Glocalink Singapore Pte. Ltd.(Director: Dr. Ravikrishna Ramanujam) (hereinafter referred to as “Glocalink”) has invested in the pre-seed round of Aquatronik (Director: Dr Howard Tang)(hereinafter referred to as “AQTN”).
AQTN combines technology along with natural micro-organisms known as Biofloc to develop a low cost industrial aquaculture farming system and process that empowers farmers to significantly increase harvest output and yield while reducing costs.
According to a joint report by PWC, Temasek and Rabobank, Asia will be home to an additional 250M people and will contain 17 of the top 25 largest global cities by 2030. The total food spend is also expected to increase by 2 times to $8 trillion dollars and there will be a need to produce 70% more food to minimally meet the rising demand. 80% of our food comes from the 100M small farmers in Asia and they are increasingly unable to catch up with the demand due to lack of innovation and economies of scale.
According to Grow Asia, only 2.5% of our farmers today are going digital. The danger of our future food security is real especially when industrial farming systems used today are expensive and out of reach of these small farmers. It is critical that we innovate them so that they can grow significantly to able to feed our future population.
AQTN has come out with an innovative solution, D’Floc in a Box, that strives to be a low cost industrial aquaculture farming system powered by technology & microbial treatment known as Biofloc. Major costs of industrial aquaculture farming typically goes to high quality feed costs and wastewater treatment which uses specialized machines that are expensive and bulky to set up. Usage of Biofloc could significantly reduce costs of treatment by over 80% cleaning as it requires only natural environment of sunlight, carbohydrate source and plenty of aeration to function. It can also break down toxic ammonia and nitrate in the water into a strong bio-environment for the livestock to thrive. Simultaneously, Biofloc banks on photosynthesis to convert uneaten feed and faeces into food that are nutritious for the livestock thus further reducing costs of feed through recycling.
D’Floc in a box comprises an easy-to-use mobile control system, modular aquaculture tanks, sensors, aerators and Biofloc. AQTN had previously conducted a pilot test of their D’Floc process on Vannamei shrimps using just simple aerators and Biofloc technology. Results from D'Floc shows that we could produce 28.8 kg/m2 of prawns when using biofloc to treat the water as compared to a traditional farm output of 0.9kg/m2 using only 1/5 of the normal costs. This equates to a 32x efficiency output with a 4x ROI.
More than just precision farming
Farming involves a complex process across multi stakeholders and therefore simply providing farmers with the tools to farm better is not enough. AQTN seek to go beyond by building an end – end digital ecosystem connecting the farmers from production – sales powered by D’Floc in a box
AQTN strives to become a digital co-operative by connecting the various value stakeholders across the food supply chain to the farmers from feed, medicinal and livestock suppliers to financial institutions. With the eventual aggregation of small farmers using D’Floc in a Box, AQTN can provide a unified sales platform direct to buyers thus eliminating the unnecessary middle man and increasing profits.
Howard Tang, CEO & Co Founder of Aquatronik, said, “With this investment, AQTN aims to set up a MVP of D’Floc in a Box from Singapore and further it’s R&D to further strengthen D’Floc in a Box productivity and reduce costs of development. ”
Dr Ravikrishna Ramanujam, Director of Glocalink Singapore said, “Glocalink is really excited to support Aquatronik. The D’Floc in a Box is a one of a kind system with unique Biofloc tech and designed addressing the needs & requirements of smallholder farmers across the region. The D’Floc system is more than just a precision farming solution , it not only improves productivity and reduces costs, but most importantly it does it sustainably”.
About Glocalink Singapore
Glocalink Singapore, is a Agri food-tech focussed investment company with a vision to solve the most pressing problems in food security & advance the future of food and agriculture. Glocalink aims to do this by supporting & investing in early stage startups with innovative technologies to not only solve local issues but can be further developed and implemented to solve global challenges.
About Aquatronik
Aquatronik, is an aquaculture startup company, founded by experienced operators from both agriculture, aquaculture and startup industry, with the vision of empowering small farmers to grow 100x and enjoy strong harvest of industrial aquaculture farming powered by our D’Floc in a Box technology. We envision a world where anyone with just an empty space of 100m2 would be able to get started and they could increase their output by simply installing more D’Flox boxes at their own comfortable pace.
For enquiries:
Glocalink Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Attn: Ravikrishna Ramanujam
E-mail: [email protected]
