John Cheng founded Innovate 360, Singapore’s premier food accelerator, combining facilities and a venture capital fund. Innovate 360 has supported over 100 agri-food tech startups since 2018, offering mentorship, infrastructure, funding, expertise, and market access. Today, it has 3 manufacturing facilities including co-working spaces, shared laboratories and test kitchens to support startups to scale as well as a global network to help them go-to-market. It is an accredited mentor partner of the Singaporean government and a technological partner by Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Policy Partnership on Food Security.

Preceding Innovate 360, John spent over 12 years rejuvenating and modernizing his family’s 75-year-old business. He is pivotal in Singapore’s food innovation landscape. He co-founded and chairs Feed 9 Billion, an open innovation ecosystem fostering sustainability and collaboration to feed the world’s projected 9 billion people by 2050. Under his guidance, the platform launched the Good Food Startup Manual: Singapore edition together with the Good Food Institute and alternative protein database helping startups navigate the food ecosystem. He serves on the Ministry of Trade’s Pro-enterprise Panel, aiding companies with novel solutions in overcoming regulatory obstacles, and contributes to the Singapore Food Story Thematic Scientific Evaluation Panel, facilitating research grants for scientists. Additionally, he holds board membership at the Science Centre Singapore and academic advisory roles at the Institute of Technical Education for Chemicals & Life Sciences, as well as at the Temasek Polytechnic’s School of Applied Sciences.

Outside of work, he is an active alumnus at his alma mater, the Singapore Management University (SMU). He is co-founder and president of the SMU Business Families Alumni Group. He was part of SMU “Imagine Better” project that raised funds to help students with financial needs in 2019 before joining the SMU Alumni Philanthropic Council, where he currently advises the school on raising funds. He has been a member of Club-100 @ North West Community Development Council since 2017 fostering the culture of community involvement and philanthropy. He is in the executive committee at the Singapore Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (SCCCI)’s Commerce & Industry, as well as the Youth Business Sustainability Committee. He was previously entrepreneur head at the Singapore Manufacturing Federation (Youth). In 2019, he was recognized as The Peak’s “Future Shaper” and Prestige Magazine’s 40 Under 40 and in 2020 Gen.T list by Tatler Magazine. In 2021, he was a finalist for The Straits Times Singaporean of the Year for 2021.