Future Food Asia

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

Several years Strategy experience across a variety of roles, both in industry and academia.
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Isabelle Decitre

Founder
ID Capital
Dr. Yuchu Zhang

Dr. Yuchu Zhang

Dr Yuchu Zhang is currently Cargill’s regional R&D leader in Asia. She oversees Cargill’s R&D in the Food Ingredients business group in APAC and Cargill Protein in Asia and Europe.

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 Kleemans

Francesca Kleemans is Managing Director, Food Ingredients, Southeast Asia. She oversees the company’s business across the region, with a footprint of 17 locations in 6 countries, and an extensive portfolio of capabilities: from texturizers and fats, to plant-based proteins and low-calorie sugars, to cocoa and chocolates.

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.

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Francesca Kleemans

Managing Director, Cargill Food Ingredients, Southeast Asia
Cargill 
Dr. Min Hao Wong

Dr. Min Hao Wong

Min Hao Wong is the Director (incoming), Food & Nutrition at the Agency of Science and Technology, Singapore. He was previously Group Leader, at the Singapore Institute of Food and Biotech Innovation, where he helped secure several large grants and projects for the institute (over $20M). He also serves as a technical advisor to several private funds and family offices in the space of food and agritech. Prior to his appointment at A*STAR, Min Hao was at the Boston Consulting Group (BOS office), where he was a project leader. Min Hao holds an MBA, MSc and PhD (chemical engineering) from MIT; for his PhD work, he received awards such as the Forbes 30u30 and the MIT Tech Review Innovators under 35.
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Dr. Min Hao Wong

Director, Food & Nutrition
A*STAR, Singapore

Future Food Asia 2023 Speakers & Contributors

DR JJ (JOHN JIANG)

DR JJ (JOHN JIANG)

Dr JJ (John Jiang) is currently Chief Technology Officer of CP Group, overseeing group level technology strategies, global R&D works, innovation centers of excellence, and technology leadership across the different verticals of the group in the areas of food tech, clean tech, nanotech, digital tech, biotech health tech and communication tech.

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.

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DR. JJ (JOHN JIANG)

CTO
CP Group

JUNG-WON YOON

JUNG-WON YOON

Dr Yoon is the Chief Technology officer at AP Technologies, a biotechnology company working on microbial engineering technology to produce various biomaterials.

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.

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JONG-WON YOON

CTO & Vice President
Advanced Protein Technologies Corporation

JULIE GREENE

JULIE GREENE

Julie Greene is Chief Sustainability Officer of Olam Agri. She works to catalyze climate-positive, nature-positive and livelihoods-positive impacts across agri-commodity supply chains including rice, cotton, grains, and palm.

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.

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JULIE GREENE

Chief Sustainability Officer
Olam Agri

STEPHANE CORGIE

STEPHANE CORGIE

Dr. Stéphane Corgié is the Founder and CEO of Zymtronix (Ithaca, NY & Raleigh, NC, USA), a leader in cell-free biomanufacturing with an advanced proprietary platform technology that recreates and scale pathways of enzymes outside of the cells for Industrial, Food and Ag applications.
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.
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STEPHANE CORGIE

Founder – CEO
Zymtronix

RICHARD WALTON

RICHARD WALTON

Richard Walton has extensive experience in R&D and IP related to dairy, functional foods and beverages, probiotics, medical foods and pharmaceuticals.

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.
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RICHARD WALTON

Senior Advisor
Meiji Co., Ltd

KOBBOON SRICHAI

KOBBOON SRICHAI

Mrs. Srichai has served as Executive Director, Company Secretary, Head of Corporate Affairs, and Investor Relations at Charoen Pokphand Foods Public Company Limited (“CPF”).

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.

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KOBBOON SRICHAI

Head of Corporate Affairs & Investor Relations
Charoen Pokphand Foods PCL (CPF)

AVI FINTZ

AVI FINTZ

Avi Fintz has been the Managing Director and CEO of the Interflour Group since March 2018. Prior to assuming the role of Chief Executive, Avi Fintz served as Group Chief Strategy Officer for 5 years.

