Collaborate with our partners to bridge technology gaps

A local Singapore company is seeking innovative materials that is environmentally friendly and easily combustible upon contact with fire, to replace existing technologies being used in their industry. The company is currently using cellulose-based sheets, which can be printed on and easily folded or shaped by hand into 3-dimensional (3D) forms. The material also enables easy combustion, upon contact with fire, producing non-toxic fumes and ash post-combustion. However, it is not possible to mould the current material into 3D forms and structures. This company is thus keen to explore development opportunities and adopt solutions that can be moulded into 3D forms and structures with colour easily applied. In addition, the material should also carry existing properties of current solutions, such as easily combustible upon contact with fire, produce less non-toxic fumes and ideally no ash post-combustion. Solution providers should be open to work closely with the company to test the solution, and further develop the technology to meet the said requirements.

Locust bean gum (LBG) has special rheological properties that make it an excellent stabilizer in many food applications. The positive effects on syneresis, transparency, and its synergistic effects with other hydrocolloids make it a very important ingredient and extremely challenging to be replaced. However, in recent years, the cost of locust bean gum has increased tremendously due to various reasons. We used LBG for various applications in jellies, candies, beverages, soups and are looking for a suitable replacement for the application on water jelly sugar confectionary products.

The company is a technology innovation and investment outfit of an Australia headquartered company which has a global multifaceted business, spanning from property development, financing and fund management, immigration and education services, agriculture, food and beverage franchise and software development. The company’s mission is to facilitate technology innovation and accelerate growth of start-ups/SMEs through their multidisciplinary expertise and global network and are constantly on the lookout for cutting edge technologies to co-develop. Currently, they are expanding their portfolio to include health and personal care, and are on the search for state-of-the-art technologies for wound healing, skincare and others, with a particular interest in stem cells.

Eureka is the world’s biggest intergovernmental network for international cooperation in R&D and innovation. The Eureka Eurostars programme supports international R&D and collaborative innovation projects between Eureka member countries. Companies are invited to submit joint project proposals on a new product, process or solution that can be rapidly commercialised in global markets with a civilian purpose. The call is open to all sectors. More information on Eurostars can be found here.

Solenoid valves are electromechanically operated valves widely used in a variety of industries for fluid control. The seeker is a Singapore-based precision engineering company developing a miniature 12VDC solenoid valve. The company is developing these valves for use in medical devices and are progressing into the detail design and development phases. The company is seeking technical expertise or consultants to help them characterize the design, validate the performance and eventually develop an in-house reliability programme for the testing of these miniature solenoid valves.

In Singapore, each person consumes an average 22 kg of seafood per year and imported 134,000 tonnes of seafood in 2020. As a seafood-loving nation, a report by WWF revealed that 75% of consumed seafood in Singapore is unsustainable and this challenged the seafood fishing and farming ecosystem. Cultivating seafood is an alternative method to meet our seafood consumptions demands. Cultured seafood is actual seafood produced in vitro cell cultures of animal cells. It replicates the sensory and nutritional profile of conventional seafood. The current method of producing cultured seafood involves the use of animal-derived Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS). FBS is the liquid fraction harvested from the blood of cow fetuses. The use of FBS is a concern due to its ethical restraint and food safety along with its high usage cost.  As such, we are looking for low-cost plant-based cell culture media for seafood cultivation. 

IPI is working with our Open Innovation partner from UK to source for partners to develop high performance bio-sourced oils, lubricants and fuels. Their client is an established manufacturer of high performance industrial lubricants, greases and fuels interested in developing their bio-sustainable offerings. Mounting environmental and sustainability concerns has shifted significance towards non-technical criteria for the evaluation of lubricants, and there is growing demand for more sustainable options. Early offerings were biodegradable and non-toxic but often derived from petrochemicals. Newer bio-sourced lubricants are made from plant oils or biomass feedstocks. Depending on the base stock used, chemical and oxidative stability and corrosion resistance of bio-sourced lubricants can be an issue, but improvements can be made through chemical modification of the oil, or through the use of additive packages. Therefore, to support development of bio-sourced lubricants, there is also a requirement for additives compatible with bio-based base stocks that are themselves environmentally friendly. The client has an established client base and global manufacturing and sales operations that provide routes to market for new and growing companies. The client is interested in potential collaboration with groups looking to commercialise relevant technologies and companies who will consider a variety of collaborations, ranging from trading partnerships, licensing through to joint venture, investment and acquisition.

A multinational F&B company is looking for solutions to be able to effectively decant confectionary fluids from road tankers. The company transports vast quantities of fluids throughout its global network in road tankers. These are usually either fat-based fluids, non-Newtonian fluids and/or high viscous fluids. Some of these materials are produced internally, some are procured from external sources.  If not decanted completely, these residual fluids still left in the tanker are needlessly transported around the network and often lead to excess raw materials costs. Typically, these losses during transport range between ~0.5% to 1 wt%. This is not acceptable to the company from a sustainability and a cost point of view, and they are keen to explore an industry-wide solution that enables emptying of tankers more effectively. 

Protein serves many functionalities in food, including emulsifying, gelling, foaming, flavour, texture and solubility. Plant proteins are structurally and functionally different from animal proteins and can be challenging to replace animal proteins entirely. As such, we are looking for efficient plant protein extraction methods to achieve highly functional plant-derived protein ingredients.