Singapore Food Sovereignty
Food sovereignty in Singapore.
Food sovereignty needs efficient and creative technologies. REFIN inspires and supports vertical farming, permaculture, solar-, seawater- and mirror-powered agriculture technologies.
30%
8
TheSIS
Efficient and creative technologies will power food sovereignty.
Four principles guide every venture on the map: vertical efficiency, solar-powered, seawater- powered, and slow growth for nutrient rich foods.
Vertical efficiency
Growing upward multiplies yield per square metre, the scarcest resource on the island.
Solar-powered
We can make the most of the sun, with innovations ranging from mirrors to redirect sunlight, to solar panels.
Seawater-powered
Seawater is all around the city. It can be condensed, desalinized, and used for irrigation.
Slow growth
Growing slowly ensures nutrients density and flavour over forced speed.
The Map
Where it’s growing
Ventures and pilots pinned across the island range from the Western reservoirs to the industrial coast of Tuas.
01
Lumen Towers
Jurong West
02
Tidewell
Tuas
03
Apex Acres
Kranji
04
Canopy Bio
one-north
05
Solaris Greens
Lim Chu Kang
Innovations
The methods
The core techniques powering the food sovereignty we aim for, each rethinking how to use light, space, and water efficiently.
Pyramidal Farming
Footprint shrinks while canopy area multiplies. 3D farming allows for a pyramid of yield on a single plot.
3×
Increase of each m²
Tomato Greenhouses
Climate-sealed glasshouses tuned for tropical heat, recovering transpired water and dosing CO₂ to push fruit density far beyond open-field rates.
12 months
Continuous harvest
Vertical Mirror Farming
Natural sunlight is bounced deep into vertical towers by tracking mirror arrays. No grow-lights, just redirected sun feeding shade-stacked beds.
0 kWh
Artificial light
Potato Towers
The vertical potato method is inspired from the Amish, and allows for massive yields
45 kg
For just 4 square feet
Drones
Multi-rotor drones enable pollination and efficient data analysis.
3-5x ROI
Increase within the same crop cycle
PORTFOLIO COMPANIES AND PARTNERS
Ventures on a mission
The founders, startups and projects building Singapore’s food sovereignty.
Lumen Towers
Series A
Mirror-fed vertical permaculture
Sun-tracking mirror stacks lighting eight-storey grow towers for leafy greens.
Jurong West
Tidewell
Seed
Seawater greenhouse upcycling
Desalination-by-condensation greenhouses turning sea spray into irrigation.
Tuas
Apex Acres
Pilot
Pyramidal grow-deck systems
Tapered deck farms maximising canopy on legacy agricultural land.
Kranji
Canopy Bio
Research
Slow-grow nutrient density
Research venture profiling slow, nutrient-rich cultivation curves.
one-north
Solaris Greens
Series A
Tropical tomato glasshouses
Climate-sealed tomato houses with closed-loop water recovery.
Lim Chu Kang
The Thesis
A resilient island can produce 30% of its food with creative innovations. It has to grow upward, slowly, vertically, and in balance with sun and sea.
Refin Technologies
Investment thesis · 2026