Singapore — August 20, 2025 — At the Global Knowledge Hub Forum (GKHF) hosted at The Legacy, NTU Alumni House (one-north), Euglena Co., Ltd. co-founder Dr. Kengo Suzuki delivered remarks in the “144 Ventures Special Session: a Celebration of Southeast Asian Deep Tech.” The session, organized by Leave a Nest’s group venture capital firm 144 Ventures, featured co-founders’ talks and lightning pitches from portfolio startups focused on Southeast Asia’s most pressing challenges.

Framing the challenge: from ASEAN to Earth—and beyond

Dr. Suzuki opened by emphasizing a pragmatic path to planetary health: align industry–academia collaborations with open innovation, and translate science into deployable products that reduce the burden of lifestyle-related diseases and environmental impact across ASEAN. He highlighted issues such as metabolic disease risk and heavy resource footprints in primary industries, underscoring why science-driven productization is essential for the region.

Science to solutions: projects showcased in the talk

Drawing from current R&D and venture collaborations, Dr. Suzuki introduced several concrete initiatives:

• Metabolic health & nutrition — A meal-replacement prototype created with SirehEmas PHARMA (Malaysia) to support healthier diets in the region.
• Low-cost, large-scale microalgae production — A two-track approach (autotrophic and heterotrophic) toward biofuel feedstock, and field work spanning Japan, Malaysia and Indonesia.
• Microfluidics for bioactive discovery — A fractionation platform to study functional nanoparticles, and their potential effects across neural, muscular, and immune systems.
• Circularity at the frontier of materials — Experimental conversion of sake lees into diamond-like materials via plasma/SPS processes, exemplifying advanced upcycling from fermentation by-products.

Together these efforts illustrate an ASEAN ↔ Japan deep-tech bridge, turning lab insights into manufacturable, market-ready solutions with measurable social impact.

Extending the horizon: food systems for space habitation

Looking ahead, Dr. Suzuki connected terrestrial innovation to long-duration human presence in space. He referenced Japan’s Program for Acceleration of Space Utilization and work on resource-recycling food supply systems—“local production, local cooking, resource recycling, and QOL”—as a blueprint for resilient nutrition both on Earth and on future lunar missions.

A message to startups: build for real problems, build together

Dr. Suzuki closed with an encouragement to founders across ASEAN and beyond:
Solve real problems end-to-end—health, food, energy, and materials—using rigorous science, thoughtful design, and bold collaboration. He affirmed that the community gathered around GKHF and 144 Ventures is uniquely positioned to co-create solutions that scale from local markets to the global stage—and ultimately help humanity live well in space when that day comes.

About the Global Knowledge Hub Forum (GKHF)

GKHF is a flagship innovation platform convened by Leave a Nest to bring together MNCs, SMEs, startups, researchers, and public stakeholders. The August 20, 2025 edition in Singapore included special sessions on AI, Japan tech, energy resilience, manufacturing, and the 144 Ventures anniversary program. Participation was free and open to ecosystem players across fields.