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The Foodtech Frontier Challenge brings together global startups, and solution providers from around the world to collaborate with leading food industry players on real-world innovation challenges.

This challenge provides a platform for innovators to co-develop breakthrough solutions that push the boundaries of taste, texture, nutrition, and sustainability — and to accelerate their pathway to commercial partnerships and market adoption. The challenge statements have been categorised under three broad themes: Ingredients, Processing, and Sustainability.

Across Asia and beyond, the food industry is evolving rapidly. Consumers are seeking healthier, more sustainable choices without compromising on indulgence or sensory experience. From developing cocoa alternatives and heat-resilient chocolate to next-generation fats, oils, and functional ingredients, these challenge statements represent the cutting edge of food innovation.

If you're a foodtech startup or SME looking to transform big ideas into bold solutions, join the Foodtech Frontier Challenge and shape the next frontier of food!


Participating Challenge Statement Owners

CHALLENGE STATEMENTS

Cocoa Alternatives for the Future

IngredientsProcessingSustainability

How might we develop affordable, sustainable, and scalable cocoa alternatives that deliver the flavour, aroma, and sensory experience of chocolate?

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Innovative Fats for Healthier Chocolate Products

EnergyIngredients

How might we develop a fat structuring solution that reduces fat, saturated fat, or total calories in chocolate by at least 30%, while preserving the rich sensory experience of chocolate?

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Heat Resistant Chocolate

IngredientsProcessing

How might we increase the thermal tolerance of chocolate confectionery up to 45°C through natural or near-natural ingredients and/or processing innovations, while preserving the chocolatey taste and melt-in-mouth sensory experience?

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Achieving Crispiness in Microwavable Fried Snacks

IngredientsProcessing

How might we ensure the crispiness of microwavable frozen fried snacks whilst retaining moisture and texture?

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Science-backed Ingredient Innovations for Healthy Ageing

Ingredients

How might we deliver science-backed ingredient innovations for nutrition, food and health applications that support active ageing and slowing the biological ageing process?

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Increasing Heat Tolerance in Chocolates

IngredientsProcessing

How might we increase the thermal stability of chocolates through natural or near-natural ingredient innovations and/or processing interventions, while preserving the melt-in-mouth experience?

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Functional Ingredients for Preventive Health and Active Ageing

Ingredients

How might we deliver science-backed ingredient innovations that can be incorporated into food and beverage formulations to deliver targeted benefits for preventative health and active ageing?

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Next-generation Fat and Oil Solutions for Plant-based Alternatives

Ingredients

How might we develop next-generation fat and oil solutions for plant-based alternatives that deliver superior taste, texture, and functionality – matching or exceeding the performance of animal- and dairy-derived fats?

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Fermentation for Umami and Kokumi Compounds

ProcessingSustainability

How might we explore solid-state fermentation to sustainably produce natural umami and kokumi compounds that deliver impactful flavour aligned with clean-label expectations?

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Next-generation Sustainable Packaging for Frozen Foods

Sustainability

How might we develop sustainable, cost-effective packaging solutions for frozen food products that meet current shelf-life requirements and seamlessly integrate into existing production workflows?

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Valorisation of Industrial Pastry Waste

ProcessingSustainability

How might we transform pastry waste into valuable food, feed, bio-based products or materials?

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Opportunities and Incentives

Successful participants of the Foodtech Frontier Challenge will gain access to a range of exciting opportunities:
  • Paid pilot and trials with corporate partners to test and validate your solution in real-world settings;
  • Co-innovation opportunities with challenge owners, tapping into their expertise, infrastructure, and networks;
  • Mentorship and industry networking to sharpen your value proposition and open doors for collaboration; and
  • Potential grant support to accelerate development and deployment. 

Challenge owners are offering more than S$450,000 worth of paid pilots to support co-innovation with winning solution providers.

Enterprise Singapore is augmenting this support with a S$30,000 Proof of Concept (POC) development grant for eligible startups/SMEs. Foreign startups/SMEs may be considered if developmental activities are based in Singapore and only if a Singapore office is incorporated. The POC development grant could also be awarded to startups/SMEs incorporated in Singapore for projects with overseas pilot deployment potential.

Please refer to the FAQ section for further details.

VIRTUAL INFO SESSION

Join us at our virtual Info Session to hear directly from the challenge statement owners as they share the thinking behind their challenge statements and what they're really looking for in a solution.

Find out what's in store for participants, from pilot opportunities to grant support, and get a clear understanding of the challenge process, key milestones, and expected deliverables. This is also your chance to get your questions answered, and explore how your solution could fit into real-world innovation needs.
Date: Wednesday, 28 May 2025 
Time: 4-5pm (GMT+8)
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Timeline

Note that these dates are subject to change.

  • 29 April

    APPLICATIONs OPEN

  • 28 May

    INFO SESSION

  • 6 June

    EARLY SUBMISSION

  • 30 June

    APPLICATION DEADLINE

  • Week of 4 August

    ANNOUNCEMENT OF SHORTLISTED PARTICIPANTS

  • 4-6 November

    SHOWCASE AT SINGAPORE INTERNATIONAL AGRI-FOOD WEEK

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Ready with your solution? Submit your application now! 

You will receive a confirmation email upon registration. Please proceed to apply on this platform with your credentials. Feel free to save your application as a draft if required. 

Applications close on Monday, 30 June 2025 at 11.59pm (GMT+8).

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Application Guidelines

We have put together a few guidelines to help you structure your proposal. Download our application guidelines below!

