July 26, 2022

By Lynda Kiernan-Stone, Global AgInvesting Media

Brinc, a venture accelerator with a global sustainability mandate, and DayDayCook, an Asian content-to-commerce culinary platform, are committing to invest $10 million through DayDayCook’s Good Food Accelerator – a collaborative project bolstered by Brinc’s investment of $500,000 in DayDayCook, cementing a long-term joint effort to support cutting-edge innovation. 

The main directive of the Good Food Accelerator Program, which was launched by DayDayCook in partnership with the incubation division of Hong Kong Cyberport in December 2021, is to help food tech companies achieve meaningful commercialization in Greater China and Asia. Key to this will be the ability to leverage DayDayCook’s online and offline distribution channels and its core business, as well as Brinc and DayDayCook’s combined network of food corporations, hospitality groups and investors across the region.

To this partnership Brinc brings eight years of accelerator program design and operations experience, having partnered with JUST on an Asia-focused food tech accelerator in October 2018, and with Lever VC in 2020 to launch the Lever China Alternative Protein Fund – a joint investment fund and accelerator program to advance plant-based and cultivated meat and dairy startups in China.

Over the course of its existence, Brinc has also launched AgriFood, AgriTech and Food Tech Programs in Brazil, Hong Kong, and Mainland China, to build a portfolio of more than 50 agrifood tech companies. 

Operated by Brinc, the accelerator plans to invest in as many as 45 food technology companies over the course of three years that are working to develop a sustainable, animal-free, global food ecosystem and are scaling commercialization in Greater China and Asia.

Key investment themes include alternative proteins, functional and novel ingredients, sustainable packaging, food supply innovation, and consumer agritech solutions. When considering applicants, companies with commercial-ready products and services that are actively contributing to global food sustainability goals will be given priority. 

“The Good Food Accelerator Program’s mission is to build a leading food tech ecosystem in Hong Kong,” said Norma Chu, founder and CEO, DayDayCook. “We are thrilled to partner with Brinc to welcome our second cohort of startups, to accelerate their growth, and to kickstart a stream of commercially-viable products and innovative solutions.”

Chu continued, “By sourcing innovative startups from the Greater Bay Area, Southeast Asia and areas beyond, the program will make a global splash as it carries out Hong Kong’s ambition of transforming into a key innovation hub for food tech talents worldwide.”

An Alternate Reality

Tai Lin, managing partner with Proterra Investment Partners Asia, provided insight to GAI News in an article written in July 2021 titled, Alternative Proteins and the Future of Food in Asia. Lin outlined various reasons why Asia is primed to see significant growth in alternative proteins, including familiarity with plant-based building blocks, and younger generations (Millennials and Gen-Z) who are much more health conscious, curious, highly educated, digitally connected, and willing to spend money for value-added foods. 

This potential is being reflected when tracking investment dollars. According to GFI APAC, the leading alternative protein think tank in Asia, year-on-year investment growth for the APAC alternative protein market soared by 92 percent between 2020-2021, from US$162 million to US$3112 million. 

Over the past decade, North American-based alt-protein companies have dominated the market. However, as investment backing for their Asian counterparts increases, it positions those startups for growth in the APAC region where Brinc and DayDayCook noted the adoption of alt proteins is crucial for China due to the rapid increase in demand for meat, which is expected to be the cause of a deficit in supply of more than 53 million tons between 2021-2030.

“China’s five-year agricultural development plan sets out an agenda to establish a sustainable food supply system nationwide,” noted Manav Gupta, founder and CEO, Brinc. “Brinc’s Food Tech accelerator expertise, investor and mentor network along with DayDayCook’s wide reach, commercial network and distribution reach in Mainland China will take us a bold step closer towards attaining this goal.”

Gupta continued, “We are excited to support more founders who are looking to scale alternate protein products and deep technologies from around the globe to the world’s most populous market while further developing a growing food tech ecosystem across Mainland China and the Greater Bay Area.”

“Addressing deep-rooted inefficiencies in our regional and global food systems, creating a sustainable food supply chain, plus tackling food security issues all in all help mitigate against the growing effects of climate change — which is the need of the hour and our lifetimes.”

This program will be delivered completely virtually, and will accept applications from commercially-viable startups located in, or looking to enter the Greater China or Asian market. Interested entrepreneurs can apply here.

~ Lynda Kiernan-Stone is editor with GAI Media, and is managing editor and daily contributor for Global AgInvesting’s AgInvesting Weekly News and  Agtech Intel News, as well as HighQuest Group’s Unconventional Ag. She can be reached at lkiernan-stone@globalaginvesting.com.

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