the camera, and text appears: Jonathan Ho, Co-founder & CEO, Allium Bio]

Jonathan Ho:  I'm always looking for kind of new knowledge, right?

[Images move through to show Jonathan presenting to an audience, and then Jonathan posing for photos with colleagues at the presentation and then at NURASA, and text appears: Pitching and participating in CSIRO Protein Futures conference, Site visit to NURASA]

Getting to meet with and bounce ideas off of other brilliant people around the world and I think obviously the cyber community is famous for that in the food tech ecosystem, so that's really one of the big draws for us.

[Image changes to show a group of colleagues standing outside with drinks, and then the image changes to show Jeannine Malcolm talking to the camera and text appears: Visiting the Michael Crouch Innovation Centre, Jeannine Malcolm Co-founder & Managing Director, Mobius Farms]

Jeannine Malcolm: So this has been a fabulous chance to meet some great people, it’s been very condensed.

[Images move through to show Jeannine Malcolm posing with staff for a photo, a female presenting to an audience, colleagues talking together, and then Jeannine talking to the camera, and text appears: Meet and greet with Mandai Wildlife Group, Touring of Sydney Knowledge Hub, Visiting UNSW Maker Space]

But there's going to be lots of opportunities outside of the program to further those relationships and really grow, hopefully, some collaborative partnerships in research, maybe product development and commercialisation. So it's really exciting.

[Images move through to show Jeannine presenting to an audience, Allaster Cox presenting to an audience, a close view of the audience listening, and then various colleagues talking together, and text appears: His Excellency Allaster Cox, Australian High Commissioner to Singapore]

His Excellency Allaster Cox:  We have to really forge a new set of partnerships and collaborations based on genuine capabilities and complementarities.

[Images move through to show a plant-based meat pamphlet, a male presenting to an audience, a female presenting, and then all the presenters waving and smiling on the stage]

I'm really excited about this kind of collaboration and think this is really the future of the Australia-Singapore relationship.

[Music Plays and image changes to show a blue screen with text: Our Venture Exchange program assists and strengthens the innovation ecosystem connectivity between Australia and Singapore, The program offers the chance to engage with actors across the value chain, scope out cross-border partnerships and leverage their unique capabilities, Our 2024 Future Food Cohort gained a deeper understanding of the Australian and Singaporean markets and identified opportunities to collaborate within the agrifood tech and research ecosystem, Acknowledgements, The venture Exchange Program – Future Food Cohort was assisted by- Agrifood Futures, Food Futures company, Site Visits, Meetings, and Support from- Australia High Commission Singapore, A*STAR, Buhler Protein Innovation Centre, Cargill, CSIRO Black Mountain, CSIRO Werribee, Food Innovation Centre, Enterprise Singapore, Fresh Select, Food and Hotel Asis (FHA), FoodXervises, Haleon, Kellanova ANZ (previously Kellogg) Mandi Wildlife Group, Mondelez AMEA, NURASA, Republic Polytechnic, ScaleUp Bio, Acknowledgements, Site Visits, Meetings, and Support from- Singapore Food Agency, Singapore Institute of Technology FoodPlant, Singapore Polytechnic – Food Innovation and Resource Centre (FIRC), Singapore Polytechnic – Future Food Lab, St John’s Island National Marine Laboratory – NUS, University of Sydney – Startup Programs, University of Sydney – Sydney Knowledge Hub, UNSW – SynBio Program, UNSW – Makerspace, UNSW – The Michael Crouch Innovation Centre (MCIC), V2 Foods, Participating Startup Companies, Allium Bio (SG), Cellular Agriculture (UK), Eclipse Ingredients (AU), Evolve (AU), Grainstone (AU), Just Meat Co (AU), Mobius Farms (AU), Seadling (SG)]

[Image changes to show the CSIRO and the Australian Government Coat of Arms above the Australian Government Coat of Arms Australian Trade and Investment Commission with text: With special thanks to]

Our Venture Exchange Program (VEP) seeks to strengthen innovation ecosystem connectivity between Australia and Singapore.

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The VEP offers a three-month opportunity for Australian and Singaporean deep-tech start-ups in emerging industries to engage with the innovation ecosystems in both countries and access to complimentary research capabilities to accelerate industry development.

