South Korea’s private sector-led shared research lab S&S Lab (the operator of IRIS Lab) has announced its latest strategic partnership with Singapore innovation ecosystem
enabler Farquhar VC (FVC), to foster and deepen relations among Korean and global novel food and biotech startups.
The duo said in a statement that they have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the deal and under this partnership, the duo will collaborate comprehensively on exchanging innovation ecosystem insights and providing mutual support to each other’s biopharma/foodtech portfolio companies.
In particular, FVC will recommend S&S Lab as the preferred destination for global biotech startups to establish their research and development (R&D) operations in North Asia, while S&S Lab will refer South Korean techbio and complementary-protein startups to FVC for their growth and expansion needs.
Also, both S&S Lab and FVC will work together on future joint initiatives to enable Korean biotech startups to scale on the global stage.
“In recent years, we have witnessed many high-quality global biopharma and foodtech ventures head to South Korea in search of new commercial opportunities, while South Korean biotech and novel food scaleups are seeking to expand globally via Singapore,
“We hope that this collaboration will enable these deeptech companies to accelerate their go-to-market timelines and bring forth their impact to society,” FVC Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer Jason Su said.
Meanwhile, S&S Lab Chief Executive Offier Kwon said that this partnership will be their first foray into global expansion.
S&S Lab is a subsidiary of S&S Tech Corp, a semiconductor company that is listed on the Korea Exchange.
As a biotech-focused accelerator, S&S Lab is the first commercial provider in South Korea that offers physical infrastructure (shared laboratory equipment and facilities) and other services (such as POC verification, R&D tech support, and investment attraction) to enable the growth of bio-based ventures.
To-date, IRIS Lab has onboarded 11 startups, and the company is on track to establish more domestic facilities later this year.
Established in 2020, FVC’s founding partners originated from the investments department of NUS Enterprise.
FVC has invested into close to 40 startups to-date, and works closely with startups to support their growth through targeted market-access with its network of mid-sized and large corporates.
FVC has recently undertaken accelerator programs with government departments such as KISED and the Seoul Business Agency to enable crossborder traction for Korean startups.
In 2024, FVC will be investing into high-growth Korean startups via its Green Future Fund.