About Future Food Asia 2023
Since its inception in 2017, FFA has acted as a catalyst for collaborations accelerating the work of technology entrepreneurs in the agrifood sector, and a pioneer in the then-nascent agrifoodtech vertical in Asia-Pacific. 2022 marked a turning point in building public awareness around the role of the food system in the climate change dialogue and action, with the presence of the first-ever Food Systems Pavilion at the recently concluded COP27.
Dr Ismahane Elouafi, Chief Scientist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will be the Guest of Honour at the seventh edition of the FFA Conference, on 16th–17th of May 2023. In the position of Chief Scientist created two years ago, Dr Elouafi brings science and innovation into all the programs and decisions of the FAO.
FFA will also be innovating the conference style and for the first time convene Chief Technology Officers, Chief Sustainability Officers and Investors for exclusive roundtables to identify and accelerate innovations and business models that are most critical to Asia-Pacific, to build a more sustainable and inclusive food future.
Future Food Asia 2023 Winners
Future Food Asia 2023 Start-up Finalist Cohort
Future Food Asia 2023 Jury Panel
Isabelle Decitre
Isabelle Decitre
ID Capital
Dr. Yuchu Zhang
She joined Cargill in November 2020, and represents Asia R&D in Cargill’s global R&D leadership team to develop the innovation agenda and identify emerging technologies and new business models to support business growth in the region. She has been active in engaging external innovation ecosystem to accelerate the development of new technologies relevant to future food. She has served as a jury for FFA’s start up competition in the last two years.
Yuchu has a PhD in Food Science & Nutrition from the Ohio State University and had worked in global FMCG companies, such as Nestle, Diageo, and Royal FrieslandCampina. She has been living and working in the US, Europe and Asia, and now is based in France.
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Dr. Yuchu Zhang
Group R&D Leader, Cargill Protein Asia & Europe
Cargill
Francesca Kleemans
Francesca previously served as Managing Director for Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate Asia Pacific and as Global Director for the company's cocoa product lines, responsible for driving global growth through optimizing capabilities and generating synergies for customers. Before joining Cargill in 2011, Francesca held management roles with BMW, Nidera, and Mars.
Francesca is known for her play-to-win mindset and passion to create differentiated value. She believes that the future of food & beverages in Asia is about sensory innovation and accelerating sustainability.
Originally from Italy, Francesca relocated to Singapore in 2020 with her husband and three children. Together, they are enjoying Singapore’s melting pot of people and flavors.
Francesca Kleemans
Cargill
Dr. Min Hao Wong
Dr. Min Hao Wong
Director, Food & Nutrition
A*STAR, Singapore
Future Food Asia 2023 Speakers & Contributors
DR JJ (JOHN JIANG)
He was also the inaugural CDO of CP Group driving early years of the journey of group level digital transformation. He had worked in both large companies (China Mobile International CTO, ATT Wireless Data CTO) and several (2 unicorns) startups as founding CTOs/Presidents around the world.
He holds over 100s of patents, and was a Bell Labs AI scientist. He spent more than 25 years in Silicon Valley, having been educated in England doing research on AI in Cambridge, Imperial College, and Manchester.
DR. JJ (JOHN JIANG)
CTO
CP Group
JUNG-WON YOON
His research background is in food science and technology, specialising in enzyme engineering, microbial fermentation and downstream process development and he completed his PhD at Seoul National University. His recent scientific publications are in the field of Human Milk Oligosaccharides, both in the applications and benefits of HMOs and the production and analysis of HMOs.
Prior to AP Technologies, he was R&D Director and Principal Research Scientist at Samyang Genex Corporation.
JONG-WON YOON
CTO & Vice President
Advanced Protein Technologies Corporation
JULIE GREENE
Joining Olam in 2008, she launched and led Olam’s cotton business in Cote d’Ivoire for five years, reviving the supply chain in the region and improving the livelihoods of thousands of smallholders. She then entered Olam’s global sustainability team, first as Africa lead and then as Social Capital lead, fostering sustainable business models across global supply chains.
