Start-up Pitching Series at ReThink HK 2025: Innovative Solutions in the Agrifood sector

Cintia Nunes is the General Manager and Head of Asia of The Mills Fabrica. As the innovation engine to sustainability and impact of Hong Kong conglomerate Nan Fung Group, Cintia leads the team to connect innovators in the techstyle and agrifood tech space with capital, connections, and expertise — to bring sustainability tech innovations from concept to market.

Drawing inspiration from social business principles that prioritize both profitability and purpose, she is committed to facilitating collaboration among stakeholders across the ecosystem to advance positive environmental and social impact at scale.

Before joining The Mills Fabrica, Cintia served as Chief of Strategy and Growth at Hong Kong’s largest network of social enterprises and impact ventures. She also held leadership roles at a multinational FMCG company where she formalized business strategies for over 10 brands.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

• More industry level cross-sectors collaborations
• Open dialogues across stakeholder groups on what works/what doesn’t
• Accessibility/transparency to capital across asset classes for impact

Eshan Samaranayake is an Analyst at Better Bite Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund backing innovation in food, agriculture, and climate tech across Asia Pacific. At Better Bite, he works with founders building scalable solutions to some of the region’s biggest climate challenges, focusing on evaluating early-stage technologies that aim to decarbonise the food system.

He is also the author of Better Bioeconomy, a weekly newsletter for agrifood tech professionals, where he shares insights on how biotechnology is transforming food and agriculture. In addition, Eshan leads Asia Climate Hub, the largest free climate tech startup and investor database in Asia Pacific.

With a background in biotechnology and a passion for commercialisation, Eshan bridges research, entrepreneurship, and venture capital to help scale technologies that deliver both climate impact and business value.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

1. More capital directed toward early-stage climate tech ventures, with Hong Kong positioned as a leading regional hub for funding scalable solutions to climate challenges.
2. Greater support for local agrifood startups tackling food waste, alternative proteins making Hong Kong a hub for climate-smart food innovation.
3. Wider adoption of food upcycling, composting, and packaging reduction initiatives at both consumer and corporate levels, reducing waste going to landfills.

With a career in hospitality spanning 15 years across Ireland, the UK and now eight years in Hong Kong, Karen’s background and experience is grounded in marketing, communications, partnerships and business development. Before joining The Sustainable Restaurant Association (The SRA) Karen worked with globally renowned hospitality and travel brands, guiding brand positioning, market entry into Asia, as well as marketing and growth strategies. When Karen welcomed her daughter to the world in 2020, the strong need to do more purpose-led work for the hospitality industry became her professional purpose. In 2023, she began her role with The SRA and is now the APAC Growth & Partnerships Director.

As the lead representative for The SRA and the Food Made Good Standard in APAC, Karen leads the growth and awareness building of The Sustainable Restaurant Association across the region. Karen is focused on growing the understanding and participation in the world’s most in-depth accreditation for the hospitality industry, the Food Made Good Standard from The SRA.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

1. Regulation around food waste – people and businesses being charged for food waste
2. More education around how food systems are impacting climate change.
3.  Change on a micro level in Hong Kong in terms of acceptance of local food
4. More regulation locally to ensure fair fishing and farming practices

Dr. Aaron Lam is a national gold medallist inventor and entrepreneur, recognised by the National Office for Science and Technology Awards of the People’s Republic of China. In 2024, he founded DAINVI Limited, a Hong Kong-based machine vision company pioneering intelligent systems that transform labour-intensive industries into autonomous and sustainable ecosystems.

A UK-chartered engineer and US-registered project management professional, Dr. Lam has a proven track record in delivering innovation through engineering and technology transfer. He is the first-named inventor on patents granted across China, the EU, the UK and the US, and has led the authorship of peer-reviewed papers published in respected scientific journals, collectively cited over 100 times.

