Inspired by ‘Edible Insects: Future Prospects for Food and Security’, a book by the United Nations, Altimate Nutrition was founded by Gavriel Tan and John Lee while pursuing an entrepreneurship programme in college. Focusing on the health- and environmentally-conscious, Altimate Nutrition decided to produce protein bars using a sustainable ingredient – crickets.

They ventured out to create their own cricket protein bars by blending nutritious foods and several other ingredients. After many trials, they knew they had a special solution for food sustainability and was ready to share it with the world, and launched their first two flavours: double chocolate, and peanut butter cinnamon.

With a novel recipe and unique brand positioning, Altimate Nutrition is focused on protecting their ideas and trade secrets.

“As a start-up, it’s critical for our brand to offer a unique proposition and secure early adopters. Starting our journey from Singapore presents greater growth potential because insects are already part of the food and agricultural practices in this region and Asia. It’s just a matter of time before they become a widely accepted food source.”

Mr Gavriel Tan, Co-founder, Altimate Nutrition

Combining the words ‘Alternative’ and ‘Ultimate’, Altimate Nutrition is the first start-up in Singapore aimed at retailing nutritious and sustainable food products using insects. Confident that insect-based ingredients will eventually become a staple in our diets, Altimate Nutrition also aims to partake in Singapore’s ‘30 by 30’ initiative to attain 30% self-sufficiency in food production by 2030. Plans are already in the works with retailers for the distribution of their products.

Find out more at www.altimatenutrition.com/

With over 47 million impressions each year, Beauty Insider's dedicated editions in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines is the go-to platform for all things beauty and rewards, tailored to every aspect of a discerning woman’s beauty routine.

Beauty Insider's brand transformation from traditional print media to an online presence was accompanied by a proactive IP strategy, including trade mark registration and protection across multiple regions. By protecting its trade marks, Beauty Insider safeguards its brand identity and reputation, while building brand recognition and loyalty. This strategy has been instrumental in Beauty Insider's success, enabling the company to safely expand while continuously creating new solutions to lead the way in the beauty and lifestyle industry.

"Beauty Insider chose Singapore for its launch due to the city-state's flourishing beauty industry and sophisticated consumers, providing a receptive audience for our platform. Singapore's favourable business environment, efficient government bureaucracy, and modern infrastructure further supported Beauty Insider's decision to establish our presence in the region."

Mr Sean Gerard, Founder, Beauty Insider

Continuing its innovation, Beauty Insider recently added a new service in 2023 – Book & Go. The innovative search platform places the ultimate self-care options at your fingertips – the perfect companion for busy, on-the-go individuals who value convenience. Users can book appointments with top beauty and lifestyle partners, earn Insider Reward points, and enjoy all the accompanying comfort and perks.

Knowing that beauty is diverse, Beauty Insider constantly curates and creates the latest types of beauty and lifestyle solutions for the dynamic woman of today, because she always deserves a little pampering.

Find out more at www.beautyinsider.sg/

Bosch has had a strong presence in Singapore since 1923, operating in four key sectors: mobility solutions, industrial technology, consumer goods, and energy and building technology. Serving as Bosch's regional headquarters, the company's operations in Singapore oversee its interests in Southeast Asia.

In keeping with its commitment to innovation, Bosch launched its regional incubator, grow platform, in Southeast Asia in 2021, which is part of the company's global in-house innovation and start-up incubation network. Out of eight carefully selected innovation hubs worldwide, grow platform Singapore is poised to capture future growth within the region by capitalizing on Singapore's thriving innovation and intellectual property (IP) landscape. The country's world-class IP regime has been instrumental in enabling Bosch to help more innovative start-ups scale as new businesses for the company, while also offering protection to these spinoffs for their creations. By leveraging Singapore's strengths in innovation and IP, Bosch is well-positioned to drive continued growth and success in the region.

"Singapore’s grow hub is unique for us strategically - not only is Singapore home to Bosch’s regional office, it is also one of the world’s most prominent innovation powerhouses reflected in the robust local start-up scene."

Mr Karsten Roenner, General Manager of the grow platform

AquaEasy, the first spin-off innovation from Bosch's grow platform, has made significant strides in shrimp farming using artificial intelligence (AI), data analytics, machine learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT). By leveraging Bosch's technology, AquaEasy has developed a suite of high-performance sensors that enable fast, reliable, and accurate monitoring of water quality and feed parameters. As Southeast Asia is a major seafood producer, AquaEasy's innovations are a welcome solution for shrimp farmers seeking to increase yield, sustainability, and predictability while reducing risks and costs.

The success of AquaEasy's innovations is evident from their deployment in many shrimp farms in Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam, with farmers from other key shrimp-producing markets, such as Thailand, China, India, Ecuador, and Saudi Arabia, expressing interest in collaborating. AquaEasy's latest development is the Farm Support Package (FSP), which includes the iFeeder and AquaEasy farm services, recently rolled out in Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia. This innovative combination has already yielded a successful harvest of 3 tons of shrimp in Vietnam, and another 50 ponds have been secured to use AquaEasy's new AI-solutions.

However, AquaEasy is not content with stopping there, as the company aims to achieve its larger goal of providing a healthy and sustainable food source. The company has partnered with a Singapore-based aquaculture player to break the world record for shrimp production on a kilogram-per square-meter basis, using its innovation and IP to create a positive impact on society and the planet. With AquaEasy's innovative approach, the future of sustainable shrimp farming looks promising.