Before Olam, Julie lived in Sierra Leone, where she provided business advisory services to ex-combatants and managed village infrastructure projects with German Technical Cooperation (GIZ) and supported relief programmes at International Rescue Committee (IRC). Julie serves as Chairperson of the African Cotton Foundation and previously represented Olam on the boards of Better Cotton Initiative and ComCashew. After calling West Africa home for nearly two decades, Julie now resides in Singapore.
JULIE GREENE
Chief Sustainability Officer
Olam Agri
STEPHANE CORGIE
Stéphane holds an MSc in Soil Science, Microbial Ecology and Molecular Biology from the University Henri Poincare (Nancy, France). During his PhD (LIMOS-CNRS, Nancy, France), he studied plant-microbe interactions and dynamics applied to the conversion and biodegradation of toxic human-made hydrocarbons.
As a postdoc at Cornell university, Stephane was involved in cross -disciplinary projects in Bioengineering (Biofuels and Bioproducts), Biocatalysts (Molecular functioning of enzymes), Microbial Ecology and Advanced Materials.
STEPHANE CORGIE
Founder – CEO
Zymtronix
RICHARD WALTON
Richard obtained a BA in Chemistry from Hendrix College (USA) and a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Duke University (USA), and held research positions at the Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN) and the Japan Science and Technology Agency before joining Meiji. In addition to guiding internal research activities, research collaborations, and M&A, Richard has led sector-wide efforts in sustainability, marketing, food patent studies and dairy policy & economics.
On behalf of Meiji and the overall Japanese dairy industry, Richard regularly communicates on topics related to the Meiji R&D, Japanese research and development, the Japanese food industry, Japanese food claims, Japanese nutrition guidelines, food marketing, probiotics, and dairy policy & economics.
RICHARD WALTON
Senior Advisor
Meiji Co., Ltd
KOBBOON SRICHAI
Under Corporate Affairs, she has undertaken the CSR&SD, together with Corporate Communication offices. Under this role, she has been working with the Board of Directors, the Executive Committee, and the Corporate Governance & Sustainable Development Committee of the Company. She has extensive experience, over 27 years, at the company.
Mrs. Srichai graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Law at Thammasat University, Thailand, and MBA in International Business from the USA.
KOBBOON SRICHAI
Head of Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations
Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CPF)
AVI FINTZ
Interflour Group is a Singapore based joint venture between CBH (largest Australian grain cooperative) and the Salim Group (family-owned industrial holding group). Interflour sells 1.5m Mt of flour annually to its customers in SEA and also owns and operates a malting plant as well as a grain port terminal. Interflour is present in Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Philippines.
Prior to joining Interflour Group, Avi gained extensive experience in proprietary investments across sectors and asset class while in the Special Situations Group of Goldman Sachs as well as at Ronly (commodities trader). Avi graduated from ESSEC Business School and Cass Business School.
AVI FINTZ
CEO
Interflour Group
SHAMAL MOHAMMED
Dr Shamal is (currently) a Director of the AgriTech at Silal, leading the deployment of smart technologies in farm operations, maximising productivity and farm profitability, and leading strategic partnerships nationally and internationally to build an innovative ecosystem for desert agriculture. Also, to bring technologies to maximise the resilience and efficiency of the food supply chain.
Previously, Shamal worked as the Chief Technical Officer at AGRI-EPI Centre and Regional Manager and Head of Crop Technology at Agrii in the UK. He has led various smart agriculture projects, developed strategies to maximise Agritech adoption and offerings.
SHAMAL MOHAMMED
AgriTech Director
Silal
STEFANIE BEITIEN
Stefanie was previously the Head of Market Transformation at WWF-Singapore, the world's largest conservation organisation. She led a team of subject matter experts delivering impact across key environmental issues. Before joining WWF, Stefanie was Director of Partnerships for Eco-Business, a news resource for sustainable development in Asia. Her prior expertise was in leading sales and marketing activities in the automotive and licensing industry of premium brands. She studied international business administration and is fluent in German, English, and Italian.
