Glocalink Singapore Pte. Ltd.(Director: Dr. Ravikrishna Ramanujam)(hereinafter referred to as “the Company”) has invested in Malaysia-based agritech startup, Qarbotech Sdn Bhd.(CEO: Mr. Chee Hoe Chor, hereinafter referred to as “Qarbotech”) Qarbotech develops a biocompatible solution that increases the photosynthesis rate of leafy plants, which helps agropreneurs grow their crops bigger, faster, and healthier.
For the past few decades, agropreneurs have used conventional industrial farming practices, such as the application of synthetic fertilizers and chemical pesticides, to increase crop yield. However, plant growth is also limited by the inefficient photosynthesis process.Harvast , Qarbotech’s bio-based solution, can penetrate through the leaves and interact with chloroplast inside the leaves to absorb more sunlight. This will increase the photosynthesis rate by about 30%, and translate to 30% increase in plant growth, 25% reduction in crop cycle.
Efficient farming is not just a matter of production, but it is also about environmental sustainability. The founders of Qarbotech, Chor Chee Hoe (CEO), Dr. Suraya Abdul Rashid (Chief Scientist), and Mohamad Syazwan Abdul Rahman (CFO) have the vision to help agropreneurs to achieve SDG 12 – sustainable consumption and production, and SDG 2- increase agricultural productivity, through increasing photosynthesis rate of plants. Apart from helping agropreneurs, they also believe that plants and trees have core roles to play in sustainable cities to ensure good air quality. Increasing photosynthesis efficiency will also have a big impact on the reduction of carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas in cities.
Qarbotech is the Grand Winner of Tech Planter Asia Final 2021. Since then, Qarbotech has enticed many partners within the Leave A Nest ecosystem with its technology of photosynthesis enhancement. Other efforts in the industry to increase the photosynthesis rate of plants revolve around genetic modification and complicated biotechnology. In contrast to those efforts, Qarbotech uses a novel yet simple approach by enhancing photosynthesis through its patent-pending bio-based solution.
With this investment, Qarbotech aims to upscale its production capabilities to further expand in Malaysia and work together with Glocalink to penetrate Japan and Singapore. As the world is shifting into a circular bio-based economy from a fossil-based economy, we see huge potential in Qarbotech’s technology. Qarbotech helps plants to optimize the abundant solar energy for their growth.
Dr Ravikrishna Ramanujam, Director of Glocalink Singapore said, “We are really excited to support Qarbotech Sdn Bhd. We strongly believe that this innovative technology from Malaysia, has distinct advantages compared to traditional methods and can not only improve agricultural productivity here in Singapore but can do so across Southeast Asia & Japan”.
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.
For enquiries:
Glocalink Singapore Pte. Ltd.
Attn: Ravikrishna Ramanujam
E-mail: [email protected]