About grow platform
The grow platform is a fully owned subsidiary of the Bosch Group with eight locations worldwide, covering all international key markets. As the global Bosch incubator, it pursues the mission of unlocking new business areas and markets by funding and scaling internally developed digital business model innovations originating from Bosch Corporate Research and internal divisions.

To meet this goal, grow platform acts as a venture capitalist as well as a venture builder to foster new transformational innovation. In addition, it offers a global Home for Bosch Intrapreneurs: A space where ambitious associates evolve, receive seamless access to resources, and apply agile innovation and product development methods.

Find out more at www.growplatform.com/

It all began in 2012 when Jamie Koh realised that Singapore didn’t have a spirit to call its own. It sparked her six-year journey to master the art and science of distillation under master distillers all over the world and culminated in Singapore’s first fully fledged micro-distillery, Brass Lion Distillery, producing spirits that encapsulate the essence of Singapore.

The brand’s flagship Singapore Dry Gin is crafted with 22 botanicals that were carefully selected to reflect Singapore’s identity as a cultural melting pot. Each of their distinctive spirit creations, including their Butterfly Pea Gin and Pahit Pink Gin, feature familiar South East Asian flavours that blend Singaporean tradition and innovation.

Today, the brand is trademarked and a pioneer in the nation’s gin industry, with Asian-inspired spirits that retail in over 200 venues. Brass Lion Distillery is also the first in Singapore to offer a complete distillery experience, including distillery tours and a tasting room where guests can try their signature gin and tonics along with specialty cocktails created using their premium gins. It is also the only distillery in Asia to offer gin-making classes where visitors are able to distil their very own bottle of gin.

"I wanted to capture the spirit of Singapore’s heritage and tell the world about it. With borders reopening and Singapore’s position as a global hub, I hope to grow the brand beyond our shores and make our spirits a staple in every liquor cabinet."

Ms Jamie Koh, Founder, Brass Lion Distillery

What’s next? Brass Lion Distillery aims to become a world-renowned brand. With the recent disruptions caused by the pandemic, the brand’s plans for international expansion were put on hold. With borders reopening, Brass Lion looks to bring their brand to the world stage and put Singaporean spirits on the map.

Find out more at www.brassliondistillery.com/

Meet Ella, the robot barista conceptualised to consistently brew high quality coffee 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

She works four times faster than a human barista and can prepare up to 200 cups of coffee an hour using Buscaglione coffee beans ground-to-order from Rome, Italy with fresh barista quality milk and milk alternatives.

Ella is disrupting the traditional F&B model through innovation, creativity, and clever use of technology; the unmanned retail solution is the confluence of robotics, IoT and data analytics. Ella’s data-fuelled experience enables an intuitive and customised user journey, allowing customers to order ahead and remotely make payment through the Ella App – a proprietary software developed in house.

Finally, she takes up a small footprint of less than six square metres which can help save up to 70% of operating costs as compared to a regular café or coffee outlet.

“Ella is a true brew of innovation and passion to make quality coffee accessible. That’s why Ella was designed to scale, and what better environment to create her in than densely populated Singapore. With a bit of programming, ELLA could also serve other types of F&B products, so I truly believe that she is the future.”

Mr Keith Tan, CEO & Founder, Crown Digital

Ella is the inaugural unmanned retail solution conceptualised and produced by Crown Digital Pte Ltd, full stack tech start-up addressing problems faced in the F&B industry. Founded in 2018 by Keith Tan, Crown Digital’s invention of Ella, The Robot Barista propelled to international recognition, with features in the NRF2020 in the USA and GITEX 2020 in the Middle East. In December 2020, Crown Digital secured a major strategic cross-border investment with East Japan Railway Company (JRE).

Crown Digital’s IP journey started in September 2018 when they first trademarked Crown Coffee Robotic Cafe. By 2021, they secured a patent in China for its invention Ella and are currently on track to getting it patented in Singapore, Japan, USA, Korea, China, and Europe.

Find out more at crowndigital.io

Get ready to say goodbye to disposable plastic cutlery and hello to a revolutionary new product that not only helps reduce plastic waste but also promotes better nutrition! Meet Crunch Cutlery - the brainchild of Anna Lam, a local entrepreneur who was tired of seeing the massive amount of single-use plastic waste in Singapore.

With Crunch Cutlery, Anna has created a product that is both sustainable and delicious. Made with a blend of healthy ingredients like chia seeds, coconut flour, and psyllium husks, these edible spoons come in a variety of mouth-watering flavors, including Blue Pea Lychee, Caramel Oats, and Vegan Cheese. All Crunch Cutlery are gluten-free and vegan friendly!

But that's not all - Crunch Cutlery has a unique design and top-secret recipe that makes each spoon irresistible. The brand has also taken measures to protect its intellectual property, with trademark registrations and strategies in place to safeguard its know-how.

“Starting from Singapore has allowed me to tap on the rich research base here. This way, Crunch can constantly innovate to fortify our products, and even design new ideas for growth.”

Ms Anna Lam, Co-founder, Crunch Cutlery

Currently, Crunch Spoons are making waves in dessert shops across Singapore, and the brand is looking to partner with event and catering services, including hotels. And Anna has even bigger plans - she wants to take Crunch Cutlery beyond Singapore and into the wider region, inspiring people to make more environmentally friendly choices and adopt more sustainable practices in their daily lives.

So why settle for boring, wasteful plastic cutlery when you can have Crunch Cutlery - the exciting and innovative solution to plastic waste and poor urban nutrition!