STEFANIE BEITIEN
Director
NorthSky Advisory
TIM HILL
Tim has worked in B2B research and media in Asia since 1992 with organisations such as the Economist Intelligence Unit, Ipsos Business Consulting and Eco-Business. Recent studies and publications include the rise of food delivery in Asean, single-use plastic in food packaging, the regional transition to a low carbon economy, the Asean Economic Community and Asean’s consensus on corporate social causes.
His opinion pieces and articles have been published in Channel News Asia, Eco-Business, The Business Times and the Straits Times as well as other regional newspapers. He is a regular speaker and conference moderator for industry and client events. Tim has an MBA from Henley Business School in UK.
TIM HILL
Key Accounts Director, SE Asia
GlobalData PLC
JACK ELLIS
He heads the firm’s Agriculture & Food practice, and is based in Singapore.
Jack’s professional background is in journalism, marketing, and venture capital. Prior to joining Cleantech Group, he was Research Lead at agrifoodtech investor AgFunder, and Deputy Editor of industry news site AFN.
JACK ELLIS
Head of Agriculture & Food
Cleantech Group
CHRIS ARGENT
In this role, he is responsible for shaping and implementing the company’s sustainability strategy in the region. As a champion for Syngenta’s sustainability initiatives, Chris is responsible for developing strategic partnerships and community engagement with farmers, NGOs, value chain players and food companies , with the aim of helping farmers throughout Asia to improve their livelihoods, increase productivity and improve environmental outcomes.
CHRIS ARGENT
Head of Business Sustainability, APAC
Syngenta
CRYSTAL KIM
Crystal joined N.THING as part of the global sales team in 2020. While on the team, Crystal deepened her knowledge and understanding of the agri-food tech sector, focusing on vertical farming technology. To gain more experience and insight into the industry, Crystal transitioned to the B2C/retail business team, where she could interact more directly with N.THING's customers. Now as an IR associate, she is seeking partners looking to lead the agri-tech innovation alongside N.THING
CRYSTAL KIM
IR Associate
N.THING Inc
RINCHEN CHOEGYAL
Rinchen joined Robeco in 2022, having worked as an emerging markets Portfolio Manager at Ruffer and previously as an Asia-focussed investment analyst at BlackRock, both in Hong Kong. He has a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of London (SOAS) and a master's in environmental policy from the University of Oxford.
RINCHEN CHOEGYAL
Senior Analyst (Tech), Sustainable Investment Research
Robeco
PROF PAUL WOOD AO
Paul is the Chair of an Insect farming start-up Viridian Renewable technology, on Board of ATSE and currently an Adjunct Professor at Monash University. He is a frequent commentator of the role of cell-based and precision fermentation technologies in food security.
PROF. PAUL WOOD AO
Adjunct Professor
Monash University
KATE BLASZAK
Kate has expertise in food systems, farm animal health, welfare, one health including antimicrobial resistance and the alternative protein landscape, particularly in Asia. Formerly, the Head of Research at a global NGO focused on humane and sustainable proteins she engaged and advised global and Asian food companies.
Kate also contributed to global strategies for sustainable protein systems, led One Health research, and developed policy and regulation with various governments and other multilateral bodies. Originally a veterinarian, Kate is also a masters graduate of Edinburgh University, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian School of Applied Management, and a Board Director.
KATE BLASZAK
Director Protein Transition
Asia Research and Engagement
RAJESH KRISHNAMURTHY
As Chief Executive Officer at Laurus Bio, Rajesh currently focuses on growth strategies and partnerships with multiple industries across the globe. Laurus Bio is one of the leading producers of animal-free recombinant products and also offers CDMO services in precision fermentation for large scale Bio-manufacturing.
As a managing partner at Vivnova Ventures, Rajesh also actively advises, partners and invests in early stage companies across multiple domains.
Rajesh has a masters degree in Environmental Engineering from Texas Tech University and an MBA from ISB - a joint program from the Wharton, LBS and Kellogg school of management.
