Fermelanta—a Japanese startup engineering bacteria to produce alkaloids from morphine to berberine—wowed judges at last month’s Japan agrifoodtech meetup organized by AgFunder, JETRO Startup and SDG Impact Japan.
Japanese dairy giant Megmilk Snow Brand Co is investing in plant-based proteins via a joint venture with Singapore-based Agrocorp International.
The sustainability credentials of microbial fermentation—used to make everything from lactic acid to ‘animal-free’ whey protein—would be greatly enhanced were the technology less dependent on food crops to produce its primary feedstock: sugar. But how viable are the alternatives?
Norichukin Bank recently joined the first close of AgFunder’s $100m Fund IV as a limited partner to advance Japan’s agriculture, fisheries, and forestry industries.
The Japanese startup is one of several companies that have discovered methods for removing animal serum from the cell culture process.
It aims to create a “universally accessible cellular agriculture platform” by providing growth media and other solutions at relatively low cost.
Managing director Jim Adler discusses his firm’s recent investment in farm robots startup Burro and where Toyota plans to look next in agtech.
“We’re looking forward to combining [Ginkgo’s] genome editing and fermentation capabilities with our chemical technologies and industry insights in health and crop sciences,” said Sumitomo Chemical CTO Hiroshi Ueda.
Oishii is growing strawberries in vertical farms with the help of bees – and founder Hiroki Koga is taking his cue from none other than Elon Musk.
The Japanese government has affirmed its “determination” that Sanatech Seed’s new tomato will be regulated as a GE, rather than a GMO, product.
Rakuten, Japan’s top e-commerce company, entered into a strategic alliance with Walmart in 2018 which saw the pair launch the country’s leading e-grocery service.
With backing from Sony and other investors, US-based Oishii grows the berries indoors using ancient Japanese farming practices.
“We are excited to accelerate Seiyu’s digital transformation […] to become Japan’s leading omnichannel retailer,” said new CEO Tsuneo Okubo.
ListenField’s API ecosystem combines satellite, weather, and in-field data with crop modeling, phenology, and genotype selection to improve yields for rice and other crops.
Two of Asia’s highest-funded alt-protein startups have joined forces to bring cultured, cellular ag-grown seafood to the masses.
CEO Yuki Hanyu’s vision encompasses low-cost DIY protein production in the home, a meat microbrewery on every corner, and cell ag in space stations.
SoftBank was among the world’s most active investors in the agrifoodtech space last year, according to AgFunder research.
While Covid-19 has made things worse for SoftBank investees, much of the loss can be ascribed to the already poor performance of companies across the Japanese firm’s portfolio.
1.3 billion tons of food is lost or wasted, yearly, and it costs the global community $1 trillion dollars in losses. What’s the world doing to stop this?
From giving farmers access to their padi on their iPads, to taking the carb out of rice. Here’s five rice tech startups in Asia you need to know.
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