Deep tech creates good vibes for plants and people

FROM helping plants grow better to soothing backaches, the ceramic alloy technology developed by JAH Tech has a wide range of uses – and the Singapore-based company is trying to bring all these to market.

Deep tech research may often result in failure, noted chief executive officer Tan Chong Hui: “There’s always the risk of certain things not working out.”

“But where JAH Tech comes in is to identify those that already have some positive impact, and we are able to create some commercial value out of it.”

One recent foray is to Indonesia, where JAH Tech aims to introduce its agriculture solution, Unitatem Cultura.

JAH Tech’s ceramic alloy emits electromagnetic waves. In the Unitatem Cultura treatment, pieces of the alloy are placed into water. The electromagnetic field causes water molecules to be spread further apart, facilitating nutrient uptake by crops and boosting soil health, which in turn improves crop yields, said Tan.

This May, JAH Tech’s agritech arm JAH Cultura visited Jakarta to present their solution to farming industry players and Indonesia’s ministries for agriculture and aquaculture.

Agritech is one of two focus areas for commercialisation, along with wellness applications under another unit, JAH Life.

How it all began

For over two decades, technopreneur Barton Lee has been investing in laboratories in Hong Kong and mainland China that engage in deep tech research, covering a wide spectrum of technology.

This research resulted in the development of their ceramic alloy. Around 2016, one of Tan’s friends – who was testing a trial product that used the alloy – introduced him to Lee.

“After finding out more about the tech through Barton, I suggested to him that we should start a company in Singapore for commercialisation of the products,” said Tan.

After three years of planning and groundwork, JAH Tech was established in 2019 – the year that the alloy was deemed ready to be used in skincare, thus providing the impetus for this move.

The company handles commercialisation, licensing and partnership for the technologies developed at the labs. Besides its own labs, JAH Tech collaborates with institutes of higher learning in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Indonesia for testing and development.

Helping farmers

In Indonesia, JAH Cultura’s business model is to work with the first few farmers that approach them for each type of crop, said Tan. “We’ll offer them a special discount for using our technology, we’ll waive certain fees to allow them to use our technology for a period of time.”

“So the farm gives us data, and we use the data to show the rest of Indonesia or the rest of the world,” he said.

Unitatem Cultura has been tested by a bok choy farm in Singapore, and is set to be deployed in farms in Indonesia for vegetables, fish and prawns.

Farmers pay a certain sum for the initial set-up, but the bulk of the fees are under a monthly or yearly subscription, akin to paying for utilities. This way, farmers can access the technology without high upfront costs. The group decided to do this as farmers “operate on very, very thin margins”, said Tan.

The solution can be used in aquaculture, too. Singapore farm Ebizu found that grouper fish healed from skin problems faster in water treated with Unitatem Cultura, leading to a lower rate of fish death.

In the next few months, JAH Cultura will launch in Cambodia, Malaysia and China. For its first large-scale deployment, it is in talks with a commercial farm in Hainan, China. Beyond vegetables and fish, the company is exploring applications of the technology for livestock such as pigs, sheep and chickens.

Beyond food

JAH Tech’s current revenue streams come from JAH Cultura and JAH Life. The latter was set up in 2020, to apply the group’s technology to health and wellness products.

One such product is Sanitatem Alpha, a solution of water, carbon and sodium enhanced with the ceramic alloy. Said to have anti-aging properties, this active ingredient is used in skincare products under JAH Life’s NaturidgeLAB brand.

Another solution is Unitatem Primis, where the ceramic alloy is modified for use in wearable products. The waves are said to improve blood circulation, relieve inflammation and promote wound healing.

The most recent example, launched on Jul 20, is the Papilio waist and back therapeutic belt. Containing pieces of the ceramic alloy, the belt is said to promote blood circulation, and relieve strain and inflammation in the lower back and hips.

Unitatem Primis is also provided to other manufacturers on an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) basis, which is JAH Tech’s preferred model.

JAH Tech has two other subsidiaries. JAH Gaia uses the ceramic alloy in an “emissions control technology” that can be fitted into car engines. This alters fuel molecules such that the fuel burns more efficiently, improving engine performance and reducing harmful emissions.

JAH Materials specialises in a different surface treatment technology, that makes aluminium strong enough to replace traditional steel moulds used in factories.

These treated aluminium moulds reduce cooling time by up to 40 per cent per manufacturing cycle, improving efficiency and revenue. Before the pandemic, this technology was used in a factory in China to produce plastic toy building blocks.

Going further

Till now, JAH Tech has been funded by Lee, but the company will start its first round of seed funding later this year.

“We are building up not just the reputation, but also the credentials of our tech, and from there we hope to get into profitability within the next one to two years,” said Tan.

JAH Tech’s subsidiaries are open for investment and looking for the right partners, he said. “The ideal case is always licensing. If we are able to find good partners that recognise and value the technology, we are able to establish a licensing model, things will move a lot faster.”

The right partner should have “more to offer than just funds”, he added. For instance, an agricultural seed provider aiming to develop premium seeds could license JAH Cultura’s technology to do so.

The main challenge is a “chicken-and-egg” one, said Tan: “One of the main things for any research firm or deep tech firm is to show enough data to convince commercial companies to start a collaboration.” But to get that data, they must find companies to trial their technology and prove its effectiveness.

“That is always one of our ongoing challenges: how to achieve commercial results, while providing certain aspects to satisfy scientific questions.”

People need to understand the nature of deep tech as a long-term investment, he said: “For things like deep tech, it’s not something like ‘Buy and sell, next week you make your money back’. We’re talking about 24 years of funding and research. It takes a lot of belief and commitment.”