Find out more at www.crunchcutlery.com/

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are a critical driving force in Southeast Asian economies, accounting for 69% of the national labour force, according to the Asian Development Bank. However, Southeast Asia faces a massive gap in financing for unbanked populations, with over 60% of SMEs unable to get a loan when they need financing.

Funding Societies | Modalku (FSMK) was incorporated in Singapore in 2015 with the vision to close this billion-dollar funding gap. To identify the right customers, FSMK not only analyses traditional data, such as financial statements and macroeconomics, but alternative data as well to fill missing gaps in customer profiles. Their model also gives them speed and efficiency of underwriting, enabling them to operate at scale and serve the massive number of customers across the region. 

Today, Funding Societies is the largest unified SME digital finance platform in Southeast Asia – a nod to the origins of its brand, which references a pair of hands woven together in a handshake, as a symbol of Funding Societies partnering SMEs to help them thrive in the economy.

FSMK’s IP management journey has allowed it to be licensed in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, registered in Malaysia, and operational in Vietnam. Its rich base of technical know-how, data, proprietary solutions, and trade secrets are also protected. Since its incorporation, FSMK has disbursed over US$3 billion over more than 5 million transactions of business financing to almost 100,000 MSMEs across the region.

“We’ve been building solutions by integrating expertise from both Fin and Tech, i.e., financial risk management and technical know-how. Singapore has a progressive regulatory and commercial environment allowing us to build a thriving FinTech business model within reasonable boundaries. The infrastructure, talent and ecosystem enable us to develop innovation, branding and services for Singapore and Southeast Asia.”

Mr Kelvin Teo, Co-founder & Group CEO, Funding Societies | Modalku

As a hub for cloud services, Singapore has major service providers and one of the fastest, most reliable fiber-optic internet networks for businesses. FSMK also required a combination of expertise that are hard to find in single individuals; business background combined with the technical ability required for analytics – but they have been able to find this combination in Singapore. With this perfect mix of right infrastructure and skills, FSMK was able to use Singapore as its launchpad for growth.

FSMK has begun offering solutions beyond lending, such as payments and collections. FSMK has also tripled its Gross Transaction Value (GTV) year-on-year through its proprietary business expense solution Elevate, and its integration of CardUp’s payments solutions.

Constantly innovating, FSMK has also earned numerous accolades. It was given the MAS FinTech Award in 2016, the Global SME Excellence Award at the United Nations’ ITU Telecom World in 2017, Fintech Top 100 by KPMG in 2018, Brands for Good in 2019, and recognised by IDC as amongst the 5 fastest growing FinTechs in Singapore and given the Stevie® Award in 2020. In 2021, it won the MAS FinTech Award for the second time, and received the Platinum award for Responsible Digital Innovator of the Year at the 2022 Global SME Finance Awards organised by IFC (under the World Bank Group). 

Find out more at www.fundingsocieties.com/

Hilleman Laboratories is a research organisation jointly established by MSD and the Wellcome Trust to develop affordable and accessible vaccines and biologics that meet public health needs in low- and middle-income countries. It occupies a unique niche in the vaccine development process by focusing on early-stage development of vaccines and biologics up to Phase 2 clinical trials, to bridge the gap to commercial viability.

Hilleman set up its regional base in Singapore in 2021. The decision to move its headquarters from India was made in recognition of Singapore’s thriving biomedical sciences sector and robust intellectual property (IP) framework. As a translational research organisation, Hilleman’s mainstay is developing novel platforms and products to improve global health. Strong IP protection is thus vital for it to safeguard its inventions, even as it continues to forge partnerships within the local biomedical ecosystem and expands its footprint globally.

"Singapore’s intellectual property framework enables us to carry out R&D activities with the assurance that our inventions are well protected. Being able to plug in to the local biomedical ecosystem has also enabled us to collaborate with Singapore-based institutions and agencies on innovation projects and initiatives that could have significant local and global public health impact."

Mr Ali Alloueche, Vice President and Global Head for Business Development, Alliance Management & External R&D

Hilleman currently has eight patent families covering vaccine products for cholera, meningitis and rotavirus, as well as technology platforms used for the production and manufacturing of these vaccines. This portfolio is expected to expand significantly over the next 3-5 years as a result of Hilleman’s focus on viral recombinant and RNA vaccines.

Find out more at Hilleman Laboratories: Overview | LinkedIn

Committed to the vision to improve human health by unlocking the power of the genome, Illumina has been redefining what is possible in genomics, and empowering visionaries around the globe to make life-changing advances. Illumina develops, manufactures and markets integrated systems for large-scale analysis of genetic variation and biological functions. These systems are used by pharmaceutical companies, biotech companies, academics and clinical organisations around the globe.

When Illumina was founded in San Diego 25 years ago, it was revolutionary just to decode the genome. Since then,genomics has played a crucial role generating insights into infectious disease, cancer, reproductive health, genetic disease, and more—while improving patient outcomes every step of the way. Today, Illumina’s workforce is 10,000 strong, with more than 8,800 patents in 34 locations worldwide.

With light as a core element found in their technology, Illumina’s global brand identity was designed to uniquely express its purpose – to illuminate. The brand also has over 40 trade mark registrations in Singapore, covering products across 8 classes.

“Making genomics accessible is critical in realising its potential to save and improve lives. That’s why we are committed to driving down the cost of sequencing, expanding access to advanced technology, and increasing the diversity of genomics data. And our IP and growth journey in Singapore has helped to fuel this mission.”