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.

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AVI FINTZ

CEO
Interflour Group

SHAMAL MOHAMMED

SHAMAL MOHAMMED

Dr Shamal Mohammed is a leading digital agriculture expert with over a decade of experience in AgriTech solutions, holding a PhD in remote sensing applications in agriculture. Shamal has a strong track record in leading innovation and AgriTech programs. He has experience in bringing multi-disciplinary teams to develop integrated solutions to support food security agenda.

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.

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SHAMAL MOHAMMED

AgriTech Director
Silal

STEFANIE BEITIEN

STEFANIE BEITIEN

Stefanie is an accomplished strategic leader with over 20 years of experience in sustainability, management and marketing. She is the Director of NorthSky Advisory, a sustainability consulting firm committed to help reverse the impacts of climate change and the degradation of our natural environment.

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.

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STEFANIE BEITIEN

Director
NorthSky Advisory

TIM HILL

TIM HILL

In his work with GlobalData, Tim provides economic forecasts, consumer insights, brand share, channel assessments and business trends to food and beverage companies looking to expand their business footprint in the Asia Pacific region.

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.

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TIM HILL

Key Accounts Director, SE Asia
GlobalData PLC

JACK ELLIS

JACK ELLIS

Jack is a Senior Associate at Cleantech Group, a global research and consulting firm that catalyzes opportunities for sustainable growth powered by innovation.

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.

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JACK ELLIS

Head of Agriculture & Food
Cleantech Group

CHRIS ARGENT

CHRIS ARGENT

Chris began his career in Federal and State politics in Australia, working for various elected representatives, including the Premier of South Australia. Subsequently, he worked extensively in the private sector in external affairs, communications and sustainability, most recently with PepsiCo in Asia Pacific. Chris joined Syngenta as Head of Business Sustainability for Asia Pacific in May 2020.

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.

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CHRIS ARGENT

Head of Business Sustainability, APAC
Syngenta

CRYSTAL KIM

CRYSTAL KIM

N.THING is leading innovation in agriculture by applying IoT-based automated systems–from the agricultural cultivation diary app 'Life' to the smart garden sensor 'Planto' and the world's first modular container vertical farm 'CUBE.' N.THING operates multiple farm sites in Korea and overseas, including those in Incheon, Yongin, Andong, Korea, and Abu Dhabi, UAE.

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

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CRYSTAL KIM

IR Associate
N.THING Inc

RINCHEN CHOEGYAL

RINCHEN CHOEGYAL

Rinchen Choegyal is a Senior Analyst at Robeco in the Sustainable Investment Research team. He produces sustainability related value-driver analyses on global tech companies for equity and credit strategies. He also performs SDG impact assessments and collaborates in developing the firm’s climate and biodiversity investment frameworks.
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.

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RINCHEN CHOEGYAL

Senior Analyst (Tech), Sustainable Investment Research
Robeco

PROF PAUL WOOD AO

PROF PAUL WOOD AO

Professor Paul Wood AO has led R&D teams from CSIRO, CSL and Pfizer Animal Health (now Zoetis) and was Deputy-Director of the Vaccine Technology CRC. He brought several innovative products to the market, receiving recognition for his work to invent a new diagnostic test for Tuberculosis, including the CSIRO Medal, the Clunies Ross award and made an Officer in the Order of Australia.

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.

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PROF. PAUL WOOD AO

Adjunct Professor
Monash University

KATE BLASZAK

KATE BLASZAK

At Asia Research & Engagement (ARE), Kate leads the Protein Transition programme. Together with collaborating institutional investors, they recently launched the Asia Protein Transition Platform which aims to contribute to food security by strengthening protein sustainability.

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.

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KATE BLASZAK

Director Protein Transition
Asia Research and Engagement

RAJESH KRISHNAMURTHY

RAJESH KRISHNAMURTHY

Rajesh Krishnamurthy has more than twenty eight years of experience in technology and business across multiple domains, including Biotechnology, Bio-manufacturing, IT and Marketing services, both in US and in India. He is passionate about leveraging biotechnology to bring sustainable solutions to the market.

