Applied Entomology innovations company expands its technology capabilities to bring insect pollination to controlled-environment agriculture facilities in Singapore
SINGAPORE, 1 April 2022: Cuprina Innovative Solutions, a nature-inspired innovations company, becomes an equal shareholder in hybrid biology and electronics pest solutions provider, Pestroniks Innovations.
The companies share a common passion to create solutions for and with insects that help resolve environmental challenges. Their combined expertise will see the development of fully integrated agriculture solutions that incorporate elements of both controlled environment-agriculture (CEA) insect pollination and pest management with the ultimate goal of enhancing growers’ crop yields and quality.
Cuprina Holdings has two existing subsidiaries, Cuprina Wound Care Solutions and Cuprina Pollination Services, each focused on researching and developing commercial applications of its namesake, Lucilia cuprina, for different sectors. Pestroniks Innovations is a strategic addition to the company’s AgriTech subsidiary, Cuprina Pollination Services.
“Pestroniks Innovations is thrilled to welcome Cuprina as majority shareholder. We are excited to see new applications of our proprietary technology and have it introduced to new audiences and markets.” - Steve Teo, Director of Strategic Growth, Pestroniks Innovations
“The synergies between our companies are palpable and I have no doubt the mutual enhancement of our capabilities through this acquisition will stimulate continuous innovation. With Pestroniks part of our family, we can offer a full spectrum of insect inspired solutions, from pest control to indoor farm pollination” - Carl Baptista, Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Cuprina Innovative Solutions
Cuprina Pollination Services’ core solution incorporates multiple technologies, including UV LEDs and insect traps, to cover all aspects of pollination, from insect manipulation to control over environmental conditions in the pollination chamber. Pestroniks Innovations provides proprietary technology for the UV LED aspect of this solution.
Cuprina Pollination Services will leverage the technology within Pestroniks' light traps and reverse-engineer it to provoke insects to pollinate flowers in indoor farm settings.
“This acquisition will help accelerate our agritech capability and particularly our research and development work around insect pollination for CEA farms in Singapore.” - David Quek, Chief Executive Officer, Cuprina Holdings
This solution will help facilitate the evolution of CEA farms. Currently, leafy greens are the primary crops grown in these settings. This is because leafy greens do not require pollination. However, to help meet Singapore’s “30 by 30” food security goals, CEA farmers will need to expand the crop types they grow to include those that require pollination. Cuprina Pollination Services’ solution can offer growers an affordable and scalable means of introducing this process into their farms.
About Cuprina Holding Pte Ltd
Cuprina Holdings creates nature-inspired solutions that help solve industry challenges. Its namesake, the Lucilia cuprina blowfly, inspires the development of capabilities across healthcare, agritech and waste management. Driven by its purpose, harnessing the power of nature to fuel sustainable development, the company brings biotechnology, applied entomology, and electronics together.
About Pestroniks Innovations Pte Ltd
Pestroniks Innovations is a Singapore-headquartered innovation company that creates unique products combining Entomology, Biotechnology and Electronics. The company strives to develop unique, cost-effective products in the field of pest management for urban and rural areas, agriculture, sanitation and hygiene, and environment management. Its products are designed to provide valuable data to customers for the smarter management of pests.
Izzy Colthurst-Kang
Project & Partnerships Manager, Cuprina Holdings