Perth, Oct 30: A Singapore start-up that turns discarded cashew nut husks into antibacterial cling wrap has raised A$2.4 million, and its product is already in use at one of Perth’s best-known delis.
N&E Innovations’ Series A round was led by Australian agrifood investor Tundra Capital, with backing from Singapore’s state-owned deep-tech investor SGInnovate, The Radical Fund, Archipelago VC and SG7 Group.
The company has developed a patented ingredient called ViKANG99, made by extracting naturally occurring antimicrobial compounds from agricultural waste such as cashew nut husks. N&E says the edible, food-grade ingredient can help fresh produce last up to four times longer.
It is used in the company’s Orange Wrap, which N&E describes as the world’s first antibacterial cling wrap. Rather than simply sealing food in, the wrap has the ingredient built into the material to slow bacterial growth.
In Perth, the wrap is distributed by Familiar Goods and Ward Distribution. One of its users is The Re Store, the family-owned Italian deli in Northbridge and Leederville, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary this year.
Owners Lorenzo and Moreno Berti said the wrap’s quality stood out immediately.
“We handle prosciutto, salami, mortadella and more every single day, so the wrap we use matters as much as the produce itself,” they said.
Familiar Goods owner Kieran King said the antibacterial properties gave hospitality operators “real confidence in a busy kitchen”.
N&E was co-founded in 2020 by biomedical scientist Didi Gan.
“Food waste is usually seen as something we need to get rid of. We see it as a resource,” Gan said.
The company already supplies Singapore Airlines and supermarket chain Sheng Siong. The new funding will support expansion into the United Kingdom, Germany, Vietnam, Taiwan and Australia, where its KeepWell plant-based cleaning range is set to launch in selected IGA supermarkets in Sydney.
Tundra Capital managing partner Timothy Hui said N&E “ticks every box”, turning agricultural waste into an ingredient that can be used across the food supply chain.
N&E also plans to launch post-harvest treatments later this year, applying the ingredient directly to fruit and vegetables as a natural alternative to chlorine and wax.
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