TECH NEEDS

Seaweed or macroalgae are aquatic plants that anchor to hard surfaces to grow and are usually found on the ocean floor. Seaweed farming is the fastest growing sector within marine aquaculture with a global market worth of USD 15 billion in 2021 with a CAGR of 7.5% from 2021 to 2028. It is a versatile raw ingredient that can be applied to functional foods, animal feed, biomaterials, personal care products, fertilizers, nutraceuticals, and pharmaceuticals, and even serves as an environmental remediation method. Moreover, it is a carbon-negative crop that has a high potential for climate change mitigation through carbon capture. To go beyond farming at a smallholder scale, there is a need to look at farming at an industrial scale to meet the burgeoning demands in the global market. Based in Singapore, the technology seeker is a company in the aquaculture sector and they are seeking co-development partners to provide marine engineering expertise to develop a platform for industrial-scale offshore seaweed farming. Preferably, the tech provider should have experience in food production/farming systems on an industrial scale in coastal waters. Depending on the collaborators’ preference and further negotiations, the modes of partnership that could be considered include R&D collaboration, technology licensing, and IP acquisition. The technology seeker prefers technology owners with a presence and available technical professionals in Singapore to support this pilot project. Overseas-based technology owners would be considered as well on a case-by-case basis.

Fermentation is one of the oldest technologies used in food processing and the technology has been gaining limelight in recent years due to modern applications. With Singapore’s ’30 by 30’ goal to produce 30% of our nutritional needs locally and sustainably by 2030, and in line with consumer megatrends such as healthy (functional, natural) consumption and advocation for animal rights, fermentation technologies could help to address these issues. There is interest to seek out technology owners who have novel and proven fermentation technologies that can be used for the production of food and feed or to valorise food waste from side streams as low-cost feedstocks to manufacture value-added products as part of closing the food waste loop. These technologies should be available for technology collaborations. The modes of technology collaborations are: R&D collaboration, IP licensing and acquisition. Suitable technologies can be placed as Technology Offers on the IPI portal, subject to internal curation and review. 

A leading snack company is interested in novel leavening solutions (ingredient and/or process technologies) that enable effective sodium reduction for their baked goods portfolio (savory/salty crackers, sweet cookies). Sodium-based leavening agents (sodium bicarbonate, SAPP etc.) are commonly used in baked goods to deliver the desired product texture and appearance. Finding alternative solutions that can deliver the same great consumer experience without elevating the pH is of interest.