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Evaluation Criteria

Please make sure the following elements are adequately addressed in your proposal:

If you have any questions, please write to info@padang.co.

Technical Feasibility & Novelty

Does the solution demonstrate innovative use of technology, showcasing technical expertise and creativity?

Is there a clear explanation of how the technical aspects of the solution address the sustainability challenge, emphasising uniqueness and novelty?

Business Feasibility

Is the business model scalable, demonstrating the solution's potential for market acceptance and growth?

Team Capacity 
& Expertise

Does the team have varied skills, relevant expertise, and a history of successful collaborations, demonstrating their proven ability to deliver the solution?

Details of POC / MVP

Does the Proof of Concept / Minimum Viable Product (MVP) proposal cover sufficient details relating to implementation, timeline, and cost?

FAQs

The Foodtech Frontier Challenge brings together startups, and solution providers from around the world to collaborate with leading food industry players on real-world innovation challenges. This challenge provides a platform for innovators to co-develop breakthrough solutions that push the boundaries of taste, texture, nutrition, and sustainability — and to accelerate their pathway to commercial partnerships and market adoption.

The Foodtech Frontier Challenge is open to eligible companies all over the world.

Applications will be open from Tuesday, 29 April 2025.

Applications will close on Monday, 30 June 2025, 11.59pm (GMT+8). 

You can register for the Foodtech Frontier Challenge at http://foodtech.innovation-challenge.com/ using a valid email address. Then, click ‘Apply Now’. You will be presented with an application form, through which you can submit your proposal. The submission will be your official entry into this Challenge. Please feel free to upload any supporting documents to support your proposal. 

You will receive a confirmation email upon successful registration. If you do not receive an acknowledgement upon registering, please write to info@padang.co. 

For the application phase, your company must complete an application form that will cover the following: 
  • Details of Applicant
  • Executive Summary: 
    A quick summary of the solution, underlying technology and deliverables in 500 words. The summary should address the tangible and intangible outcomes of the project. 
  • Detailed Project Proposal, including
    1. Technical feasibility and novelty of the proposed solution; 
    2. Solution effectiveness, i.e. how well it addresses stated requirements; 
    3. Potential benefits and impact, such as manpower or cost savings, etc;
    4. Operational feasibility, including details on how to onboard various stakeholders; 
    5. Business feasibility, including commercialisation and scale-up strategy, estimated commercial pricing, life cycle costs, proposed business model; 
    6. Capacity, resources, and expertise committed to the project; 
    7. Details on the POC or MVP if available; 
    8. Desired deliverables and / or outcomes of the project (including but not limited to tech specs, product development schedule, key challenges to overcome); and
    9. Others (as specifically requested in the challenge brief). 

You are free to submit as many applications as there are challenge statements. However, do note that your last application for each challenge statement as on the application deadline will be considered for evaluation. 

Your submission will be evaluated by the challenge statement owner concerned, along with invited industry experts organising the Foodtech Frontier Challenge, where necessary. Solutions should come with some form of proof-of-concept (POC) that can be used as a trial to address problems raised by participating companies. You may be contacted should the committee require more information. 

During the evaluation of all submissions, we will consider the relevance, scalability, and feasibility of the proposed solution. 

Public researchers can participate by either: 
  1. Registering a new spin-off to license the technology, led by a committed and capable team; OR
  2. Submitting a joint proposal with industry partners. The industry partner must co-develop the solution, lead the proposal submission, and eventually commercialise the proposed solution. 

All background intellectual property rights are owned by the creators. Any commercialisation of IP generated during this Challenge shall be negotiated separately between the participant and respective challenge statement owner(s). 

The protection of intellectual property rights in the submitted solution is the sole responsibility of the applicant. Once the solution is submitted and selected for trial with the challenge statement owner, the two parties may come to a private agreement.

Enterprise Singapore would not request for a stake in the IPs developed. If you would like to share intellectual property rights which may contribute to the value proposition of the solution, it will be advisable to consider getting appropriate legal advice prior to making any disclosures to the organisers. 

We respect that the information provided by companies in the proposals could be sensitive and will be handled with care. However, we do not advise companies to submit information that is deemed confidential. 

Participating companies should not disclose any information relating to the provisional patent until after it has been filed. Despite that, it is advisable that companies exercise caution in disclosing only necessary information for the purpose of submitting their proposal. We suggest that companies either IPOS or engage a patent attorney for professional advice. 

Challenge owners are offering more than S$450,000 worth of paid pilots to support co-innovation with winning solution providers.

In addition, Enterprise Singapore is augmenting this support with a S$20,000 POC development grant for eligible startups/SMEs. Foreign startups/SMEs may be considered if developmental activities are based in Singapore and only if a Singapore office is incorporated. The POC Development grant could also be awarded to startups/SMEs incorporated in Singapore for projects with overseas pilot deployment potential.

Challenge Partner Contact
Name: Divakar Subramaniam
Title: Head of Programmes & Platforms, Padang & Co
Email: divakar@padang.co

RESOURCES

Our participating challenge statement owners discussed their challenge statements at our Info Session on Thursday, 21 September. We have curated the recordings from the Info Session below, so you may revisit the discussion:

Main Session

Room 1: 

DS Group, EID Parry

•  Crop and plant health, DS Group

•  Plantation security, DS Group

•  Low calorie sweetner, EID Parry

Room 2: 

Apollo 24|7, HCG

•  Dermatology Image recognition, Apollo 247

•  Hypertension Management, Apollo 247

•  Radiomics and ML for Therapeutic Response, HCG