Terra Oleo’s tunable platform harnesses precision fermentation to transform agro-industrial waste into sustainable ingredients for personal care, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and food industries
Terra Oleo, a Singapore-based biotechnology company, has secured 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. To date, Terra Oleo has raised US$3.1 million a strategic corporate investor from the palm oil industry, and other investors.
Palm oil and cocoa supply chains are stressed by 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. Costs and supply volatility are being driven up by these pressures, making producers and consumer goods companies look for alternatives urgently. Terra Oleo’s technology meets this need by reinventing lipid ingredients production.
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 the energy-intensive refining steps and toxic byproducts of conventional processes. This approach overcomes natural microbe limits, 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.
