Teora
Entrepreneur First '20Singapore, SG · Founded 2020 · 1 known investors
Teora develops AI-driven, feed-based and foliar-spray biologics for farm health and growth, using bioinformatics and precision fermentation to prevent disease and boost yields without antibiotics, hormones, or cold-chain vaccines. Its SOLAQ platform is proven in aquaculture and aimed at scaling to livestock, poultry, companion animals, and agriculture.
Also known as TeOra · TeOra Pte Ltd · Teora Pte. Ltd.
Founders & leadership
Teora was founded in 2020 by Rishita Changede and Seyed Mohammad Hasheminejad.
Investors · 1
Company profile
researched Aug 2026TeOra (Teora Pte. Ltd.) is a Singapore-based synthetic biology and aquatech company that develops biologics for disease management and growth enhancement in food production. Its platform, marketed as SOLAQ, combines AI-driven bioinformatics to map pathogens, immune triggers and nutrient or growth bottlenecks, synthetic biology to design subunit peptide and RNA-based actives, precision fermentation for scale-up, and targeted encapsulation for delivery to the animal gut or plant root. The output is described as a room-temperature-stable powder that is mixed into ordinary farm feed or applied as a foliar spray, avoiding injections, immersion treatments and cold-chain storage.
The company positions SOLAQ as delivering three functions from one platform: prophylactic use to prevent outbreaks, therapeutic use against active outbreaks, and a growth-booster function intended to shorten feed-to-growth time. TeOra states that development timelines run 6-8 months from lab to field rather than the three-plus years cited for conventional vaccine development. In aquaculture the company has been described as developing an orally delivered vaccine to prevent and treat scale drop disease virus in farmed fish. Company materials say the solutions are proven in aquaculture and intended to extend to livestock, poultry, companion animals and agriculture, citing a $193 billion addressable market.
According to a 2024 profile of founder and CEO Dr Rishita Changede, the company was built by a multidisciplinary team with a combined background in human pharmaceuticals, and its key technical hurdles included adapting laboratory technology to harsh field conditions and developing encapsulation that prevents degradation in transport without ultra-cold storage. The same profile reports that early adopters in aquaculture have described improvements in animal health and productivity and reduced chemical use, and that one customer applied a biologic designed for one species to protect another species against a related pathogen.
Founding story
Founder and CEO Dr Rishita Changede has described moving from an academic career focused on human pharmaceuticals to founding TeOra after direct exposure to agricultural losses and farmer distress in the region, including cases where repeated crop failures cut farmers off from credit and, in her account, contributed to farmer suicides. She has cited the disparity between the risks borne by farmers and the benefits accruing to society, along with the ineffectiveness and health consequences of antibiotic-based approaches, as the motivation for applying interdisciplinary biotech to food production.
Business model
TeOra develops and supplies biologic additives that farmers incorporate into existing feed or apply as foliar sprays, rather than services requiring injection, immersion or cold-chain logistics. Its contact page solicits distribution and partnership discussions, product trials and research collaborations, indicating a mix of direct farm trials, distributor channels and institutional partnerships. Specific pricing or contracting terms are not disclosed in the available sources.
Not specified in the available sources; company materials describe product supply of feed-based and foliar-spray biologics, with requests for distribution partnerships, but do not state pricing, licensing or subscription structures.
Traction
Publicly available evidence of traction is limited: the company describes its solutions as proven in aquaculture, and the 2024 founder profile reports early adopters in aquaculture citing improved animal health and productivity and lower chemical use. It won The Liveability Challenge 2023 and is in the Plug and Play APAC portfolio. Its e27 startup profile lists no funding entries. No customer counts, revenue or unit volumes are disclosed.
Latest developments
The most recent dated public item in the reviewed sources is a September 2024 interview with CEO Dr Rishita Changede describing early aquaculture adoption, the company's encapsulation breakthrough, and a ten-year ambition to become a global leader in sustainable food production technologies. The company website markets SOLAQ across aquaculture with stated plans to extend into livestock, poultry, companion animals and agriculture.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market, geography, history, risks & controversies
Market position
TeOra presents itself as an Asia-originated biotech innovator addressing disease and growth problems in food production that it argues are under-served by companies in developed markets. Sources cited include recognition as a 2023 Liveability Challenge winner and membership in the Plug and Play APAC portfolio. The available material does not identify named competitors or market-share data.