RAJESH KRISHNAMURTHY
CEO
Laurus Bio
LISSY SMIT
Lissy has over two decades of banking experience mainly in food & agribusiness finance at Rabobank. She set-up the leveraged finance team in Asia and significantly grew the business in North America by working closely with investors to finance companies in the food and agricultural sector.
After eight years working in Hong Kong, New York and London, Lissy returned to the Netherlands to lead Rabobank’s global lending business.
While sitting on Rabobank’s Investment Committee Lissy first learned about Aqua-Spark and realized the real challenges and opportunities in aquaculture and the role capital can play to develop the perfect food system for the future.
LISSY SMIT
CEO
Aqua-Spark
SZE TAN
Sze has extensive R&D experience in the Food & Nutrition industry spanning across APAC, Europe and N. America. Her most recent role was EVP, Chief Technology Officer of CJ CheilJedang, based in S. Korea and prior to that, spent 22 years in Nestlé during which she held various positions including MD, Head of Regional R&D in Singapore, Global R&D Manager for Infant & Maternal Nutrition and Corporate Technology Platform Lead in Switzerland. Her technical experience includes product and process development, consumer & sensory science and biotransformation, in the industry setup.
She has recently been appointed as a member of the board of directors of the newly formed company, DSM-Firmenich.
A Food scientist by training, Sze is passionate about translating science into business innovation and an advocate of collaborative partnership within the ecosystem. Currently an Adjunct Professor of Singapore Institute of Technology, Sze sits in several private-public advisory committees such as VisVires New Protein Venture Capital, Singapore Manufacturing, Trade and Connectivity and the Singapore Food Story. She is also chair of the scientific advisory committee of SIFBI, A*STAR.
Sze holds a PhD from the University of Leeds (UK) and an MBA from the Simon Business School, University of Rochester (USA).
SZE TAN
Independent Industry Advisor
VINEET RAI
Vineet believes in building impact ecosystems to deliver real Impact as enshrined in the vision of Aavishkaar Group “We exist to bridge the Opportunity gap for the Emerging 3 Billion”. Vineet believes that Impact Investing has the potential to change the world of finance irreversibly.
Vineet has received numerous awards and in 2022, he was been appointed on the G20 Start up 20 Engagement Group Task Force on Sustainability and Securities and the Exchange Board of India has appointed him on the Advisory Committee of the Social Stock Exchange.
VINEET RAI
Founder & Chairman
Aavishkaar Group
VERONIQUE CREMADES-MATHIS
Her previous role at SATS Ltd. was Head of Strategic Transformation where she was in charge to operationalize and drive the execution of the strategy in line with the company purpose: Feed & Connect Communities. Committed to Sustainability she is also an independent Board Director at Terracycle Inc and Member of the Responsibility Advisory Group SIG Combibloc Group AG.
Prior to her current role at SATS she was Global Head of Sustainable Packaging at Nestlé, leading the packaging transformation to ensure that 100% of product packaging is either recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025. Véronique has over 30 years’ experience in the global Food and Beverages industry, and her diverse career roles have taken her across the globe in Europe and Asia-Oceania-Africa, with regional responsibilities in Singapore, Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and New Zealand.
VERONIQUE CREMADES-MATHIS
Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer
SATS Ltd
AMOS PALFREYMAN
Amos is also a board member of the food rescue charity Just Zilch and an advisor on several biotechnology projects.
AMOS PALFREYMAN
Co-founder & CEO
Miruku
JUNE CHA
June holds a BSc and MSc in Industrial Engineering from POSTECH, and a MA in Marketing.
JUNE CHA
Partner
ENVISIONING PARTNERS
JACOB ROBBINS
Previously, Jacob spent 20 years in various roles with The Coca-Cola Company in multi-geographic and global executive positions. Starting his career in one of India foremost business conglomerates, the Tata Group, Jacob was part of TAS, the Group’s flagship leadership programme. Jacob has a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics as well as a degree in Management, complemented by programmes at Wharton and the Harvard Business School.
