NEW TECH FOODS

Singaporean holding company 70/30 Food Tech has successfully closed its seed-extension round of fundraising, with support from Asia-Pacific climate tech food fund Better Bite Ventures.

70/30 Food Tech started its initial pilot-scale experiments in biomass fermentation technologies in 2021 at the Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, primarily to develop cost-effective alt-proteins.

The company says it will use the funds to launch its 70/30 Mycelium Research Lab, where it will develop fungi-based biomass ingredients.

The company has introduced mushroom-soy-based protein products for B2B clients, particularly targeting China and other parts of Asia.

Eve Samyuktha, CEO and founder of 70/30 Food Tech, said: “Despite facing challenges in 2023 related to the post-pandemic and economic conditions, we maintain a positive outlook on the growth potential of the plant-based sector in Asia – especially if we can provide affordable and healthier alternatives to animal protein. We can achieve this with fungi biomass fermentation.”

Michal Klar, founding partner of Better Bite Ventures, commented: "We believe that mycelium-based sustainable protein products can be a gateway to broader consumer adoption in Asia, especially given the familiarity and positive perception of fungi in the region. We liked 70/30 Food Tech's product pipeline and unique go-to-market strategy."

Doris Lee, CEO of GFIC, a consultancy that focuses on accelerating China’s alt-protein industry development, added: “Achieving cost-efficiency is crucial and food businesses in China and other parts of Asia will likely be interested in products that can offer competitive pricing compared to animal-based products and this in turn, can attract a larger market share and drive adoption".

70/30 Food Tech says its biomass fermentation yields high-quality protein with amino acid ratios equal to or better than animal protein. Its resulting product is said to have a texture similar to meat, especially poultry and seafood. The process also eliminates the need for extrusion, commonly associated with soy-based protein production, which is a unit operation that makes the soy-based alternative labelled as 'processed' food.

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