TeOra contrasts its approach with incumbent options it characterises as slow or impractical: conventional vaccines requiring three-plus year development cycles and cold chain (which it says adds 20-30 percent to costs), injection and immersion delivery that is labour-intensive and costly at high stocking densities, genetics programmes that take years, and antibiotic or hormone-based growth practices. Its stated differentiators are oral or foliar delivery in ordinary feed and sprays, room-temperature stability, species-specific AI-designed biologics, a single platform spanning prophylactic, therapeutic and growth-promotion uses, and 6-8 month development timelines.
Technology
The SOLAQ platform integrates four steps: AI-driven bioinformatics to identify pathogens, immune vulnerabilities and growth inefficiencies at molecular resolution; synthetic biology design of subunit peptides and RNA-based actives; precision fermentation for production; and targeted encapsulation for delivery to the gut or root. Products are shelf-stable powders that do not require cold chain, contrasted with vaccines needing minus 80 degrees Celsius transport. The company describes multi-peptide designs that have shown cross-species activity against related pathogens, and states biologics can be produced farm-ready in 6-8 months.
Go-to-market
The company engages farmers directly through product trials and trial reports, and seeks distributors and collaboration partners; its contact page offers an aquaculture brochure, company profile, investor deck and press kit on request, and lists enquiry categories spanning aquaculture/fisheries, feed and hatchery, agriculture/livestock, investors, media and academia. The CEO has noted that building trust with farmers who have been disappointed by prior products is a central go-to-market challenge, addressed through direct engagement with their problems.
Aquaculture and fisheries operators (including hatcheries and feed producers) as the initial market, with stated expansion targets in livestock, poultry, companion animals and crop agriculture; the company emphasises both small and large farms, particularly in Asia and the global south.
Geography
Headquarters at 8 Cleantech Loop, Building 3, Block E, #05-72, Singapore 637145, with an India operations address in Bangalore (No. 905, NTI Layout, 2nd Phase, Rajeev Gandhi Nagar, Bangalore 560092). The CEO has described the company as targeting the developing world in Asia and the global south.
History
The company was launched roughly four years before a September 2024 magazine profile, according to that article, and was founded by Dr Rishita Changede, previously a researcher at Singapore's Agency for Science, Technology and Research and the National University of Singapore. Its early work centred on developing proprietary biofactories and precision-fermentation-derived ingredients, and on encapsulation methods enabling transport and storage without refrigeration. In 2023 it was named a winner of The Liveability Challenge, run by Temasek Foundation, and it is a portfolio company of Plug and Play APAC.
Risks & controversies
The founder has publicly described operational and commercial risks including farmer scepticism toward new agricultural products, difficulty adapting technology to varied and harsh field environments, misalignment between academic research timelines and commercial biotech needs, and complex bureaucratic and regulatory processes in government partnerships. No funding disclosures were available on the company's e27 profile, and no independent verification of product efficacy claims appears in the sources reviewed.
Compiled by commissioned research from 6 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
Timeline · 3
launches, deals, and filingsThe Peak Magazine published an interview profile of founder and CEO Dr Rishita Changede covering TeOra's platform, encapsulation breakthrough, early aquaculture adopters and expansion ambitions.
TeOra was named one of the winners of The Liveability Challenge 2023, organised by Temasek Foundation.
Plug and Play APAC identifies TeOra as one of its portfolio startups, and published a segment featuring CEO Dr Rishita Changede on MoneyFM 89.3's Mind Your Business programme.
Dated company events from announcements, filings, and press; legal rows summarize public dockets and regulator releases.
▸Research sources · 6
primary sources listed
- Teorateoralife.com · web
6 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Teora do?
- Singapore biotech developing AI-designed, feed- and spray-delivered biologics to prevent disease and boost growth on farms.
- Who founded Teora?
- Teora was founded by Rishita Changede, Seyed Mohammad Hasheminejad in 2020.
- Who are Teora's investors?
- Teora's investors include Entrepreneur First.
- Where is Teora headquartered?
- Teora is headquartered in Singapore, SG.