JACOB ROBBINS
CEO
Emeterra
JOHANSON SHEN
With extensive experience in venture capital, Mr. Shen has a strong background in technology investment and innovation. Mr. Shen is responsible for overseeing the company's agri-food innovation integration, new product development, and category management. He also plays a key role in building and scaling the company's international expansion, as well as fostering external collaboration.
JOHANSON SHEN
Vice President
Dingdong Fresh
TRISTAN LU
TRISTAN LU
Director of Portfolio Management
ID Capital China
DAVID ETTINGER
David is the Chair of Mackrell International, a global legal network of over 90 international independent law firms. Mackrell International’s member base spans more than 60 countries. In addition, David is past Chair and current Vice Chair of the American Chamber of Commerce Shanghai’s (AmCham Shanghai) Food, Agriculture & Beverage Committee and serves as a moderator and presenter for many of its seminars and conferences.
DAVID ETTINGER
Partner
Keller and Heckman LLP
NICHOLAS GANDOLFO
The bulk of Nicholas’s career to date has been spent at HSBC Group in Commercial/Corporate Banking undertaking Global Relationship Management and Team management roles as well as being involved in projects, initiatives in relation to corporate governance and strategic projects for Asia Pacific at HSBC. Nicholas also has deep experience in; Credit Risk Management, Risk Management, Governance, Business & Market Development and managing Regulatory related projects/initiatives.
Nicholas’s most recent job before joining Sustainalytics was managing BlueOrchard’s (Global Impact Investors) Asia Pacific Business (Regional Manager) which manages the largest microfinance/impact fund in the world and is active in many emerging markets providing funding to support financial inclusion.
Nicholas holds a Double Degree: Bachelor of Arts (Indonesian) and Bachelor of Commerce (Economics), after which further study was undertaken to obtain a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment (Securities Institute of Australia).
NICHOLAS GANDOLFO
Vice President, Sustainable Corporate Solutions
Sustainalytics
BEVERLEY POSTMA
BEVERLEY POSTMA
Executive Director
Grow Asia
DR. EE LUI ANG
He then joined Codexis Laboratories Singapore, where he held positions of Molecular and Cellular Biology Team Leader, and Project Manager for the BioIndustrial project. In 2012, he joined the Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences, A*STAR, leading the Metabolic Engineering Research Lab, and subsequently the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation, A*STAR, as group leader of Strain Engineering. His research interest is in developing synthetic biology tools to engineer biological systems for advanced biomanufacturing.
DR. EE LUI ANG
Group Leader
Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation
ERIKA S. GEORGET
Next to this, Erika looks back on 7 years with the Bühler Group, first in the UK and then in Switzerland where she held different roles, the latest as Head of Bioprocessing for the Bühler Group. In this role, Erika shaped Bühler’s Future of Food program and oversaw the group activities in the bioprocessing space. With her team, she led a range of activities, covering strategy as well as new technology developments with Bühler’s business teams and external partners.
Erika holds a PhD in Food Process Engineering from the Leibniz Universität Hannover in Germany and graduated in Food Science & Technology from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Agronomie et des Industries Alimentaires in Nancy, France.
ERIKA S. GEORGET
Managing Director
ERIDIA GmbH
RON PAL
Innoterra’s Platform encompasses two marketplaces: 1) the retailer marketplace that connects 12,544 retailer stores to the produce of small-holder farmer households and 2) the farmer marketplace that connects 331,292 smallholder farmer households to inputs, affordable finance, insurances, and digital learning tools for farming.
Ron is a first-generation entrepreneur/incubator, building as co-founder and CEO at Access Arena the first large-scale multi-application RFID chip-based access control system in Switzerland. Prior to that setup, a change management company focused on corporate cultural integration. Ron is Swiss-Indian by origin. He studied hotel management in Switzerland and business administration in the US.
RON PAL
Founder & Chairman
Innoterra AG
KRISHNA MOHAN SURI
Krishna has diverse experience across Innovations, R&D, and Manufacturing, and across countries in Asia Pacific.
In his current role, he sets the R&D Strategy and builds capabilities to delight the consumers – and deliver the business plans. Over the last few years, he led the transformation of the product portfolio to an improved wellness profile.
