As fuel insecurity deepens and electricity demand surges, Asia-Pacific’s cleantech innovators are signaling what can be done now to prepare for what sometimes seem like improbable challenges

San Francisco, CA – April 30, 2026 — Terra Oleo, a biotechnology company advancing microbial technology to produce sustainable alternatives to palm oil derivatives and cocoa butter, has been named to Cleantech Group’s 2026 APAC Cleantech 25. This annual list recognizes the top private companies in the Asia-Pacific region that are making significant strides in cleantech innovation and sustainability. The APAC Cleantech 25, sponsored by ADB Ventures and Twin Tower Ventures, recognizes promising private companies developing and deploying breakthrough solutions. Discover breakthrough cleantech solutions – AI-optimized data centers to solid-state fusion, from sand-based thermal batteries to off-grid cold chain, from green cement to solar-reflective cooling. These companies are at the forefront of addressing Asia-Pacific’s most pressing energy, industrial, and climate challenges while driving economic growth and technological advancement in the region.

“We are honored to be named to Cleantech Group’s 2026 APAC Cleantech 25 alongside the top climate and cleantech companies in APAC. At Terra Oleo, we’re excited to continue advancing microbial technology to produce next-generation fats and oils to power the world’s products.”
– Shen Ming Lee, CEO & Co-Founder of Terra Oleo

Selection Process and Key Themes

The companies featured in the APAC Cleantech 25 were chosen through a rigorous selection process, incorporating input from Cleantech Group’s expert panel, market research, and data-driven insights. The selection criteria considered factors such as technological innovation, market scalability, partnerships, and investment traction.

This year’s analysis reveals key investment and innovation trends:

• The Pressure Cooker Intensifies in APAC: The world is in the throes of a large-scale military conflict in the Middle East, imposing significant supply chain and economic impacts globally. Asia-Pacific faces these pressures in an even more exacerbated way, with an estimated 60% of APAC oil sourced from the Middle East, tightening fertilizer supply, and growing fiscal strain on governments subsidizing fuel. Energy generation, energy storage, and industrial decoupling from fossil fuels are areas still ripe for innovation in the region, and in some cases, even more so than the rest of the world.
• APAC Innovation Remains Globally Relevant: Venture and growth investments in Asia-Pacific experienced an apparent drop-off in 2024 and 2025, but much of this can be attributed to the fast growth of Chinese innovators out of the equity continuum and into debt rounds. When separating China from the rest of Asia Pacific, the past 15 months have been relatively strong in terms of deals, with Q1 of 2026 already exceeding 2020 entirely, and these are in decidedly global spaces.
• A Fast Race for AI Infrastructure: There is a fast race afoot in Asia-Pacific to compete in data center infrastructure, chips, semiconductors, and heat management materials. Japanese innovators are highly visible in these themes, from reinventing memory storage to developing thermal transfer materials for heat dissipation. As the next generations of GPUs intensify in power requirements, there will be a drive to quickly access thermal management materials—similar to the frenzy to procure power, chips, and cooling equipment the world is seeing right now.
• AI-for-Cleantech Emerges in APAC: While APAC cleantech for AI infrastructure is kicking into full gear, AI-for-cleantech is also taking hold. Cleantech Group is consistently becoming aware of new AI-for-cleantech companies in the region, where massive upward efficiency growth potential remains largely untapped in countries like China, Malaysia, Vietnam, India, and Indonesia. This year’s list features AI applications taking aim at both energy systems and AI infrastructure operations.
• Electricity Demand Hits New Highs, Decarbonized Heat a Multi-Decade Journey: Asia will not only have digital services demand but also astounding demand from air conditioning, industrial electrification, and increasingly electrified fleets. The premise that data centers are the primary source of growth is a developed-world assumption. In India and Southeast Asia, heavy industries requiring high heat inputs will see significant growth, with cement, iron, and steel expected to account for over 50% of energy demand growth through 2035. This year’s list features innovators in fusion, long-duration energy storage, and thermal energy storage for industrial process heat.
• Climate Adaptation Compounds, South-to-South Transfer Grows: Only 5–7% of venture and growth investments in cleantech go to adaptation and resilience technologies, but Asia-Pacific has opportunities to diverge where paths to market are clearer. Extreme heat is already impacting daily lives across South and Southeast Asia, and cooling solutions are needed immediately, and extreme heat will be an accelerant on already-stressed food systems. The 2026 cohort includes innovators in solar-reflective cooling, off-grid cold chain, and modular water treatment, with high-potential South-to-South transfer as solutions developed for one part of the Global South find applications across many others.

Driving Investments and Industry Collaboration

The APAC Cleantech 25 is produced with the support of ADB Ventures and TTV, and serves as a key reference for investors, corporations, and policymakers looking to engage with the most promising cleantech start-ups in the region. By showcasing the latest advancements and emerging leaders in sustainable technology, Cleantech Group aims to accelerate investment and collaboration that can drive meaningful environmental progress.

