KosmodeHealth is a pioneering venture emerging from the NUS Food Science Technology programme. The start-up operates as what the founders describe as a “1-2-3 company”, one company impacting two sectors (in nutraceutical and 3D cell culture) with three technologies. The company was founded by Florence Leong and A/P Huang Dejian.  

Considering herself a ‘reformed drug pusher,’ co-founder Florence Leong met her co-founder A/P Huang Dejian, while serving as an NUS Enterprise advisor. Bonded by a shared mission of expanding mass access to health from nature, they joined forces to translate A/P Huang’s technological findings into tangible market solutions. “I spent almost two decades at the big pharma and decided that I wanted to do something different. Discovering the start-up world through venture capitalism, I mentored various academic institutions, including ASTAR, NUS, and NTU. It was there that I met my co-founder and found that his ability to extract resources in a cost-effective, halal-certifiable manner would have huge impact in being able to make quality health material, affordable to the mass market. And after nurturing the idea for almost two years, KosmodeHealth was born.” said Florence.

At the heart of KosmodeHealth's operations lies its cutting-edge plant extraction technology, revolutionising the accessibility of authentic plant extracts at affordable rates. Embracing the ethos of a 'zero waste' economy, the company repurposes food processing by-products, such as spent barley grains post-brewery, into valuable sources of plant protein and fiber for human and cellular nutrition. Serving as a facilitator for businesses, KosmodeHealth empowers food, nutraceutical, and agricultural companies in innovating functional foods and supplements, while also assisting in the upcycling of plant food processing waste. Their most famous signature product is their W0W noodles, which is a zero waste, functional food made from protein and fibre upcycled from spent barley grains. Their W0W noodles reflect one of their core missions which is to address the nutritional needs of the Asian ageing and diabetic population.

“Most people think KosmodeHealth is a noodle company because our claim to fame is W0W noodle, the world’s first fully functional food with zero glycaemic response. But we are more than that, we are a business enabler. We leverage our expertise in extracting protein and fibre from waste streams and repurposing food processing by-products. Utilising these resources, we craft functional foods that serve as vital tools in the realm of health management, particularly in blood sugar control. At KosmodeHealth, we redefine food as medicine, empowering individuals to proactively manage their health.” said Florence. Expanding their technological horizons, KosmodeHealth introduces Plant Protein Composite (PPCTM) bio ink, derived from recovered plant proteins, which can be 3D-printed into bespoke scaffolds for cell culture. This innovation not only mitigates the risks associated with animal protein use but also enhances the accessibility and affordability of cell culture applications. “Our ability to extract is beyond that of extracting protein fibre, we can also extract protein isolate. With protein isolates, we have a second technology which is to formulate plant protein composites, bio-ink. The bio-ink can then be printed with 3D printing technology to customise the printing of scaffolds to meet the requirements of different types of cells. Essentially very much like ‘BTO-ing’, the scaffolds to create the environment which cells is happy to grow with,” said Florence.

Incubated initially at The HANGAR and now at NUS Enterprise @ Singapore Science Park, the company's PPCTM 3D Bioprinting facility stands as a testament to their achievements. This feat, including the development of the world's only PPCTM Bio-ink & Bioscaffold, was made possible through grants from National Addictive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster and ESG Enterprise Singapore. “My experience with NUS Enterprise has been nothing short of fantastic. We got a grant to set up the 3D bio-printing facility when we had nowhere to set up our lab. We got the space to set up the 3D bio-printing. Not just the space alone, they have been fantastic in exposing, elevating our story, and giving us opportunities to showcase our products at events.” said Florence. 

Offering advice to aspiring entrepreneurs, Florence emphasised the importance of perseverance and belief in one's vision over conventional academic metrics “My advice to the young ones is do not be defined by your academic qualifications, worse still don’t be defined by your grades. Humans have a capacity to learn and do things if we believe in it. The most important thing is to pursue what you believe in”.  

Find out more at https://kosmodehealth.com/