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.

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RAJESH KRISHNAMURTHY

CEO
Laurus Bio

LISSY SMIT

LISSY SMIT

Lissy is CEO of Aqua-Spark, an impact fund investing in innovative, novel solutions to some of aquaculture’s biggest challenges. Aqua-Spark focuses on investing in solutions across the whole supply chain creating sustainable production by using novel feed ingredients which can replace fishmeal, promoting fish health, finding alternatives for antibiotics, supporting companies and technologies that can improve farm practices, from feeders reducing feed waste to systems collecting data to optimize production, companies creating marketplaces and platforms increasing transparency in the supply chain.

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.

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LISSY SMIT

CEO
Aqua-Spark

SZE TAN

SZE TAN

Sze Tan is an independent industry advisor based in Singapore.

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).

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SZE TAN

Independent Industry Advisor

 

VINEET RAI

VINEET RAI

Vineet Rai is the Founder of Aavishkaar Group and chairs its Board and Group Executive Council. Aavishkaar Group is an Impact Investment Platform impacting millions of people in Asia and Africa using an entrepreneurship based development approach.

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.

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VINEET RAI

Founder & Chairman
Aavishkaar Group

VERONIQUE CREMADES-MATHIS

VERONIQUE CREMADES-MATHIS

In Véronique’s current role, she leads the strategic development of the company in Food, Airport and Cargo services, inclusive of Commercial, Brands, Innovation and Ventures.

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.

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VERONIQUE CREMADES-MATHIS

Chief Strategy & Commercial Officer
SATS Ltd

AMOS PALFREYMAN

AMOS PALFREYMAN

Amos is the CEO and Co-founder of the New Zealand ag-biotech company Miruku. With a background in food innovation and business development he is passionate about the potential of biotechnology to enable sustainable and climate resilient food systems.

Amos is also a board member of the food rescue charity Just Zilch and an advisor on several biotechnology projects.

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AMOS PALFREYMAN

Co-founder & CEO
Miruku

JUNE CHA

JUNE CHA

June has many years of Corporate Venture Investment experience, having previously worked at LINE Plus Corporation as the General Manager of Corporate Development & Venture Investment.

June holds a BSc and MSc in Industrial Engineering from POSTECH, and a MA in Marketing.

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JUNE CHA

Partner
ENVISIONING PARTNERS

JACOB ROBBINS

JACOB ROBBINS

Jacob Robbins is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Emeterra, a Singapore-headquartered enterprise focussed on the food and agri sectors. With its strong emphasis on foodtech and agtech, Emeterra partners with promising companies and globally acclaimed research institutions on disruptive technologies. Its collaborations for novel ingredients address key gaps in the consumer landscape. Emeterra produces a wide range of value-added food ingredients – including sugars and sweeteners – for regional and multinational customers. Jacob is a Senior Advisor to Olympus Capital Asia, an independent private equity firm that has been successfully investing across Asia for over 25 years and is a member of the board of Nasdaq-listed OCA Acquisition Corp. He also sits on the boards of companies using foodtech to change the food and beverage landscape, such Eat Just, Inc and Ripple Foods and is on the Advisory Board of DouxMatok.

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.

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JACOB ROBBINS

CEO
Emeterra

JOHANSON SHEN

JOHANSON SHEN

Mr. Shen is currently the Vice President of Dingdong Fresh, a leading online grocery delivery platform in China.

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.

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JOHANSON SHEN

Vice President
Dingdong Fresh

 

TRISTAN LU

TRISTAN LU

Tristan Lu has cross-border experience in multiple industries in China and the U.S. As a US & China licensed lawyer he has experience in M&A and IPO, as well as portfolio management and operations director for a cross-border incubator/accelerator. In the last 3 years, he has devoted himself to the transformation of the agri-food industry through innovation. Tristan Lu is portfolio management director at ID Capital China.

