Singapore-based precision fermentation solutions provider, ScaleUp Bio, is set to open two facilities in the country in 2023.

ScaleUp Bio, a joint venture led by nutrition and food processing corporation ADM and Temasek’s Nurasa, is a new company focused on accelerating the commercialisation and adoption of sustainable food across Asia. It is wholly owned by Temasek, a global investment management company in Singapore.

ScaleUp Bio’s CEO, Francisco Codoñer, said: “We have designed ScaleUp Bio’s entire business model specifically to empower young companies with the facilities, capabilities and resources they have long needed to scale and succeed in today’s marketplace”. 

The first facility will be a joint laboratory developed under a new partnership with the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation, designed especially for research and development (R&D) for start-ups and emerging food tech companies.

The site will be located at Nurasa’s Food Tech Innovation Centre, an R&D hub in central Singapore and will be able to support up to 100 litres of fermentation and downstream processing capacity with testing and process optimisation capabilities.

The second facility will serve as ScaleUp Bio’s headquarters and will offer a space for start-ups and early-stage food tech companies to access up to 10,000 litres of fermentation capacity, with experts on site to continue the process optimisation and scale-up journey. The site will be located in Tuas, an emerging food manufacturing zone in western Singapore.

“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 added.