Ms Jennifer Pascua, Vice President, Global IP, Illumina

Illumina’s hub in Singapore is the brand’s only facility worldwide that manufactures the full suite of products ranging from instruments, consumables to reagents. Aside from manufacturing, Singapore hosts Illumina’s first R&D centre in Asia. The centre employs about 1,300 people and houses a multinational team of hardware and software engineers who design and develop some of the company’s newest products.

Illumina’s innovative next-generation sequencing (NGS) platforms deliver exceptional data quality and accuracy, at a massive scale. The portfolio of instruments includes recognisable names such as iSeq™, MiniSeq™, MiSeq™  NextSeq™, and most recently NovaSeq™ X. With rapid advances in technology taking place, Illumina is focused on offering solutions that are not only innovative, but flexible, and scalable, with industry-leading support and service. Their customers include a broad range of academic, government, pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and other leading institutions around the globe.

Find out more at www.illumina.com

The brand journey of IRVINS started when Irvin Gunawan opened his first restaurant in Singapore and became famously known for its signature salted egg crab dish in 2008. Working with his team of renowned chefs, Irvin experimented and crafted new and unique dishes, when the second restaurant location didn’t do well. After hundreds of hours innovating, the Salted Egg Fish Skin and Salted Egg Potato Chips were born and the rest is history. 

Since their launch, IRVINS has expanded beyond its range of salted egg snacks, from potato chips to fish skin. From an F&B restaurant to modern CPG start up, the brand continues to craft the world’s most Dangerously Addictive™ taste by coming up with flavours beyond salted egg and stepping out of its snack comfort zone with offerings like instant noodle.

“Being in Singapore gave me access to premium ingredients and the skilled manpower IRVINS needed to create quality industry-standard products. Along with our local innovative team, I am able to continue deliver the company’s promise – to formulate and deliver the world’s most Dangerously Addictive™ taste  in our restaurant-quality packaged food creations, collaborate with new partners and further scale the business.”

Mr Irvin Gunawan, Founder and CEO of IRVINS

IRVINS also boasts a strong intangible asset portfolio. IRVINS’ distinctive sign is a registered trade mark in Singapore, and the #DangerouslyAddictive salted egg flavour formula is a protected trade secret behind the unique flavours of the brand. Leveraging its brand, IRVINS has also actively sought out blue ocean market spaces, offering salted egg snacks in markets where consumers are not familiar with the salted egg flavour.

They have rapidly expanded overseas and now operate in 15 markets including the United States, Canada, Australia, China and many more. Further, the brand has also collaborated with multiple partners to gain market share. In the western market, their products are distributed across large retailers such as Hmart, Ranch 99, Weee! and Yamibuy.

Find out more at www.eatirvins.sg

Janice Wong Singapore truly embraces food technology and innovation. Chef Janice Wong’s efforts in experimenting with ingredients, cooking techniques and machines led to creations of edible art, 3D printed chocolates and others, which in turn kickstarted a flurry of activities that saw the business expanding to the international stage.

“We need to be creative in building a sustainable future, so why not make the results delicious too. That’s why I’ve started on a journey to grow cocoa right here in Singapore. We may be land-scarce, but just imagine the possibilities and global impact when we succeed. Don’t let anyone stop you from dreaming big, even from a small red dot.”

Ms Janice Wong, CEO, JWO Holdings

Chef Janice has also received worldwide recognition for her cutting-edge creations, expanding globally to include an outlet in London at Selfridges Oxford Street. Notable global collaborations include Janice Wong MGM in Macau, Paradise Group in Incheon- Korea, and Kadewe in Berlin. Janice has also been named Asia’s Best Pastry Chef; for the second year running by the prestigious San Pellegrino Asia’s 50 Best for 2013 & 2014. She also won the title of Pastry Chef of the Year from the World Gourmet Summit Awards in 2011, 2013 and 2015, including the title of Young Woman of the Year from Her World in 2012.

Looking ahead, besides bringing new confectionery concepts to the market, Janice Wong Singapore will continue pushing the boundaries and integrate new food technologies and innovations in the product offerings. Her latest venture is to turn Singapore into a sustainable chocolate hub, by planting 1,000 Singapore origin chocolate trees. She has started to work with partners, such as Gardens by the Bay, Edible Garden City, Spectra Secondary School and Methodist Girls’ School to make this a reality.

Janice Wong Singapore is currently present in Singapore, Japan and London.

Find out more at www.janicewong.online/

Founded in 1668, Merck was the world's first pharmaceutical and chemical company and is still a leading science and technology company that operates across life science, healthcare and electronics. With over 64,000 employees around the world, Merck works to impact millions of lives every day by providing products and services that accelerate drug development, discovering new ways to treat the most challenging diseases and enabling the intelligence of devices. In 2022, Merck generated sales of € 22.2 billion in 66 countries.

In 1973, Merck established its presence in Singapore to promote Merck products in Southeast Asia under E. Merck Pte. Ltd. (Singapore). Merck (Singapore) Pte Ltd. was founded on August 26, 1994. Today, Merck Singapore is the regional headquarters in Asia Pacific with more than 450 employees supporting the life science, healthcare and electronics businesses. Merck Singapore is also the regional training and application hub, offering technology transfer and services including testing, process optimisation for the Life Science industry in the region. Singapore is also home to Merck’s first GMP BioReliance® biosafety testing lab in Asia Pacific, offering critical testing services to ensure the safe release of medicines to patients around the world.