Through intensive coaching, mentoring and market familiarisation visits, participating teams were supported to:

Venture Exchange Program Future Food Cohort

  • explore new reciprocal market opportunities
  • develop go-to-market strategies
  • engage across the value chain in both countries to identify synergies and build partnerships.

Future Foods Cohort

The 2024 VEP cohort focused on Future Foods and supported six Australian teams and three Singapore-based start-up companies to:

  • Generate new, world-leading knowledge and technology in novel food that can be translated into marketing insights, business products, new companies and development for the agriculture and food industry.
  • Build novel food and future protein scientific capability for both countries to address major challenges for the economy (food security, industry development), environment (food system sustainability), and society (reducing impact of chronic diseases, ageing and food safety threats).
  • Bring together complementary capability and capacity to support innovation ecosystem development.
  • Facilitate connections between science and technology professionals, entrepreneurs and businesses to drive the development of research and commercial applications for future protein innovations.
  • Connect key players across the value chain, for example, to help ensure Australian food ingredients are tailored to match the specific needs of Asian food manufacturers.

Participants benefited from

  • Access to world-class R&D facilities and collaboration opportunities with leading scientists both countries.
  • Coaching sessions identifying potential research collaboration and value chain opportunities.
  • Pitching opportunities at Food and Hotel Asia trade show in Singapore and the Protein Futures Symposium in Australia.
  • Networking sessions with cohort peers and key ecosystem stakeholders.
  • Specialist consultations with relevant providers of legal, marketing, commercialisation and other services to facilitate know how and connections.
Meet our Future Foods Cohort
Team Description
Allium Bio Allium Bio are creating a platform for better ingredients, for better products, for people and the planet. They bring together the powers of multiple microorganisms, using a proprietary model to discover symbiotic combinations of algae, fungi, and other species to create high-value food ingredients at lower cost.
Cellular Agriculture Ltd Cellular Agriculture Ltd revolutionises cultivated protein production with their high-density, low-footprint bioreactors and advanced bioprocess technology. They provide efficient, sustainable solutions that ensure high-quality protein output, bridging the gap to industrial-scale production and transforming the future of food.
Eclipse Ingredients Eclipse Ingredients is a cutting-edge biotech ingredients startup incubated in CSIRO making high-value, hard-to-source ingredients important for health from yeast, using precision fermentation. Our first ingredient is human lactoferrin, which is a wonder protein found in breastmilk and immune cells with immune-building and iron-boosting properties important for health and well-being across the lifespan, from infants and children to adults and the elderly.
Evolve Evolve's technology reduces the sugar content of fruit and vegetable based products using a natural fermentation process by up to 70 per cent. The company is currently working on commercialising the technology for the manufacture of reduced alcohol wine and low calorie/reduced sugar fruit juices, baby food, snacks and confectionary products.
Grainstone Grainstone is developing integrated multi-product biorefining technology to revolutionise the barley value chain, including the ability to recover and upcycle brewers spent grain and support decarbonisation objectives. Building on Australia's major competitive advantages in grains they are working on technologies to produce a range of affordable in-demand ingredients, health supplements, animal feeds and bioproducts in a way that to maximises value and minimises waste.
Just Meat Co. Just Meat Co. is turning red meat into a nutrient dense, high protein ingredient with a wide range of applications across the food and beverage market.
Mobius Farms Mobius Farms turns waste into value using insects. From hyper local food waste recovery systems to natural substitutes for anti-biotics in animal production; from sustainable protein sources for livestock feed to functional fertilisers for farmers - Mobius Farms aims to build resilience into our food systems through insect derived technologies.
NutriV NutriV focus on repurposing surplus vegetables from Australian farms and diverting the 'waste' to create shelf stable products for both consumers and businesses. NutriV aim to create a circular economy through seeing 100 per cent of what is planted and harvested, converted into nutrient dense powders that are then used in food manufacturing and home cooking.
Seadling Seadling is a seaweed biotech company, developing functional ingredients that naturally enhance the well-being of animals, plants, and humans with an aim to revolutionize the agri-food sector through the power of seaweed nutrition.

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