TECH NEEDS

The technology seeker is a global FMCG company that designs and manufactures a range of portable consumer devices. These devices contain electronic components and PCBA (printed circuit board assembly), using increasingly unsustainable rare metals. As part of its on-going sustainability programmes, the company wishes to reduce the environmental impact of these devices and identify technology solutions that would facilitate the creation of “sustainable electronics” for use within their consumer devices. The company is therefore actively searching for technological innovations that would enable them to meet their “sustainable electronics” goal. They are a large and well established business with wide market reach so this represents an excellent opportunity for existing and new technology partners. The company is also interested in R&D collaborations, and engaging with small companies who have developed a technology platform that could benefit from additional resources (e.g. via the company’s corporate venturing arm) to support expediated scale up.

According to the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), global food production in 2020 was approximately 5.3 billion metric tons. However, one-third of this total production does not reach consumers' tables. The agrifood industry generates significant amounts of side streams that are often rich in valuable nutrients and compounds. Unfortunately, due to the lack of concerted efforts to aggregate these side streams and implement efficient and sustainable upcycling technologies, they are mostly underutilized. Agriculture, animal, and seafood farming generate substantial volumes of side streams. These side streams include vegetables, coffee beans, cacao, chicken feathers, innards, bones, offals, and scales. They are rich in nutrients and minerals, and there is an interest in seeking new technologies to upcycle them into valuable raw materials for consumption, packaging, or construction materials. We are currently seeking technologies that are capable of converting agrifood side streams into higher-value products. Preferably, the tech provider should be available for co-development partnerships,  R&D collaborations, IP licensing, and acquisition.

The technology seeker specialises in the research, development, production and sales of value-added components obtained through the extraction, isolation and purification of compounds from raw materials. Sustainability is key to their business and they are interested to identify “green” / sustainable manufacturing approaches that they could adopt for producing triglycerides (i.e. beyond the extraction of triglycerides from agricultural crops), preferably with fatty acid chains between C8 – C24. The client has global processing operations with well-established customer base and market access. They are open to exploring different ways of working with technology developers ranging from collaborative research and development projects for earlier-stage technologies; to licensing of technology with high technical readiness; and longer-term investment (e.g. joint-ventures or mergers / acquisition).

The technology seeker is a manufacturing company that operates a range of industrial processes to isolate and purify products from raw materials. They are looking for technologies for removing or reducing to a non-detectable (less than 1ppm) level, various species of long chain saturated hydrocarbon compounds and (poly)aromatic hydrocarbon compounds from a mixture of triglycerides. The compounds of interest have hydrocarbon chains with a carbon number up to C50. The company is actively searching for partners with expertise in technologies for reducing, removing, or separating hydrocarbon compounds. They are interested in connecting with universities and other research organisations, start-ups and established companies who are developing suitable or applicable technologies. They have an established customer base and global processing operations. The company can provide significant resources to scale up potential processes and relevant businesses, including financial investment and joint development. The client is interested in working with technology developers and would consider a variety of ways of working from research collaboration to technology licensing, joint venture and acquisition. 

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.