Amid Economic Slowdown and Investment Freeze, K-Food-Tech Expands with Vigor↑... Urban Labs, Deep Plant, Wave

<A steak made using non-preferred cuts of Handon (Korean pork) developed with Deep Plant's technology.>

Amid Economic Slowdown and Investment Freeze, K-Food-Tech Expands with Vigor↑... Urban Labs, Deep Plant, Wave

• Global food-tech market poised for 7% average annual growth, expected to reach 470 trillion KRW by 2025

• Urban Labs succeeds in securing additional seed investment for its plant-based protein extracted from coffee grounds

• Deep Plant, operator of meat data analysis platform 'Delicimeat', selected for Ministry of SMEs and Startups' TIPS program

• Wave signs MOU with Saudi Ministry of Investment (MISA) for exporting food-tech robots

[The Stock] By Reporter Kim Dong-jin = Despite growing concerns about an investment freeze and economic slowdown, the food-tech sector continues to show sustained vitality.

Food-tech, a portmanteau of "Food" and "Technology," refers to technology that creates new added value by applying 4th industrial revolution technologies like biotech, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), 3D printing, and robotics to the food industry. Plant-based meat, produce from smart farms, mobile app-based food delivery, serving robots, and kiosk ordering are all products of food-tech.

According to the Korea Rural Economic Institute, the global food-tech market is expected to grow from $211 billion in 2017 at an average annual rate of 7%, reaching an estimated $360 billion (approximately 470 trillion KRW) by 2025.

According to industry sources on the 22nd, 'Urban Labs' (CEO Kim Sun-hyun), an ESG-based company specializing in plant-based alternative proteins, secured a foothold for initial business expansion by attracting additional seed investment from Bigbang Angels and Korea Omega Investment & Finance on this day. The company had previously received its first round of seed investment from the Korea Credit Guarantee Fund at the end of last December.

Urban Labs is a company that collects 'coffee grounds,' a byproduct of coffee, extracts edible proteins and active ingredients, and then produces customized raw materials, ingredients, and products by formulating these extracted proteins for various purposes.

Coffee grounds contain a protein ratio similar to that of eggs and are a clean protein source free from GMO or allergy issues. Urban Labs is extracting and developing alternative protein from coffee grounds, aiming for a price point similar to whey or soy protein.

Kim Tae-hyun, co-CEO of Bigbang Angels, who participated in this investment, said, "The alternative protein market is expected to see high growth of 50% annually until 2030. Although Urban Labs is an early-stage company, its future growth is highly anticipated as it is pursuing joint R&D and commercialization with existing alternative meat and protein companies using its own technology."

'Deep Plant' (CEO Kim Cheol-beom), which operates the meat data analysis system 'Delicimeat' using its deep aging technology, also seized an opportunity for business expansion after being selected for the Ministry of SMEs and Startups' Tech Incubator Program for Startups (TIPS) on the 21st. With its selection for TIPS, Deep Plant has secured 500 million KRW in research and development funds for the next two years.

Deep Plant is a company that collects and analyzes meat data, then processes it with its special aging technology, "deep aging," to enhance the natural protein flavor of low-grade and non-preferred cuts. It not only supplies these products to distributors and restaurants but also sells them directly to consumers through its own online shopping mall.

Through the TIPS program, the company plans to collect more meat data and develop technology to predict taste and tenderness by analyzing it with image-based artificial intelligence (AI).

Deep Plant CEO Kim Cheol-beom stated, "Through this TIPS program, we aim to enable consumers to choose and healthily consume meat that suits their personal tastes." He added, "We will continue to strive to broaden the livestock environment and the meat consumption market by achieving a balance between the production environment and the consumer market through 'complete consumption,' where all parts of the meat currently being produced—not just the preferred cuts—are consumed."

The domestic food-tech robot company 'Wave Lifestyle Tech' (hereinafter Wave, CEO Kim Bum-jin) succeeded in signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Investment (MISA) on the 20th to expand its business in Saudi Arabia.

Wave is a robotic kitchen startup established in 2018. Through its proprietary robots and kitchen management AI technology, it sells a robot-based kitchen operation service called 'Outnow' and kitchen automation robots.

With this MOU, Wave plans to lead the digital innovation of the local food service industry by pursuing the export of its food-tech robots to Saudi Arabia. The company also intends to cooperate with MISA to provide robot-based services to various other industries.

Meanwhile, 'Blyss', an office coffee subscription service operated by the coffee-tech startup 'Brown Bag' (CEO Son Jong-soo), became the first in the industry to reach 3,000 corporate clients on the 15th. Established in 2015, Brown Bag launched 'Blyss', an office coffee subscription service that combines coffee beans with fully automatic coffee machines, after a two-year beta test period starting in 2019. At its launch, it had only 49 clients, but it has grown rapidly, reaching 1,000 in 2021 and 2,000 in 2022. Currently, major corporations like Meritz Fire & Marine Insurance and Samsung Electronics, as well as government agencies like the Ministry of National Defense, use the Blyss coffee subscription service.

Source: The Stock (http://www.the-stock.kr)