Dr. Lam currently serves as a member of the Greater Bay Area Hong Kong & Macau Talents Association, where he chairs the Innovation and Technology Development Committee. He holds an engineering PhD and a First-Class MEng degree, both from Imperial College London.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

1. Accelerate the Adoption of Smart Infrastructure for Carbon Reduction
2. Foster Circular Innovation in Tech Manufacturing
3. Build a Cross-Sector Sustainability Data Commons

Yardley is a dynamic and accomplished expert with over 15 years of experience in digital marketing, product development, and content creation. As a co-founder of Muse Group Limited, an award-winning integrated marketing consultancy, he has led O2O strategies and executed successful campaigns for over 100 clients, including multinational leaders such as Pepsi Group, Bank of China, SHKP, Mars Group, Hong Kong Tourism Board, and Ocean Park.

Currently, he is channeling his expertise into his latest venture—a food tech startup incubated under the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) Incubation Program. With an MBA degree and a strong foundation in business strategy, Yardley excels in entrepreneurship, fostering innovation, and guiding teams in product development. His hands-on experience and passion for technology position him as a trusted advisor for driving growth and overcoming challenges in today’s fast-evolving market.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

Green Food-Tech Innovation
Advance our extraction technology to lower energy use and maximize natural mushroom ingredients.
Expand sustainable functional products to replace synthetic or resource-heavy options.

Sustainable Materials & Carbon Reduction
Achieve 100% recyclable or biodegradable packaging.
Pilot mushroom-based biomaterials, reduce supply chain emissions, and align reporting with UN SDGs.

Community & Regional Impact
Partner with social enterprises to support elderly and disadvantaged workers.
Promote wellness education and position Hong Kong as a hub for sustainable food innovation in the Greater Bay Area.

Aaron Pang, Co-Founder & CEO of Ne8t Foodtech, is an innovator with a background in food technology, food science, computer science, and AI. He founded the Hong Kong–based startup in 2022, launching a sustainable beverage facility and the SAGE TEA brand, now served in top hotels and corporate venues. As the inventor of PTAEM (Proprietary Temperature & Aroma Extraction Method), Aaron leads R&D and production, driving his vision to build a leading beverage company that leverages foodtech and AI to create sustainable products and a healthier planet.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

1. Achieve near-zero waste production by expanding ingredient upcycling programs—transforming surplus fruits, tea leaves, and other raw materials into premium beverages and value-added byproducts such as natural fertilizers—while optimizing manufacturing processes to minimize resource loss.
2. Reduce carbon footprint across the supply chain through the adoption of renewable energy sources in production, upgrading to energy-efficient machinery, implementing smarter logistics, and prioritizing local sourcing to cut transportation emissions.
3. Scale sustainable beverage innovations by leveraging PTAEM (Proprietary Temperature & Aroma Extraction Method) and AI-driven R&D to create next-generation drinks that deliver exceptional taste, clean labels, and measurable environmental benefits, aiming to set a new benchmark for the beverage industry.

Francis is the Co-Founder and Head of Sales & Marketing at Food With Benefits, a Hong Kong-based food-tech social venture creating nutritious, upcycled functional foods to tackle food waste.

A seasoned marketer with over four years of experience in brand management, Francis previously oversaw regional branding strategies for 7 hotel brands at Marriott International across Asia-Pacific. He further honed his expertise at Lanson Place, a boutique hotel brand, managing the overall branding and digital marketing—including SEO, SEM, and social media—for its portfolio of 9 properties in Asia Pacific.

Driven by a profound passion for sustainability and health, Francis co-founded Food With Benefits to merge his corporate branding expertise with his personal mission. An avid trail runner and hiker, he actively promotes environmental stewardship, regularly doing mountain clean-up initiatives, which deeply informs the company’s core philosophy.

Raymond Wong is the founder of EBP Biotech, a Hong Kong-based sustainable materials start-up specialising in certified biodegradable products. With a background spanning materials science, business innovation, and ESG strategy, he leads the development of scalable and practical alternatives to single-use plastics.

By combining lifecycle thinking, carbon impact tracking, and inclusive product design, EBP Biotech delivers integrated sustainability solutions to corporates and institutions across sectors.

The company operates as a social enterprise, integrating material innovation with sustainability education and inclusive design to deliver long-term environmental and social value. EBP Biotech believes that sustainability must be scalable, inclusive, and grounded in real material innovation to deliver meaningful impact.

My Sustainability Goals for 2025:

To scale the adoption of certified biodegradable alternatives across sectors, while advancing public awareness of inclusive and circular product design through community partnerships and real-world implementations.