Today, Merck owns more than 400 trade mark registrations in Singapore to protect its broad range of products and services, including its corporate brand MERCK.

“At Merck, science is at the heart of everything we do, it drives the discoveries we make and the technologies we create. Singapore is a thriving biomedical science hub with a strong talent pool that enables us to continually innovate and make a positive impact on life, health, and the environment.”

Mr Milind Neurgaonkar, Managing Director, Merck Singapore

For life sciences, Merck offers more than 300,000 products to support customers in researching, drug formulation, testing and manufacturing of vaccines and medicines to ensuring that the food and drink we consume are safe. On the other hand, the healthcare solutions under Merck are focused on providing ongoing care for patients beyond their treatment, which includes new medications to treat conditions such as cancer or multiple sclerosis, and innovative technologies that make life easier for patients. For electronics, Merck is a leading solutions provider in the premium segment of high-tech materials and functional specialty chemicals. These materials are widely used in the wafer fabs industry of Singapore.

Find out more at www.merckgroup.com/en

The World’s Leading Producer Of Sustainable Aviation Fuel

Neste is the world’s leading producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel, using mainly waste, residues and innovative raw materials, such as used cooking oil and waste animal fat. Driven by the goal to create solutions for combating climate change and accelerating a shift to a circular economy, Neste also produces renewable feedstock for polymer and chemical productions, as well as developing chemical recycling to combat the plastic waste challenge. They aim to help customers reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20 million tons annually by 2030.

Using their patented NEXBTL™ technology, which stands for “next generation biomass to liquid”, Neste has been converting a wide variety of low-quality wastes and residues into high quality renewable and circular solutions.

In 2007, Neste made an investment decision building its Singapore Refinery, which started operations in Singapore in 2010. This refinery is one of the two global production sites at Neste producing exclusively renewable diesel at the time. The original Singapore refinery had a production capacity of 800,000 tons per annum. Over the years, Neste continued their innovation and investment, and made several transformations at the Singapore refinery, including its 1.65 billion euro Singapore Expansion Project.

"Both Neste and Singapore's Green Plan have aligned objectives in terms of reducing carbon emissions and promoting sustainable solutions to fight climate change. Singapore's highly skilled and educated workforce, with a strong focus on science and engineering makes it an ideal location for R&D in renewable energy technologies. Its strategic location at the crossroads of major shipping lines and excellent logistics infrastructure also offers world-class connectivity for Neste's renewable fuel solutions to reach the world."

Mr Kenneth Lim, General Manager / Refinery Director, Neste Singapore Pte Ltd

The expanded refinery will double the production capacity of its Singapore refinery to 2.6 million tons per annum and enable the Singapore refinery to produce up to one million tons of sustainable aviation fuel per annum, making Singapore the world’s largest SAF producer, in terms of capacity. To support its expanded production capacity in Singapore, Neste also opened the APAC Innovation Center in Singapore Science Park II in February 2023, to drive Neste’s research and development work in the region. The center plans to hire about 40 research professionals gradually from 2022 to 2025. Majority of the talent is local talent.

Currently, Neste has production facilities across three continents, including Provoo in Finland, Rotterdam in the Netherlands, Singapore and a joint venture in the U.S.

Find out more at www.neste.sg/neste-in-singapore-and-asia-pacific

Singapore’s Authentic Tastes That’s Taking On The World

Since 1998, Prima Taste has embarked on the mission to preserve the heritage and tradition of Singapore food, and make them available to the world. To preserve our heritage dishes, Prima Taste painstakingly uncovered the recipes of Singapore favourites such as Laksa, Curry, Chilli Crab, Prawn Noodles, Char Kway Teow and etc, created these classic recipes and codified the recipes for commercialisation.  

To date, Prima Taste is the most widely distributed range of authentic Singapore food in the world. Products are widely distributed to major supermarkets and online stores in more than 40 markets, including USA, Canada, UK, Australia, China and Japan. The brand’s LaMians have been consistently crowned the top “Instant Noodle of All Time” by The Ramen Rater since 2013. Proprietary information and processes go into the makings of these products; ingredients are sourced across remote areas in Asia with supplier list kept confidential. 

Prima Taste’s global expansion is three-pronged and closely aligned to their IP commercialisation strategy – they have retail products for the consumers and food service solutions for restaurant and cafe operators.

Prima Taste has earned awards and accolades for its premium quality ready-to-cook pastes and sauces such as Merit Award for Innovation at the Best Food Product Award (2003) and recognised as a Superbrand for market dominance, longevity, goodwill, customer loyalty and overall market acceptance.

Find out more at www.primataste.com/

Fostering An Innovation Culture To Create Winning Products

The P&G Singapore Innovation Centre (SgIC) is the largest private research facility in Singapore. Their passion is designing products that delight consumers.

This passion is facilitated by the advanced capabilities at the SgIC. From robotics to virtual reality, chemistry to consumer understanding and biology to big data, the SgIC is equipped for end-to-end consumer goods innovation. This capability enables the SgIC to innovate for global megabrands such as Pantene, Head and Shoulders, Olay, Joy, Febreze, Ambi Pur, Vicks and Pampers.

To further amplify its innovation capability, P&G SgIC has signed a Master Research Collaboration Agreement with Singapore’s Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and a constellation of leading research entities in Singapore including NUS, NTU, NUH. This agreement promotes collaborative research, knowledge sharing and talent development between the SgIC and the research community in Singapore.

