NEW TECH FOODS

Better Bite Ventures has announced investments in three APAC food-tech startups as part of its early-stage ‘First Bite’ initiative.

The three start-ups are part of the latest ‘First Bite’ funding round – which offers early-stage investments of between $50,000 and $150,000. The three companies are Singapore's Fattastic, Australian firm Pivot Eat and South Korea-based Everything But.

Fattastic is a start-up engineering plant-based fats to enhance the sensory and functional attributes of plant-based meat and dairy. Its oil structuring technology transforms plant-based oils into solid states to resemble animal fats. Pivot Eat is developing a novel process to improve the structure and scalability of whole-cut meat alternatives. Everything But is “Asia’s first” cell-based meat startup focused on pet food, working on sustainable, protein-rich pet food with high taste, texture and nutritional quality.

Simon Newstead, founding partner of Better Bite Ventures, said: “Bold technology innovation is needed to reduce the climate impact of our current food system in Asia. The response to the First Bite initiative has been encouraging – to date we’ve invested in seven food tech startups and are now open for more.”

Founding partner Michal Klar added: “Food production is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, more than all transportation combined. As part of the broader transition to a net zero economy, we need new, more sustainable ways of making food. But these new products must also be tasty - only then will consumers truly buy-in. The startups we are announcing today are pioneering new solutions to improve the taste and texture of meat and dairy alternatives.”

To date, Better Bite Ventures has invested in over 20 food-tech startups in Singapore, China, India, Australia, Indonesia and other APAC markets.

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