Thailand’s Betagro Ventures on the trends that will advance better quality, more sustainable and fairly priced foods

With business operations covering the production and sale of animal feed, animal health products, livestock, swine and poultry products, eggs, related processed food products and pet food, Betagro has a significant market presence in the Thai food industry.

Betagro says it is committed to offering consumers high-quality, trusted food products that meet the highest food safety standards. 

The company has invested heavily in food innovation, quality management systems, and obtaining certifications like RWA (raised without antibiotics) to ensure the quality and safety of its products. 

Betagro's S-Pure brand is the first and only brand in Thailand to receive RWA (raised without antibiotics) certification from NSF USA for its pork, chicken and egg products, catering to health-conscious consumers. 

It has focused on reducing plastic packaging and using more sustainable alternatives like paper trays. It was the first meat producer in Southeast Asia to implement this new packaging solution. The company has equipped all its factories with solar rooftops to reduce its environmental impact. 

Betagro Ventures is Betagro Group’s corporate venturing arm. Set up in 2021, the Bangkok-based company has an ambitious goal of creating a billion dollars in enterprise value by 2030 through establishing and scaling ventures that accelerate its access to better quality, more sustainable and fairly priced foods.

Beyond growth capital and leading scaling capabilities, the US$30 million fund, now freshly launched in 2024, says it is uniquely positioned to tap into Betagro Group’s broader ecosystem to provide customers, domain expertise, operational and customer insights and strategic partnership opportunities.

"The main goal for us is to make strategic benefits to bring back to our mother company,” said Betagro Ventures Investment and Partnerships Lead, Wasutee Poowuthichai. There's no limitation to the origin of the start-up, he said, but the key is that the start-up should have a strong link to allow Betagro to expand its footprint.

The Betagro Group operates across six key business units – agro, protein, food, pet, international business and restaurants – with more than 200 own retail outlets and 30,000 employees across Southeast Asia.

Betagro Ventures is eyeing three key areas to achieve this growth, he explained. First is animal agtech, and the fund is eyeing insect protein and single cell proteins as alternatives to animal feed, as well as alternatives to antibiotics and waste to value.

Second is alternative proteins for human consumption and the fund is keen to explore fermentation and cell-based technology, Poowuthichai said. Lastly is enabling technology to help Betagro Group customers get access to quality food via cold chain infrastructure and ecommerce platforms.

So far Betagro Ventures has invested in three funds: Vertex Ventures SE Asia & India; Bits x Bites, an agriculture and food tech VC based in Shanghai; and the boutique European Alternative protein fund Clay Capital.

Its first direct venture, in January this year, was a US$2 million investment into Infinite Roots, a Germany-based biotech company which is using fermentation to grow and harvest mycelium (a root-like structure of a fungus) as a versatile ingredient for the food industry.

The Series B funding round closed at US$58 million, making it the largest funding round for a mycelium company in Europe. Betagro Ventures firmly believes in Infinite Roots’s vision to create a more sustainable and healthy food system, saying the investment represents “our continued commitment in supporting this advancement and bringing cutting edge food technologies to Thailand and the broader Southeast Asian region”.

Chayadhorn Taepaisitphongse, chief strategy and innovation officer of Betagro Public Company Limited (BTG) and managing director of Betagro Ventures, stated that “today’s traditional business models face challenges from technology disruption and rapidly changing consumer behaviors. Yet, opportunities exist to embrace innovation by collaborating with startups to develop and scale new technologies. BTG believes in the Open Innovation model that promotes collaboration between internal and external stakeholders to accelerate new technologies that can better serve today’s ever-changing market.”

"Betagro Ventures will be a key mechanism in propelling BTG’s businesses into a new era of sustainable growth," added Chayadhorn. “Through both venture investments and venture building efforts, Betagro Ventures hopes to develop new innovations that ensure access to high-quality and safe foods that meet the changing needs of our consumers, thereby elevating Thailand's and ASEAN's food industry to new heights.”