An integral part of its commitment to improving the lives of the world’s consumers is sustainability. As a result of its thoughtful design, construction and ongoing operation, the SgIC has received several prestigious sustainability awards.

More than 450 scientists and engineers from 27 nationalities use the advanced capabilities at the SgIC. They are united by a commitment to a vibrant culture that fosters innovation.

This culture is distinct and intentional. Yuko Nakamura, Vice President for Research & Development, P&G points out that “what makes the SgIC special is its innovation culture. We recruit for and continually cultivate the qualities of curiosity, connectedness, inclusivity, entrepreneurship, and a growth mindset. We believe these qualities are essential to creating great innovations, and it’s why we call ourselves #TheFutureMakers”.

One example of an SgIC innovation is the #1 Febreze toilet deodorizer in Japan, a next-generation air freshener that not only freshens but also significantly reduces persistent odours like no other. This product with patented technology & design uses natural air flow in the room to form deodorizing coating on the walls and floors and keep eliminating odour from such permeable surfaces which is the source of persistent odour in toilet.  Following its meteoric success in Japan, it was launched in the US and UK where it hit the No. 1 share within 6 months. This product was proudly developed at the P&G Singapore Innovation Centre and is available in Singapore under the brand, Ambi Pur.

In addition to R&D, Singapore is home to the P&G headquarters for the Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa (AMA) region. The P&G AMA Legal team based here manages IP filings for the entire region. Singapore is also the location of one of the four global P&G perfume manufacturing sites, whose features include a Grocery Aisle and Library with over 300 perfume ingredients and raw materials.

Find out more at P&G Singapore Innovation Center (SGIC) – LinkedIn

Razer is the world’s leading lifestyle brand – made by gamers, for gamers. Founded in 2005, Razer is dual headquartered in Irvine, California and Singapore, with regional headquarters in Hamburg and Shanghai, and 19 offices worldwide. With a fan base that spans every continent, Razer has designed and built the world’s largest gamer-focused ecosystem of hardware, software and services. 

Razer announced several game-changing products over the past year, including the Razer Blade 16 gaming laptop and the Razer Barracuda Pro, hybrid gaming and street headset, just to name a few. Announced at CES 2023 to great anticipation, the Razer Blade 16 features the world’s first dual-mode mini-LED display affording gamers the choice between UHD+ 120Hz mode for 4K quality immersion and FHD+ 240Hz mode for ultra-fast, ultra-smooth gaming performance depending on the type of games they play, powered by 13th Gen Intel® Core™ i9 HX Processor. The Razer Barracuda Pro headset is a best-in-class hybrid gaming headset developed with Razer SmartSwitch Dual Wireless, allowing gamers to toggle between 2.4GHz when gaming or Bluetooth mode while enjoying mobile entertainment on-the-go, eliminating the compromise gamers had to make deciding on a headset for either. The Razer Barracuda Pro is also equipped with Hybrid Active Noise Cancellation technology that detects and nullifies incoming noise, and powered by the THX Achromatic Audio Amplifier enabling the world’s highest fidelity audio with a powerful built-in amp that delivers maximum dynamic range.

“Razer’s diverse portfolio requires a strong IP and business strategy to keep us agile and fast in responding to market demands. We invest heavily in IP protection and IA generation, and Singapore’s IP ecosystem has enabled us to protect our creations and recognise the innovation that our team put into the products.”

Ms Elaine Tan, Senior Legal Director, Razer

Razer is no stranger to protecting and managing its intellectual property portfolio, having filed more than 3,000 patents, trademarks and registered designs since 2005. Razer has also won several awards and global recognition for its imaginative use of IP in its business, such as the WIPO IP Enterprise Trophy and IPOS Award for IP Champions at the WIPO-IPOS Intellectual Property Awards in 2019. In addition, many products have been recognized as best in class at trade shows and by industry publications. First and foremost, however, Razer believes its employees are its most important intellectual assets and has employee incentive programs to encourage research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Find out more at www.razer.com/

RISIS’ IP journey was an unconventional one. The original development of their classic gold-encapsulated orchid started when Dr Lee Kum Tatt, a leading biochemist who was the first Chairman of Singapore Institute of Standards and Industrial Research (SISIR), wanted to create a special gift for his wife in fulfilling her dream of having an orchid that lasts forever. Upon an experimentation between science and nature, Lee made success in 1974 and presented his wife with a gold encapsulated bloom which he named Oncidium Engeline Lee. This prototype became the model for future development of RISIS products. Today, they have trade marks for their brand and an exclusive proprietary gold technology that allows them to plate almost anything, from organic materials such as orchids, roses, foliage, and seeds, to everyday items like golf balls and unique fruits like durian.

“Being a Singaporean brand gives us an edge as our designs are inspired by local heritage that no other global brand can emulate. With the ever-changing business environment, we are always challenging our technical capabilities and innovating to do beyond what we have championed over the last 47 years.”

Ms Verene Ng, CEO, RISIS

RISIS has a strong association with Orchids as the birth of the brand started from this flower, which also holds national significance for Singapore. The Vanda Miss Joaquim is the National Flower of Singapore. Their brand identity and story are closely intertwined with Singapore’s heritage and help to set them apart. Being a Singapore brand presented RISIS with a unique edge above the rest as their designs are mainly inspired by local heritage that no other global brands can emulate.

Today, they see a growing number of local customers over these 2 years post-pandemic, with the growth of their e-commerce platform.

