A MALAYSIA SME Exclusive by Aileen Anthony
The discussion, moderated by Cleantech’s Anthony DeOrsey, featured Chor Chee Hoe, Co-Founder and CEO of Qarbotech; Pang Sittakaradej, Head of Seed at ADB Ventures; and Rebecca Sharpe, Founder and CEO of Better Earth Ventures. The conversation revealed that while innovation is advancing rapidly, scaling it remains one of the greatest challenges facing the sector.
Beyond Proof of Concept
One recurring theme throughout the discussion was the growing importance of moving beyond Proof of Concept (POC) to demonstrate real-world Proof of Value (POV). Rebecca Sharpe explained that many startups successfully reach the stage where their technology works in a laboratory, but significantly fewer manage to prove that it can consistently deliver value in commercial environments.
“What we look at is where, and we call it the proof of value stage, so when you’re ready to start taking it out from a laboratory into a real-world environment, it can be very, very difficult to get people to take a chance on you,” said Sharpe.
Sharpe described a cycle that many founders know all too well. Corporates often ask startups to return after demonstrating results across multiple harvest seasons, while investors ask for customer validation before committing capital. “You go to a corporate and you say, I’ve got a great piece of technology, and I’ve validated it in a lab. They say, come back when you’ve validated it consistently over several harvest seasons.” Yet when founders seek funding to do exactly that, the conundrum frequently is “come back to us when you’ve got customer validation.”
According to Sharpe, technical performance alone is no longer enough. “It’s not just about the efficacy of your technology.” Startups must prove agronomic value, adoption value and channel value. They must show that solutions can increase yields, reduce risk and fit naturally into farmers’ existing practices without requiring major behavioural shifts.
Food Security Can No Longer Be Ignored
Pang Sittakaradej observed that while investment markets have become more selective, the urgency surrounding food security continues to grow. “Food security has become one of the top priorities of the governments in the region,” she said.
Across Asia Pacific, farmers and agribusinesses face mounting pressure from climate change, rising costs, supply chain disruptions and resource constraints. As a result, Pang believes more companies are becoming willing to explore innovative solutions.
Willingness, Pang stressed, does not automatically translate into adoption. “At the end of the day, it still needs to make economic sense for the user.”
Solutions that gain traction are often those that demonstrate value quickly while finding practical routes to market. “The solution that we see getting some traction or getting better traction in this environment are mostly the ones that can really show the way to market.”
The Challenge of Scaling Agricultural Innovation
For Qarbotech’s Chor Chee Hoe, the challenge is no longer proving that the technology works. Qarbotech converts agricultural waste into nanocarbon-based materials that enhance photosynthesis, helping crops utilise light more effectively while improving yield, crop cycles and resilience, in some crops increasing yields to up to 60 percent.
“We are past the proof of concept stage,” Chor said. “We have partnered with private entities for our proof of value (POV) stage.” Yet achieving meaningful scale remains difficult. “What we are hoping is the opportunity to work with state and federal governments to bring this POV on a bigger scale.”
Chor highlighted a challenge faced by many agri-tech startups. Investors want stronger revenue growth, but accessing larger opportunities often requires procurement systems that are open to innovation.
“We are trying to fit the future with the shopping list of the past,” Chor shared, noting that many procurement frameworks remain designed around traditional agricultural inputs. He believes governments can play a catalytic role. “If the government can be the frontier to drive all these innovations, the region’s agricultural tech space can grow even further.”
Go To Market Matters As Much As Technology
The discussion also underscored that successful agricultural innovation requires a deep understanding of local realities. Pang noted that many innovators underestimate how difficult it is to reach highly fragmented agricultural markets.
“Most of the time people underestimate how hard a go-to-market strategy for that highly fragmented market is,” she said. Rather than approaching farmers individually, successful companies often work through existing channels such as distributors, cooperatives and off-takers that already have trusted relationships with farming communities.
Pang also stressed that farmers typically have limited room to experiment. “The economics must be really near-term and very clear to end-users. Farmers or even agribusinesses don’t really have that high a room to really take risks.”
Building Systems That Enable Adoption
Qarbotech’s expansion into markets such as Indonesia and the Philippines reinforced these lessons. Chor explained that many farmers operate with limited purchasing power, prompting the company to rethink packaging formats.
“The farmers there are having very limited budgets to spend,” he said. As a result, Qarbotech introduced smaller packaging sizes to better suit different market segments. “We also have a smaller bottle that is 200ml just to service specific segments of the supply chain.”
Sharpe shared an example from Laguna in the Philippines, where farmers were using combine harvesters that could reduce harvesting time from seven days to just two hours. Despite the clear benefits, adoption remained dependent on support mechanisms. “They can’t afford to rent combine harvesters themselves. They have to rely on government subsidies,” she explained.
The experience reinforced an important lesson. Farmers are often more willing to embrace innovation than many people assume. “Farmers are really keen on it,” Sharpe said. Yet access, affordability and financing frequently determine whether adoption happens.
Innovation Alone Will Not Feed the Future
Throughout the discussion, one message emerged repeatedly. The challenge facing agriculture is no longer simply about inventing better technologies. The technologies already exist. The bigger challenge is creating the conditions that allow those technologies to be adopted at scale.
From investors seeking stronger validation, to corporates managing risk, to governments balancing procurement policies, every stakeholder plays a role in determining whether innovation succeeds or remains confined to pilot projects. As Pang noted, the need for innovation is becoming increasingly urgent, but adoption will continue to depend on whether solutions can demonstrate clear economic value.
Meanwhile, companies such as Qarbotech are demonstrating that Southeast Asia is capable of producing homegrown innovations that address local challenges. Yet, as Chor highlighted, scaling those innovations requires procurement systems, funding mechanisms and policy frameworks that create opportunities for emerging technologies to compete on a level playing field.
The discussion ultimately revealed that the future of agriculture will not be shaped by technology alone. It will be shaped by collaboration between innovators, investors, governments, corporates, NGOs and farmers themselves. As food security becomes increasingly intertwined with economic resilience, climate adaptation and national development, the winners will not necessarily be those with the most advanced technologies. They will be those who can successfully bridge the gap between innovation and adoption, turning promising ideas into solutions that reach millions of farmers across Asia Pacific.
