In partnership with Trendlines Agrifood Innovation Centre, the RP-Trendlines Agri-Food Incubation Programme provides start-ups in the Agri-food industry with support through a series of workshops, networking opportunities, competition, and commercialisation possibilities.
At the final stage held on 7 October 2022, six of 12 growing start-ups presented 10-minute pitches to a panel of judges from Enterprise Singapore, BWG Singapore, TAIC, ITE College Central, and the School of Applied Science from RP on campus.
After a gruelling selection process from a panel of judges, V-Plus Agritech walked away with the Champion title and a grant of $30,000.
ABOUT V-PLUS
V-plus Agritech, a Singaporean tech company founded in 2021, empowers communities and individuals with smart and sustainable farming through their knowledge of combining traditionally separate agriculture disciplines into a multidisciplinary system.
As compared to other competitive brands in the industry, V-Plus focuses on “circular agriculture”. This means that they adopt an approach that uses minimal amounts of external resources by using discarded nutrients from the farming process to regenerate soil in a bid to minimise the impact that traditional farming may have on the environment.
Additionally, this also reduces the need for land space, which helps to further reduce carbon dioxide emissions. This greatly reduces the need to use synthetic fertilisers and helps farmers generate more income. V-Plus’ solutions consist of fish, vegetables, insects, microbes, and solar energy working mutually with each other.
POST RP-TRENDLINES
When The Republican Post met the two owners Mr James Yin, 47, and Mr Nelson Tan, 43, last October, they were all smiles upon clinching their win. The two even shared a laugh as they revealed that they had been friends for 20 years. Despite the difference in age, they had built a bond during church sessions when the pair were younger.
Though they parted ways after Mr Tan had gone overseas, they reconnected soon after he returned via a Facebook post uploaded by Mr Yin, which aligned with Mr Tan’s interest at that point in time.
We also got a sneak into their plans then, which includes penetrating overseas market access, specifically in desert areas with hopes of widening their space for research farming.
THE POWER OF FRIENDSHIP
The pair clearly have not just built a strong friendship, but a successful business together as well. Since RP-Trendlines, the owners launched their product in the United States in February, and its development was funded with funds from the grant received from the RP-Trendlines programme.
On our home ground, the brand is conducting its own research and development with bioponics — a method of growing fruits and vegetables using resources such as water, nutrients, fertilisers, and aquatic animal waste that are released by the biological activity of microorganisms. This is a new approach to using an all-natural way of converting waste to nutrients for plants.
MOVING FORWARD
When asked how they foresee the future of their company in a decade’s time, the pair agreed that 10 years is “too far to ponder”. In the next couple of years, however, they plan to attend more trade shows overseas and expand what they offer from V-Plus.
For aspiring entrepreneurs out there, the two have shared that it is important to understand the problems one is trying to solve, create values that can scale and reach out to a global audience. Lastly, it is to expand one’s horizons as far as possible.
As a final burst of motivation, the two owners said: “Build up your resilience and being thick-skinned goes a long way.”
