A stealth Singapore biotech startup has emerged from stealth with $3.1 million in funding to challenge the massive palm oil industry using engineered yeast that converts agricultural waste into high-value oils. Terra Oleo represents a direct challenge to the 79 million metric ton global palm oil market, backed by investors including ADB Ventures and the prestigious Breakthrough Energy Fellows program.
Terra Oleo just broke cover with a story that reads like a climate tech thriller. The Singapore-based startup has been operating in stealth for nearly two years, quietly engineering yeast strains that could fundamentally reshape how the world produces oils. Today's $3.1 million funding announcement isn't just another biotech round - it's a direct shot at the palm oil industry's environmental legacy.
The company's origin story centers on founder Shen Ming Lee's personal rebellion against her family's palm oil empire. "I grew up in the conventional palm oil industry," Lee told TechCrunch in an exclusive interview. "My family's business is one of the top producers in the palm oil space. And so I grew up a little bit — I have to admit — ashamed of what my family does."
That shame turned into scientific ambition when Lee met MIT doctoral candidate Boon Uranukul in 2022. Uranukul had developed microbes capable of producing plastic building blocks from agricultural waste - technology that Lee immediately saw as applicable to her family's industry problem. The palm oil sector has deforested vast swaths of Southeast Asia while becoming ubiquitous in everything from snack foods to pharmaceuticals.
The funding round attracted heavyweight climate investors, including ADB Ventures, Better Bite Ventures, and a strategic corporate investor from the palm oil industry itself. Lee and Uranukul also secured spots in this year's Breakthrough Energy Fellows cohort, Bill Gates' prestigious program for climate innovators.
Terra Oleo's technical approach sidesteps the traditional palm oil refining process entirely. The company selected three yeast species based on their natural ability to produce specific oils when fed organic waste from agriculture and biodiesel production. Through genetic and metabolic engineering, they've boosted these microbes' fat and triglyceride production capabilities.
"There's the illusion that crude palm oil is the end all be all," Lee explained to TechCrunch, noting that raw palm oil is actually a "very low margin commodity." Instead, Terra Oleo targets higher-value derivatives like cocoa butter and specialty oils for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals - products that currently require expensive refining processes.