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TRISTAN LU

Director of Portfolio Management
ID Capital China

DAVID ETTINGER

DAVID ETTINGER

Mr. David Ettinger is the chief representative in Keller and Heckman’s Shanghai, China office and previously worked in the firm’s Washington, DC and Brussels offices. David counsels multinational companies on food (with a unique emphasis on alternative proteins including plant- and cell-based foods) and food packaging, as well as consumer and tobacco and tobacco-related products. He counsels companies in China and throughout Asia on matters ranging from ingredient and labeling, to product seizure and detention, to food and consumer product recalls and consumer complaints.

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.

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DAVID ETTINGER

Partner
Keller and Heckman LLP

NICHOLAS GANDOLFO

NICHOLAS GANDOLFO

Nicholas has joined the SFS Team as the commercial lead for the APAC Region, based in Singapore. He has approximately 20 years’ experience in the Asia Pacific Region (Australia, Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Cambodia and Singapore). He has worked in the private and semi government sectors in both developed and emerging markets.

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).

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NICHOLAS GANDOLFO

Vice President, Sustainable Corporate Solutions
Sustainalytics

BEVERLEY POSTMA

BEVERLEY POSTMA

Bev is the Executive Director of Grow Asia, a multi-stakeholder platform established by the World Economic Forum and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to broker market-driven solutions for sustainable food systems in Southeast Asia. With 25 years in the global food system, Bev has held C-Suite roles in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas in both corporate and non-profit settings. Her previous roles include CEO of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO); CEO of Harvest Plus; and Executive Director of Food Industry Asia (FIA), which was established in 2010 to tackle the region’s most pressing food challenges. Prior to this, Bev held senior corporate affairs roles for Syngenta and Kellogg’s. She holds a BSc in Marine Biology and serves as on the advisory boards of several venture capital firms and impact funds in the biotech and nutrition space. Bev has led high performing teams across the full breadth of the global food system and is an active champion for diversity and inclusion
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BEVERLEY POSTMA

Executive Director
Grow Asia

DR. EE LUI ANG

DR. EE LUI ANG

Ee Lui received his Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign & National University of Singapore Joint Program.

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.

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DR. EE LUI ANG

Group Leader
Singapore Institute of Food and Biotechnology Innovation

ERIKA S. GEORGET

ERIKA S. GEORGET

Erika is Managing Director at ERIDIA GmbH, a Joint Venture of the Bühler and the ZETA group, since June 2022.

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.

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ERIKA S. GEORGET

Managing Director
ERIDIA GmbH

RON PAL

RON PAL

Ron Pal is the Founder and Chairman of Innoterra AG, a Swiss food and technology platform company that digitally connects the farming community to retail markets.

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.

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RON PAL

Founder & Chairman
Innoterra AG

KRISHNA MOHAN SURI

KRISHNA MOHAN SURI

Krishna Mohan Suri is the Chief R&D Officer at Universal Robina Corp – a branded consumer foods & beverage product company, with a footprint across ASEAN.

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.

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KRISHNA MOHAN SURI

CRDO
Universal Robina Corp

XL LIN

XL LIN

XL Lin is the Founder, President & CEO of Esco Aster as well as Executive Director Deputy CEO of Esco Lifesciences Group.
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.
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XL LIN

Founder, President & CEO
Esco Aster

KELVIN CHIU

KELVIN CHIU

Kelvin is the Founder and Principal of Silverstrand Capital, a Singapore-based single-family office with an impact investment mandate focused on enhancing biodiversity globally. His career background is in proprietary agricultural commodities and carbon trading with returns from this supporting Silverstrand’s impact mission, helping to scale a movement which is core to many of his values.

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.

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KELVIN CHIU

Principal
Silverstrand Capital

MARTIAL BECK

MARTIAL BECK

Martial Beck, a French national, has held various management positions in different Philippine-based companies for the past 24 years.

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.

