SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug 10, 2026--
Beanstalk AgTech today announced the launch of Monsoon Ventures, a new venture studio in Singapore, backed by Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG) and Rabo Foundation. Monsoon Ventures will support founders from Southeast Asia to commercialise agtech solutions that can improve smallholder farmer livelihoods, environmental outcomes and regional food security.
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Monsoon Ventures will initially focus on six priority markets including Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore, and initially invest SG1.2m. The studio is targeting up to eight ventures in its first two years of operation, with plans to attract and deploy significantly more capital and build over 30 scalable ventures within five years.
An estimated 100 million smallholders across Southeast Asia are the backbone of regional food production, facing mounting pressure from climate shocks, input cost volatility, and supply chain fragmentation. The most practical near-term lever to improve smallholder resilience is validated technology reaching them at scale. These technologies exist across Southeast Asia but rarely make it to market due to a lack of commercial translation infrastructure.
Monsoon Ventures has been founded by Beanstalk specifically to address this commercialisation gap in Southeast Asia. The studio will invest capital, recruit complementary commercial expertise, map value chain pathways, and help ventures attract the right investors or strategic partnerships with regional players.
After running the agtech-focused Drought Venture Studio in Australia and working across Southeast Asia’s innovation ecosystem for eight years, Monsoon Ventures is Beanstalk’s first venture studio in Southeast Asia.
QUOTE: Justin Ahmed, Director, Beanstalk AgTech:
“In the last two years, Beanstalk’s Australian venture studio helped innovators to raise over AU$22M and launch 15 commercial products. In Southeast Asia, the challenges facing science commercialisation are even more magnified, which is exactly why we’re launching Monsoon Ventures here.
“Breakthrough science for smallholder resilience in this region so often dies between proof-of-concept and commercial launch. Monsoon Ventures will bring the strategy, team, and capital to help innovation cross this chasm and reach the smallholders who need it.”
Supported by EnterpriseSG and Rabo Foundation, Monsoon Ventures will draw on a blended finance model of philanthropic, public, and private capital that is suited to support both impact and commercial success outcomes. EnterpriseSG has provided foundational support for the studio to develop targeted solutions that can address the region’s food resilience challenges. This is aligned with the agency’s goal to establish Singapore as the agrifood solutions hub for the region. Rabo Foundation have further provided catalytic capital to support Monsoon Ventures’ mission to improve smallholder resilience.
QUOTE: Sharon Tay, Director Food Manufacturing and Agri-Technology, Enterprise Singapore:
“Strengthening regional food resilience requires more than breakthrough innovations - it requires a strong ecosystem that can translate promising ideas into solutions adopted at scale. Singapore is well positioned to play this role, drawing on our strengths as an innovation, financing and commercial translation hub for Southeast Asia. Through our support for Monsoon Ventures, EnterpriseSG hopes to help resilient food innovations move from the lab to the market, while reinforcing Singapore's position as the region's agrifood solutions hub.”
QUOTE: Bram Spann, Regional Lead Asia, Rabo Foundation:
“Southeast Asia’s agtech landscape holds both enormous potential while experiencing persistent challenges. While promising start-ups continue to emerge, many still struggle to reach sustainability or scale. This is why our focus on blended finance and innovation is critical: bringing together catalytic capital, knowledge, and partnerships to strengthen the ecosystem.
“Through this venture studio model, founders can access the structured, long-term support they need to iterate, validate, and build resilient business models. Our ambition is to help translate these efforts into strong companies that deliver tangible impact for smallholder farmers by improving productivity, resilience, and livelihoods.”
Monsoon Ventures welcomes conversations with funders and agribusinesses working in Southeast Asia. Visit www.monsoon-ventures.com for more information.
AboutMonsoon Ventures
Monsoon Ventures is a venture studio headquartered in Singapore that commercialises science-led agtech innovations to improve resilience for smallholders in Southeast Asia. Monsoon Ventures is founded by Beanstalk AgTech. Monsoon Press Kit.
AboutBeanstalk AgTech
Beanstalk AgTech is an innovation and commercialisation firm with offices in Singapore and Australia. For eight years, Beanstalk has worked across the Indo-Pacific agrifood ecosystem at seed, scale and systems level to accelerate the technologies and ideas transforming food production. Beanstalk delivered the Beanstalk Drought Venture Studio, raising over AU$22m and bringing 15 agtech products to market in just two years.
AboutEnterprise Singapore
Enterprise Singapore is the government agency championing enterprise development.
The agency partners committed companies to build capabilities, innovate, and go global. It drives growth – empowering local businesses and shaping industries, anchoring Singapore as a trade and startup hub, and establishing trust in products through quality and standards.
Enterprise Singapore is here for wherever businesses are growing. Visit www.enterprisesg.gov.sg for more information.
AboutRabo Foundation
Rabo Foundation, the corporate foundation of Rabobank, is an impact financier that invests in the self-sufficiency and resilience of smallholder farmers and farming communities worldwide. Active in more than 20 countries, it strengthens farmer organisations, inclusive financial institutions, and agribusinesses through financing, knowledge, networks, and partnerships. Through initiatives such as Monsoon Ventures, the foundation helps scale solutions that support sustainable agriculture, resilient food systems, and improved livelihoods.
Malaysian smallholder farmer tends to crops in her greenhouse. Monsoon Ventures has been founded to build the resilience of smallholder farmers across Southeast Asia by supporting local founders to commercialise agtech solutions that can improve smallholder farmer livelihoods, environmental outcomes and regional food security. Agri-technologies can include innovations for seeds, soil and fertilisers, as well as agrochemicals, robotics, sensors and digital farm software. Photo Credit Marcus Chung/ iStock.