KRISHNA MOHAN SURI
CRDO
Universal Robina Corp
XL LIN
Esco Aster is the globally the first in class in as a certified manufacturing platform for commercial sales of cultivated meat thereby making it the leading partner of choice for synthetic biology, fronter and merging biology modalities for future bioindustries that will impact climate change and sustainability. XL Lin, graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences from the University of Sydney, joining the family business upon graduating. He started the Esco Group of Companies' Healthcare business unit from beginning to end as a Discovery to Delivery platform.In 2018, Esco Aster was spun off from Esco Lifesciences Group into an independent contract development and manufacturing organization Esco Aster Pte Ltd. Its vision: to be the partner of choice for new modalities that will create significate impact.
XL LIN
Founder, President & CEO
Esco Aster
KELVIN CHIU
Silverstrand’s impact strategy prioritises systems-levels solutions that accelerate the widescale conservation and restoration of natural ecosystems.
Kelvin is also the Founder of Silverstrand Philanthropies, the non-profit arm of the family office which supports nature-related research and capacity-building projects. With the aim of creating more investible solutions to the biodiversity crisis, Silverstrand brought together partners from the investment, business, NGO, and government sectors to launch the Biodiversity Accelerator+ in 2022, Asia’s first accelerator programme designed to support biodiversity-enhancing early-stage companies.
Kelvin is a strong believer in the importance of open dialogue and engagement. He is a frequent speaker on the topics of impact investing and biodiversity and holds various advisory board and IC roles. In his free time, Kelvin is an avid diver, hiker, skier, and safari goer, activities that fuelled his passion for protecting the natural world.
KELVIN CHIU
Principal
Silverstrand Capital
MARTIAL BECK
He recently joined Monde Nissin Corp., a leading FMCG group known for its “Lucky Me” instant noodles and “Skyflakes” crackers, as well as its “Quorn” (UK) meat substitute products, as its CGO. He managed a coconut-water manufacturing company, exporting to various Western markets.
From 2012 to 2015, he managed the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines. Martial was previously the CEO of Novergy Inc., a renewable energy company, as well as the Vice-President in Asia for Rademaker BV, a Dutch manufacturer of food-processing equipment. He is a graduate of International Trade from the University of Metz, France.
MARTIAL BECK
Chief Growth Officer
Monde Nissin
AYAKA FUJIWARA
Prior to joining GCF, she spent most of her career as an Associate Director in Daiwa Capital Markets' Tokyo headquarters and London office, where she provided fixed income investment strategy and managed transactions with institutional investors. Ayaka also worked as a corporate governance researcher in an M&A consulting firm in Myanmar.
Ayaka holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Keio University in Japan, an M.Sc. in Finance from London Business School in the UK, and is a Ph.D. candidate in Green Finance at Inha University in the Republic of Korea.
AYAKA FUJIWARA
Climate Investment Specialist
Green Climate Fund
MICHELE STANSFIELD
MICHELE STANSFIELD
Co-founder & CEO
Cauldron
JONATHAN PAUL
extensive capabilities in remote peat depth and AGB measurement.
Jonathan was a banker for 25 years and in 2007 founded his own hedge fund to invest in events related to climate change. He is married with 2 grown up children living overseas.
JONATHAN PAUL
Co-founder & CEO
Adatos
DR COLIN D'SILVA
Prior to joining Cargill, Colin was Head of Corporate Affairs Asia Pacific at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Consumer Healthcare. In this role, he was responsible for building trust, belief and advocacy amongst internal and external stakeholders. Before joining GSK, he was with Skin Inc. as Global Director, Scientific Affairs and Brand Communications where he was responsible for ensuring that Innovation and Communication became key drivers of business growth globally. Prior to Skin Inc., Colin led Regulatory Affairs and Scientific Communications at Procter & Gamble (P&G) and later became the Head of External Relations - Beauty and Grooming where he had responsibility for the Retail Beauty and Prestige Beauty Sectors in Asia Pacific and the SK-II brand, globally. Colin was an integral part of the team responsible for making SK-II P&G Asia’s first billion-dollar brand.