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MARTIAL BECK

Chief Growth Officer
Monde Nissin

AYAKA FUJIWARA

AYAKA FUJIWARA

Ayaka Fujiwara is a Climate Investment Specialist at the Green Climate Fund's (GCF) Private Sector Facility, where she has been responsible for the origination and appraisal of private sector climate projects and programs since 2018. With 13 years of experience in corporate, fixed income, and equity investments, Ayaka brings a wealth of expertise to her role.

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.

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AYAKA FUJIWARA

Climate Investment Specialist
Green Climate Fund

MICHELE STANSFIELD

MICHELE STANSFIELD

Michele is the CEO of Cauldron, Asia-Pacific’s first manufacturing launchpad to enable precision fermentation at global scale. Launched in 2022 and headquartered in Orange, Australia, Cauldron is developing a global network of fermaculture facilities and expertise, to help develop, prove and commercially scale new products and ingredients. As the world grapples with a growing population and climate change the need for planet-friendly food, fuel and fibre will be crucial. Precision fermentation holds the key to planet-friendly alternatives.
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MICHELE STANSFIELD

Co-founder & CEO
Cauldron

JONATHAN PAUL

JONATHAN PAUL

Jonathan is CEO and co-founder of Adatos. a Singapore based remote sensing company that uses advanced AI to analyse large amounts of satellite data for carbon projects and agriculture. Adatos has recently completed a pre-feasibility study on a 300,000 ha mangrove project and is currently providing analysis for inclusion in the PDD. The company also has
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.

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JONATHAN PAUL

Co-founder & CEO
Adatos

DR COLIN D'SILVA

DR COLIN D'SILVA

Colin has more than 20 years of experience in corporate affairs, public relations, issues management, sustainability and brand management at regional and global levels. He is the Vice President of Government Relations Asia Pacific for Cargill, based in Singapore. In this role, Colin leads government relations and various aspects of corporate affairs and sustainability including engagements with stakeholders across the region on issues of importance to Cargill’s businesses, customers and other stakeholders.

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.

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DR. COLIN D’SILVA

Vice President, Government Relations APAC
Cargill

YANA KACHURINA

YANA KACHURINA

Yana is a principal at Sofina, a family-controlled investment company headquartered in Belgium but with offices in Singapore and Luxembourg. Sofina manages c. 10bn USD across funds and direct investments and are seeking to invest in companies that are positive SDG contributors.

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.

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YANA KACHURINA

Principal
Sofina

SANCHAYAN CHAKRABORTY

SANCHAYAN CHAKRABORTY

Sanchayan Chakraborty is a Partner at Aavishkaar Capital. He manages Aavishkaar’s South and South-east Asia focused impact fund, and leads Aavishkaar’s climate investment initiatives, including a specific focus on nature-based solutions and carbon credits.

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).

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SANCHAYAN CHAKRABORTY

Partner
Aavishkaar Capital

DR IAN ROBERTS

DR IAN ROBERTS

Dr. Ian Roberts has a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wales and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers.

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.

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DR. IAN ROBERTS

Chief Technology Officer
Bühler Group

SUTHIRA TAYCHAKHOONAVUDH

SUTHIRA TAYCHAKHOONAVUDH

Suthira Taychakhoonavudh (BSc, MSc, PhD) is a CEO and Co-founder of Baiya Phytopharm, a biotech spin-off company from faculty of pharmaceutical sciences, Chulalongkorn university, Thailand.

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.

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SUTHIRA TAYCHAKHOONAVUDH

Chairperson
BGF Plantrix

DALAL ALGHAWAS

DALAL ALGHAWAS

Dr. Dalal AlGhawas is the Founder & CEO of SWAPAC T&C, an agrifood Consultancy and Trading Company focused on food security in the GCC and Asia Pacific. She is also an angel investor, investing in future food technologies. Combining research, commercialization, capital and partnership to support high growth startups. Technically specialized in food safety, biotechnology, diagnostics, clinical research and public health. She established the first food technology accelerator in Hong Kong and the world’s first Alternative Protein accelerator and has worked with over 100 global technology startups. Dalal is focussed on plant-based protein alternatives, cellular-agriculture, sustainability, smart kitchen equipment, med-tech and software. She is an international thought leader in the food technology space. She holds a PhD in Food Science and Food Biotechnology from the University of Hong Kong with publications in top tier peer reviewed journals, startup manuals and industry reports.
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DALAL ALGHAWAS