Download your complimentary copy of the 2026 APAC Cleantech 25.

About Terra Oleo

Terra Oleo is a Singapore-based biotechnology company pioneering microbial technology to produce sustainable alternatives to palm oil derivatives and cocoa butter for applications in personal care, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food. Leveraging deep expertise in microbial strain engineering, Terra Oleo delivers clean, cost-effective, and scalable alternatives to conventional fats and oils.

About Cleantech Group

Cleantech® Group is the human intelligence authority on global cleantech innovation. Since 2002, we’ve helped decision-makers across industry, finance, and policy navigate the rapid shifts transforming the global economy.

Going beyond market intelligence—offering insights, strategic guidance, and curated connections to help leaders stay ahead, identify opportunities, and act with confidence. Our insight is built on over 20 years of human intelligence, proprietary data, and direct relationships with the ecosystem leaders driving change.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Shen Ming Lee

CEO & Co-Founder

Terra Oleo

[email protected]

Addison Marr

Senior Marketing Manager

Cleantech Group

Email: [email protected]

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Terra Oleo, a Singapore-based biotechnology company, today announced its emergence from stealth with US$3.1 million in funding from a group of investors, and support from Breakthrough Energy’s prestigious Fellows Program.

As part of this highly selective global initiative, Terra Oleo is advancing microbial technology to create sustainable alternatives to palm oil derivatives and cocoa butter for use in personal care, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food.

Palm oil and cocoa supply chains are under strain from climate instability, regulatory pressures, and limited land. In 2024, cocoa’s end-of-season stocks fell 26% and futures prices reached record highs, while global palm oil exports dropped 5.83% year-over-year amid rising demand and production constraints. These pressures are driving up costs and supply volatility, leaving producers and consumer goods companies in urgent need of alternatives. Terra Oleo’s technology meets this need by reinventing how lipid ingredients are produced.

Terra Oleo’s tunable platform harnesses precision fermentation to transform agro-industrial waste into sustainable palm oil ingredients and cocoa butter alternatives. Backed by deep synthetic biology and microbial engineering expertise, the platform delivers tailored lipid profiles for high-value palm and cocoa applications, while eliminating energy-intensive refining steps and toxic byproducts of conventional processes. This approach overcomes the limits of natural microbes, delivering superior unit economics and faster market adoption than other solutions.  

With strong process economics and deep market networks built alongside the conventional palm industry, Terra Oleo is uniquely positioned to deliver scalable, high-performance alternatives. At full scale, its technology could eliminate up to 900 million tons of CO₂ annually from palm oil and cocoa supply chains, accelerating decarbonization across personal care, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food.

The company has already signed product testing agreements with several global and regional leaders in oleochemicals, food, personal care, and cosmetics. With validation underway and demand accelerating, Terra Oleo is preparing to scale from lab to market with products designed to match or surpass conventional performance.

To date, Terra Oleo has raised US$3.1 million from ADB Ventures, The Radical Fund, Elev8.vc, Better Bite Ventures, a strategic corporate investor from the palm oil industry, and other investors. Terra Oleo was co-founded by Shen Ming Lee, Boon Uranukul, PhD, and Min Hao Wong, PhD, who together bring complementary strengths in science, industry, and strategy to advance the company’s mission to decarbonize palm oil and cocoa.

“We founded Terra Oleo to reinvent how we produce the fats and oils that power our everyday lives,” said Shen Ming Lee, Co-Founder & CEO of Terra Oleo. “With support from the Breakthrough Energy Fellows program and our incredible investors, we are deeply honored and excited to bring sustainable, scalable alternatives to market and collaborate with partners to decarbonize palm oil and cocoa.”

Terra Oleo was selected to join Breakthrough Energy’s 2025 Fellows Program, which supports early-stage innovators developing technologies with the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at gigaton scale. Fellows are selected through a rigorous process to ensure their technologies can reduce emissions at scale. With this support, Terra Oleo will scale from lab to pilot while advancing customer formulation testing and validation.

“We’re honored to have the opportunity to work with talented founders who are tackling the most difficult climate and energy challenges around the world,” said Ashley Gross, vice president of Breakthrough Energy.


The Breakthrough Energy 2025 Fellows announcement can be found here.


As Terra Oleo enters its next phase, the company welcomes engagement with potential partners in the oleochemicals and specialty fats sector to sample its ingredients or co-develop customized lipids that are sustainable without compromising performance.

For more information, please visit www.terraoleo.work.

The post Terra Oleo Emerges from Stealth with US$3.1M in Funding and Breakthrough Energy Fellow Selection to Reinvent Fats and Oils appeared first on Terra Oleo.