Colin began his career in Canada as a Research Scientist with Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and later with the National Institute of Animal Industry, Japan.
DR. COLIN D’SILVA
Vice President, Government Relations APAC
Cargill
YANA KACHURINA
Yana has been with the company for 7 years and is in charge of the consumer and retail vertical in Asia, specifically in India and SEA. Food – the whole value chain, from agritech to brands - is a big sub-segment within consumer. She is constantly looking for companies in the food industry that are aligned with our ESG investment mandate.
YANA KACHURINA
Principal
Sofina
SANCHAYAN CHAKRABORTY
Aavishkaar Capital is a pioneering impact investor, managing over US$ 500 million of assets across funds investing in Asia and Africa. Sanchayan has over two decades of experience in investment banking and fund management across Asia and the Middle East.
Prior to joining Aavishkaar in 2013, Sanchayan was Managing Director for Leveraged and Acquisition Finance at Standard Chartered Bank (India). He has previously been part of Mergers & Acquisitions, Project Finance and Structured Finance franchises at Bank of America, ING Barings and ING Vysya Bank. Sanchayan is a post-graduate in Management from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (India) and a graduate in Electronics Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (India).
SANCHAYAN CHAKRABORTY
Partner
Aavishkaar Capital
DR IAN ROBERTS
Ian Roberts has served as CTO (Chief Technical Officer) of Bühler since 2011. During that period, the company has undergone a digital transformation, developed a collaborative innovation culture, building and engaging with broad ecosystems and continued to strengthen an innovation leadership position.
A strong advocate for entrepreneurship and sustainability, he is a co-founder and president of the start-up accelerator MassChallenge Switzerland, a board member of RESTOR, a global ecology and land restoration platform and an Ambassador for the education program Aiducation.
He has more than 25 years’ experience in the food industry, having previously worked in a range of innovation and business development roles for Nestlé. Ian Roberts was born in 1970 and is British.
DR. IAN ROBERTS
Chief Technology Officer
Bühler Group
SUTHIRA TAYCHAKHOONAVUDH
Suthira is also an assistant professor at the social and administrative pharmacy department at Faculty of Pharmaceutical Science, Chulalongkorn University with her research focus on health economics, health policy, access to medicine and health technology assessment.
Her almost decade-long experience on pharmaceutical pricing and patient access has motivated her to co-founded Baiya Phytopharm with an aim to increase access to affordable medicines for patients in Thailand as well as the SEA region. In 2022, Suthira mentors the founding of BGF Plantrix, a spin off company from Baiya Phytopharm aiming to develop the BGF platform by using plants as the manufacturer to produce growth factors for various markets, including cultivated meat and cosmetics raw materials.
SUTHIRA TAYCHAKHOONAVUDH
Chairperson
BGF Plantrix
DALAL ALGHAWAS
DALAL ALGHAWAS
Founder
SWAPAC
ZAIN HAK
Zain brings with him 28 years of deep professional and leadership experience across Refining, Marketing, Trading & Supply and has lived in Pakistan, Singapore, Vietnam, UK, Switzerland and the US. Prior to his current role, Zain was General Manager Asia for Shell Fleet Solutions where he grew the business to establish Shell as a leader in fleet, mobility and energy solutions across Asia.
Zain has senior governance and board experience in JVs and PLCs in USA, Switzerland, Oman as well as leadership roles in industry forums namely Chairman Marketing Committee American Petroleum Institute, VP US Association for Energy Economics, Advisor Vietnam Government.
He holds an MBA from the University of Cambridge, UK, a BA in Economics from Coe College, USA and completed his schooling at the Karachi Grammar School, Pakistan
ZAIN HAK
Global Vice President
Shell Eastern Petroleum
BURJIS GODREJ
In his current role, he is responsible for agrichemical strategy where he evaluates business models, product selection, synergies, technologies, geographies, consultant engagements and capex plans for Astec Lifesciences and Agrovet crop protection businesses.
