Scaleup Bio Accelerates Opportunities for Global Food Tech Start-Ups with 2023 Opening of Two Dedicated Food-Grade Precision Fermentation Facilities in Singapore
Þ First dedicated food-grade precision fermentation laboratories in Singapore and amongst few in the world truly catered towards start-ups and emerging food tech companies
Þ Offering end-to-end Contract Development Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) services from lab to market, including business and technicaladvisory, industry partnerships and investor access
Þ Backed by ADM and Temasek’s Nurasa, formerly Asia Sustainable Foods Platform
Singapore, 26 October 2022 – ScaleUp Bio, a new, Singapore-homegrown precision fermentation
solutions provider – a joint venture company of ADM and Temasek’s Nurasa – is positioning itself to
emerge as a key enabler towards unlocking innovation for global food tech start-ups needing
dedicated food-grade precision fermentation laboratory facilities and more.
ScaleUp Bio will open two dedicated food-grade precision fermentation facilities in Singapore during
2023. These new facilities will be the first of their kind in Singapore open to promising start-ups from
anywhere in the world needing research and development assistance.
“Addressing urgent food security and supply issues driven by climate change and exacerbated by
traditional food production sources – and in line with emerging consumer demands for more
sustainably developed alternative proteins and other foods – has been a real challenge due to a lack
of dedicated food-grade laboratory facilities, business guidance and market assistance for start-ups,”
said Francisco Codoñer, ScaleUp Bio CEO.
“This has been because most CDMOs around the world cater first and foremost to pharmaceutical or
biofuel industry needs. Which means start-ups and other early-stage firms often must resort to
expensive and unpredictable laboratory capacities, often in an environment that was not meant for
food. Building their own pilot facilities on the other hand would set up a high capital threshold out of
the gate. We have designed ScaleUp Bio’s entire business model specifically to empower these young
companies with the facilities, capabilities, and resources they have long needed to scale and succeed
in today’s marketplace.”
Two world-class, dedicated food-grade precision fermentation facilities opening in 2023
ScaleUp Bio’s first facility opening in the first half of 2023 will be a joint laboratory developed under a
new, multi-year partnership with the Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research
(A*STAR)’s Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation (SIFBI), enabling delivery of
tailored start-up infrastructure and service offerings. This facility, designed especially for research and
development for start-ups and emerging food tech companies, will be able to support up to 100 litres
of fermentation and downstream processing capacity, with analysis, testing and process optimisation
capabilities. It will be located at Nurasa’s Food Tech Innovation Centre (FTIC) at Biopolis, a research
and development hub in central Singapore.
The second facility – also scheduled for commercial launch during the second half of 2023 – will offer
close to 2,300 square metres of space where start-ups and early-stage food tech companies from
around the world can access up to 10,000 litres of fermentation and associated downstream
processing capacity, with experts on-hand to continue the process optimisation and scale-up journey.
This facility will also serve as ScaleUp Bio’s headquarters and will be located at LOGOS Food21, in Tuas,
an emerging food manufacturing zone in the western part of Singapore.
Beyond physical laboratory facilities and technical expertise, ScaleUp Bio also offers food tech startups a comprehensive array of opportunities from its extensive business ecosystem.
Offering access to Asia and an innovation ecosystem supported by global leaders
“We understand the challenges faced by young firms seeking to navigate the complex regulations,
cultures, and tastes across Asia. Thus, it makes perfect sense for us to launch our global offering from
Singapore. From here, we can offer smart market entry to fast-growing Asian populations hungry for
alternative sustainable food sources from one of the world’s great innovation centres,” Codoñer
emphasised.
Through a holistic ecosystem of industry experts, partner organisations and resources from across
ScaleUp Bio’s parent companies, precision fermentation start-ups will have access to an
unprecedented array of resources and potential relationships to ensure commercial success. ADM is
a global leader in nutrition and agricultural origination and processing and Nurasa is a new company
focused on accelerating the commercialisation and adoption of sustainable food across Asia and is in
turn wholly owned by Temasek, a global investment management company in Singapore.
“Whether you are a home-grown innovator here in Singapore or from across Asia – or a food tech
company from anywhere in the world – we want to hear from you. With our new facilities, access to
top-tier talent, resources, and capital, we offer a tremendous platform for young companies seeking
to springboard their products to global scale and success,” concluded Codoñer.