Find out more at www.risis.com

Founded almost 50 years ago, Scanteak is short for Scandinavian inspired teak furnishing. The founder, Mr PC Lim envisioned to fuse together one of the top design ideologies, together with one of the top timber resources Southeast Asia has to offer.

Believing in the importance of bringing families together, Scanteak’s collections are designed to provide safe, quality and comfortable spaces for everyone to better experience their family at home. To ensure sustainability and responsible harvesting, the brand sources its teak wood from SVLK (Indonesia’s timber legality assurance system) and ensures maximise usage of every single wooden log, so no materials are wasted and thrown. To protect the health of their customers, Scanteak’s products also go through rigorous formaldehyde testing in Japan to ensure the furniture adheres to CARB (California Air Resources Board) regulations.

Today, Scanteak has a global footprint across 28 countries and actively protect their brand with over 20 trade marks and their innovations with registered designs. One example is the Prologue range that was designed in collaboration with internationally acclaimed design studio, Outofstock. Scanteak saw the importance of protecting its IP and registered the designs to prevent others from exploiting their creations. Their strong IP protection and management strategy has enabled Scanteak to protect their IP against multiple copycats around the world.

"The Singapore brand exudes a progressive and credible perception in the international arena, which is incredibly important for our global expansion. This security has made it much easier for us to make innovation a consistent part of our journey as well."

Ms Jamie Lim, CEO, Scanteak Singapore

Scanteak has grown to over 100 showrooms worldwide with over 180 stores regionally. Scanteak has won several brand awards, such as the Promising Brand Award (2005), CitiBusiness – SPBA Regional Brand Award (2006, 2013), SuperBrands (2009), the Singapore Good Design Award (2015), the Good Design Award (Japan) (2015), the IPOS Award for Design Innovation (2015) and the President’s Design Award Singapore (2015).

Find out more at www.scanteak.com.sg

It started with the search for a satisfactory gaming chair. Unable to find a seat that fit their exacting demands, founders Ian Ang and Alaric Choo set out to develop their own. Within five years of its inception, Secretlab went from startup to global brand – and the chair of choice of the world’s premier esports tournaments and championship-winning teams. Beyond gaming, Secretlab chairs today are also used in home and corporate offices, and by professionals beyond gamers.

The secret to the Secretlab’s success is its relentless pursuit of R&D to improve its products, including its flagship chair – the Secretlab TITAN Evo. The TITAN Evo is Secretlab’s most technologically advanced gaming chair to date, incorporating years of research, testing and refinements to design an ergonomic  chair that would keep the most demanding users comfortable for long hours. In fact, Secretlab is constantly growing its team of engineers and researchers to ensure it continues to innovate and create tomorrow’s ground-breaking technologies. Today, the company has around 200 staff who work at its global headquarters and R&D centre in Singapore. 

"We've tremendously improved our chairs with rigorous R&D, to pull ahead of the competition. Singapore's robust IP regime protects and enables our constant innovation for award-winning chairs, and now desks."

Mr Ian Ang, CEO & Co-founder of Secretlab

Every design change at Secretlab is grounded in data and feedback from testers and users worldwide – and each chair is packed with science-backed engineering, pioneering trademarked features and bespoke premium materials. Every Secretlab chair has also been tested and validated by an independent board of ergonomic experts, ensuring that every design decision is rigorously grounded in science. Some of their latest innovations include their 4-way L-ADAPT™ Lumbar Support System, patent-pending cold-cure foam mix for optimal support, patent-pending Magnetic Memory Foam Head Pillow, SoftWeave® Plus Fabric, magnetic hot-swappable CloudSwap™ armrest tops,  and the world’s first premium gaming chair sleeves, just to name a few. This all ensures the greatest comfort for its customers – when you buy a Secretlab chair, you know you’re on the cutting-edge of ergonomic support.

Secretlab boasts a rich IP portfolio of registered designs, patents and trademarks in Singapore. With strong IP management and commercialisation strategies, the brand has found success in capitalising on their R&D efforts and extending their reach to overseas markets. Understanding the growth potential that IP brings, Secretlab has also secured numerous collaborations to widen brand reach and extend its global footprint.

Within the span of a decade, Secretlab has grown into a global gaming chair company that leverages its innovation and IP – to provide tomorrow’s chairs and desks, today.

Find out more at www.secretlab.sg/

Shiok Meats was founded in August 2018 by Dr Sandhya Sriram and Dr Ka Yi Ling. With over 20 years of combined experience in muscle, fat, and stem cell biology fields, they grew Shiok Meats into the world’s first cultivated crustacean meat company and Southeast Asia’s first cultivated seafood company. Since its inception, Shiok Meats has also raised USD 30 Million in funding from a global suite of investors – USA, Europe, Singapore, Japan, and South Korea, as well as acquired Gaia Foods, a cultivated red meat company headquartered in Singapore.

Using its technology to grow meat from healthy cells instead of animals, stem cells are isolated from a small sample of crustaceans (shrimp, lobster, crab) and grown in a nutrient broth. These cells are then expanded into smaller bioreactors and progressively moved to larger bioreactors, large stainless-steel tanks in a food manufacturing facility. Once the cells have grown to a large enough mass, they form the meat, which are collected and separated from the liquid. The final meat then finds its way into delicious dishes. The brand is a registered trade mark and has provisional patents within its growing IP portfolio.

“Our greatest challenge was that there was no existing science for creating cultivated seafood, so we started from scratch. Starting from Singapore allows us to tap into a rich IP ecosystem of partners and strategic location to protect our innovations and launch into Asia.”