Founder
SWAPAC

ZAIN HAK

ZAIN HAK

Zain Hak is based in Singapore and is the Global Vice President for Shell Agriculture & Forestry - a key sector in the Shell Downstream strategy. In addition, Zain serves as Chairman on the board of Shell Pakistan Limited.

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

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ZAIN HAK

Global Vice President
Shell Eastern Petroleum

BURJIS GODREJ

BURJIS GODREJ

Burjis N. Godrej, after completing his Master’s Degree from Stanford University and MBA from Harvard Business School, has joined Godrej Agrovet Ltd., Mumbai as Head-Special Projects.

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.

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BURJIS GODREJ

Executive Director
Godrej Agrovet

SAURABH BAJAJ

SAURABH BAJAJ

Saurabh Bajaj is Director of Investments and leads LeapFrog’s Climate Investment Strategy in South-East Asia, as well as provides expertise globally on food-related investments.

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.

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SAURABH BAJAJ

Director
LeapFrog Investments

NIMESH KEDIA

NIMESH KEDIA

Nimesh Kedia is a senior leader within Haskell having two decades of experience delivering projects in all consumer goods segments. His knowledge of project management principles combined with his chemical engineering acumen serves as the best fit with alternative protein industry clients.

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.

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NIMESH KEDIA

Country Director
Haskell

DR. RALPH GRAICHEN

Operating Partner
Temasek

YOONMIN CHO

YOONMIN CHO

Yoonmin is a partner at Sopoong Ventures, leading global investment. She is actively investing in climate tech, food & agriculture, and tech startups in Southeast Asia, especially Singapore and Vietnam.
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YOONMIN CHO

Partner
Sopoong Ventures

SAKET JHAJHARIA

SAKET JHAJHARIA

Saket has over eight years of research and investment experience and holds a Ph.D. in Immunology & Microbiology. He has worked on projects related to infectious diseases, cancer, ophthalmology, and autoimmune diseases. He also holds a patent for a Hepatitis B antibody drug.

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.

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SAKET JHAJHARIA

Vice President
ID Capital

SILKY RAHEJA

SILKY RAHEJA

Silky is an Impact Director at ABC Impact and is responsible for measuring and managing the impact of ABC’s prospective and existing investments.

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.

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SILKY RAHEJA

Impact Director
ABC Impact

MICHAEL PARELES

MICHAEL PARELES

Mike Pareles leads Open Innovation for Bayer Crop Science in APAC, based out of Singapore, supporting and launching Bayer’s digital ventures for smallholder farmers. Before taking on this role, he founded and led Bayer’s Blockchain Global Center of Excellence as part of its Crop Science Digital Strategy and Innovation team in St. Louis. There he developed the company’s distributed ledger strategy and standards, driving industry-wide ecosystem development as well as the COE’s traceability-focused proofs-of-concept in North and South America.

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.

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MICHAEL PARELES

Strategic Innovation Lead, Asia Pacific
Bayer Crop Science

XI REN

XI REN

Dr. Xi Ren has over 10 years’ experience in Agricultural project investment and financing. Portfolio companies include technologies in Plant Factory with Artificial Lightning, Perennial Corp Development, Desert Transformation, Biofertilizer Manufacturing and Carbon Neutral Technology.

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.

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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

Future Food Asia 2023 Conference Passes

Carlton Hotel, Singapore will play host to this year’s conference happening on 16-17 May. You’re sure to find plenty of purpose-driven organizations to connect and collaborate with and loads of opportunities to build your network.
And that’s not all – at the Cocktail enjoy lots more networking over great food and chilled pints — in true Singapore style!

Get your Conference Pass at USD 675 here