BURJIS GODREJ
Executive Director
Godrej Agrovet
SAURABH BAJAJ
He brings over 14 years of experience in food systems and agriculture investing & operating roles, having joined LeapFrog from Proterra Partners (fka Black River Asset management, a spin-out from Cargill), a food and agriculture focused private equity firm, where he led deal origination in India and South East Asia. As a part of his fund’s portfolio companies, he held board-linked roles at Country Bird Holdings (Johannesburg), Gemini Edibles (Hyderabad), Eat Just Asia (Singapore), and Aperion Bioenergy (Singapore). He was the CEO of Eat Just Asia (the Asian business of the Californian foodtech unicorn, Eat Just Inc).
Previously, Saurabh has worked at Louis Dreyfus, Olam, and Essar Investments out of their offices in Dubai, Singapore, India, and the UK.
SAURABH BAJAJ
Director
LeapFrog Investments
NIMESH KEDIA
He has been instrumental in the successful implementation of the first of its kind precision fermentation pilot scale facility in Singapore and is currently supporting implementation of another lab scale facility.
Nimesh continues to wear multiple hats at the same time depending on the situation, switching from being a Project Director to Business Leader and occasionally Process SMEs. He has supported various clients in this industry, including ADM, Eat Just, Syngenta, OLAM and Kalsec. Nimesh is a North Maharashtra University graduate with a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering. Nimesh speaks multiple languages as English, Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi and Bahasa.
NIMESH KEDIA
Country Director
Haskell
DR. RALPH GRAICHEN
Operating Partner
Temasek
YOONMIN CHO
YOONMIN CHO
Partner
Sopoong Ventures
SAKET JHAJHARIA
Along with his early curiosity in investing in public markets and writing for The Motley Fool, Saket was part of a venture capital team at a family office for the past two years, where he invested in the life science vertical. Saket's interest lies in agrifoodtech, sustainability, and creating a healthy ecosystem for future generations.
SAKET JHAJHARIA
Vice President
ID Capital
SILKY RAHEJA
In her professional journey of over 13 years, Silky has worked in developmental impact space for over 7 years. Prior to joining ABC Impact, she was Head of Impact Investing at National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), a public-private partnership promoting India’s skilling mandate. In her role at NSDC, Silky led sizeable debt-based impact investment mandates involving the Government (Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, India), International Donor organizations (World Bank), Public/Private companies, and NGO’s.
Silky started her career as a business analyst with CRISIL, a Standard & Poor company, where she was leading assignments pertaining to strategy formation, competitive intelligence, and industry analysis.
Silky holds a Master’s in Business Administration from the Icfai Business School, India and a Bachelor in Science from Delhi University (India). Silky has also pursued courses on Impact Management and Measurement from the Duke University and Building Sustainable Business Strategy from the Harvard Business School.
SILKY RAHEJA
Impact Director
ABC Impact
MICHAEL PARELES
Prior to coming to Bayer, Mike was a Fulbright Scholar in China working with nomadic herding communities and spent five years representing the American beef and pork industries in Washington DC and Beijing with the United Food and Commercial Workers and US Meat Export Federation. He received his BA from the University of Chicago and MBA/MA from the Wharton School of Business and the Lauder Institute at the University of Pennsylvania. Mike speaks Mandarin Chinese.
MICHAEL PARELES
Strategic Innovation Lead, Asia Pacific
Bayer Crop Science
XI REN
Before joining BGI Bioverse, he served as International Director at Country Garden Group, a fortune 500 company listed on the HK Exchange; an Investment Manager at Droia Venture, and Project Manager at GlaxoSmithKline based in Belgium. Dr. Xi Ren completed his Ph.D. from University of Brussels, and MBA from Solvay Business School.
XI REN
VP International, Investment & Financing
BGI Bioverse
Future Food Asia 2023 Agenda
MAY 16 | TUESDAY
MORNING SESSION
AFTERNOON SESSION
MAY 17 | WEDNESDAY
MORNING SESSION
AFTERNOON SESSION