Dr Sandhya Sriram, Group CEO and Co-founder, Shiok Meats

Shiok Meats is in the final phases of research and development and plans to launch its shrimp commercially in restaurants in 2024. Shiok Meats is also experimenting with different technologies to enhance their product offerings for the future, combining food science and tissue engineering to mimic wild-caught meat in look and texture as well as taste.

They wanted to leave a legacy by helping humans, animals, and the planet – both Dr Sandhya Sriram and Dr Ka Yi Ling have done it. Motivated by their love for both food and innovative science, they used their years of knowledge to create sustainable, delicious, and healthy meats that will help futureproof our planet.

Find out more at www.instagram.com/shiokmeats/

Unilever is one of the world’s leading suppliers of beauty and well-being, personal care, home care, nutrition, and ice cream products, with sales in over 190 countries and products used by 3.4 billion people every day. Many of Unilever’s owned brands such as Lifebuoy, Lux, Closeup, Rexona and Pond’s ─ call Singapore home.

With more than 56 years of business in Singapore, the country has become a major strategic hub for Unilever’s global business. Singapore was also a catalyst for Unilever to embark on innovative ways to do business and build new capabilities, such as tapping into media companies, commodity suppliers and startups for strategic partnerships. What started as a Singapore based exports business in 2012, has now grown into a €1+ billion (more than S$1.42 billion) global business in less than a decade. Business-critical units like Unilever International; the company’s Consumer Insights team; and its Global Procurement team also operate out of Singapore.

"Singapore’s robust ecosystem of partners, strong talent pool, strategic location and business-friendly climate continues to make it a centre of growth for Unilever. This vibrant business landscape has fuelled our brand’s constant innovation for new consumer solutions and new capabilities."

Mr Samir Singh, Global Chief Marketing Officer, Personal Care, Unilever & Chair, Unilever Asia Pte Ltd

Unilever’s global brand hub in Singapore focuses on building and growing several of its biggest personal care and beauty and wellbeing brands, such as Lifebuoy, Lux, Pond’s, Vaseline, and Clear. Singapore’s multi-national talent base and the extensive agency network allows Unilever to customise products and campaigns for different countries in the region and globally, according to consumer insights and trends.

Unilever’s rich talent base in Singapore also includes 30 nationalities, with 65 per cent female talent. The diverse talent pool in the region is why Unilever opened its only global leadership development centre outside of the UK, here in Singapore, to enable them to focus on developing Asian talent for the global stage.

Find out more at www.unilever.com.sg

Headquartered in Singapore, V3 Brands carefully grows and preserves the unique qualities of each iconic brand, reflecting its commitment to deliver premium product quality and customer-centric experiences.

To support its innovation-driven approach to developing their international brands, V3 Brands maintains a careful watch over its intellectual property (IP) and safeguard against any misuse across the markets in which it operates.

"As markets continue to become more interconnected in the digital realm, growth and development will continue to be increasingly driven by intangible assets and IP. With one of the strongest IP regimes in Asia, Singapore’s IP policies are balanced, well-regarded internationally, and supports value creation for business builders like us."

Mr Ron Sim, Founder, V3 Group

Today, V3 Brands continues to steward the growth of its international portfolio of brands from Singapore. OSIM, LAC, TWG Tea, and Bacha Coffee, and other brands in its portfolio continue to expand its international footprint. The brands can be found in leading cities around the world, and are forging ahead into new markets with the confidence that they will continue to be supported by Singapore’s internationally-respected and effectively implemented IP policies.

Find out more at www.v3group.com/v3-brands/

The year was 1926. Clutching a black wooden suitcase, 15-year-old Loi Ah Koon scrambled frantically on board an old Chinese junk poised to set sail from Hainan Island to Singapore. Knowing neither kith nor kin, he naturally gravitated towards the local Hainanese community. It was there that he was introduced to work as an assistant in a Hainanese coffee stall. That spurred the entrepreneurial spirit in Ah Koon and the rest, as they say, is history.

With its rich history, goodwill, customer loyalty and strong recognition, the Ya Kun brand is highly distinctive and has a suite of IP assets. Knowing the importance of IP protection and management, the Ya Kun brand has 17 registered trade marks and counting. These include product names, various posters and their slogan “Ya Kun Kaya Toast Coffee Stall Since 1944”. It has also made an international application under the Madrid system for its name and slogan. The brand also owns copyright for many of its nostalgic posters and highly guarded trade secrets for its special coffee brew and kaya jam recipe.

Enabled by a sound IP strategy, the brand has established a franchise system that enabled it to grow in and from Singapore. Today, Ya Kun has over 70 local outlets and have franchises in Indonesia, Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and they are still expanding.

"Our transformation from a single stall to a global franchise is tied closely to a strong IP strategy. Singapore's strong IP and business ecosystem enabled us to succeed within and beyond our shores."

Mr Jesher Loi, Director, Branding and Market Development, Ya Kun International Pte Ltd

The brand has received much interest in franchises around the world, including Malaysia, Thailand, Hong Kong, India, China, and Australia, but is choosing to align business growth with its IP strategy, pace their overseas development and select the right franchising partners to protect and ensure sustainable global growth.

This way they stay true to their vision “to establish Ya Kun as a household name in Singapore and Asia, offering delectable kaya toast and other complementary traditional food and beverages to one and all.”

Find out more at: www.yakun.com/