New corporate partners Olam Agri, Pertamina New & Renewable Energy and ExpresSo NB to provide Fellows with access to funding, pilot sites and industry expertise to accelerate commercial deployment
Singapore, 28 October 2026 – Breakthrough Energy (BE), the climate organisation founded by Bill Gates; Temasek, a global investment company headquartered in Singapore; and Enterprise Singapore (EnterpriseSG), the Singapore government agency championing enterprise development, extended their support for Breakthrough Energy Fellows – Southeast Asia (BE Fellows – SEA) for another three years. The extension will support three new cohorts of climate tech innovators from 2028 to 2030.
Olam Agri, Pertamina NRE and ExpresSo NB, venture arm of PTT, were also added as corporate partners to support the programme. They will provide Fellows with greater access to industry expertise and opportunities to test and deploy their technologies across Southeast Asia.
The corporate partnerships were announced by Singapore Minister for Energy, Trade and Industry (Energy and Industry) Dr. Tan See Leng at the Singapore Week of Innovation and Technology (SWITCH) 2026.
BE Fellows – SEA was launched in 2024 as the first BE Fellows hub outside the United States. The initiative provides researchers, scientists, and technology innovators in Southeast Asia with funding, technical mentorship, and access to a global network to help turn promising climate technologies into scalable solutions. Since its launch, BE Fellows – SEA has funded twelve companies from three countries (Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand) to develop climate technologies for Southeast Asia and beyond. These companies are tackling critical challenges including clean fuels and oils, plastic recycling, alternative materials for EV batteries, photosynthesis enhancers for agriculture, and adaptation and resilience technologies including passive cooling paint and landslide sensing.
The three-year renewal reflects BE, Temasek, and EnterpriseSG’s continued commitment to backing promising climate technologies through the difficult journey from early innovation to commercial application. Their continued investment will support new cohorts through 2030, with participating Fellows receiving up to US $500,000 in funding, alongside technical and commercial support, and access to the partners’ networks of industry partners, mentors, investors, experts, and government agencies.
Mr. Ben Gaddy, Interim Head, Discovery at Breakthrough Energy, said: "Southeast Asia is where some of the fastest-growing energy demand in the world meets some of its most talented innovators. In just two years, BE Fellows – SEA has shown what that combination can produce. This renewal and extension give our Fellows a clearer path from breakthrough ideas to real-world impact."
Mr. Russell Tham, Head, Emerging Technologies, Temasek, said: “Meeting Southeast Asia’s energy, industrial and climate needs will require technologies that can scale beyond the lab. By bringing together capital, industry expertise, partners and market opportunities, BE Fellows – SEA can help innovators translate promising technologies into commercially deployable solutions. We are committed to advancing this work alongside Breakthrough Energy, EnterpriseSG, and the programme’s corporate partners, as well as the innovators helping to address the region’s climate challenges.”
Ms. Cindy Khoo, Managing Director, Enterprise Singapore, said: "For climate technologies to scale, innovators need access to industry networks, real-world deployment and market opportunities to test and scale their solutions. We are encouraged by the progress of BE Fellows – SEA and are pleased to renew our partnership with Breakthrough Energy and Temasek. EnterpriseSG will continue to connect promising innovators with the partners and markets they need to accelerate the development and commercialisation of deep tech solutions across the region.”
One of the hardest steps for early-stage climate and clean energy technologies is moving from technical validation to first commercial deployment. The programme’s collaboration with Olam Agri, Pertamina NRE and ExpresSo NB will help Fellows bridge that gap by providing access to various resources and networks – such as funding, identifying potential projects and pilot sites within these corporates’ networks, and connecting founders with mentors and industry advisers to help refine their commercial proposition and address the region’s evolving energy and industrial needs.
Early results show what industry partnerships can unlock. In August 2026, BE Fellow CRecTech signed an agreement with Pertamina NRE, the renewable energy arm of Pertamina Group, to jointly develop Indonesia’s first biogas-to-biomethanol demonstration plant in Sumatra, supporting Indonesia’s decarbonisation and energy security mandate. This shows how collaborations between Fellows and major industry partners can accelerate the pathway from innovation to commercial deployment.
Mr. Kang Hui Lim, Co-Founder & CEO, CRecTech, said, "The BE Fellows programme has helped us accelerate our technology development through clear milestones, quantify its potential economic and environmental impact, and pressure-test our assumptions about customer needs and commercial viability. This foundation has enabled us to partner with industry players such as Indonesia’s Pertamina NRE to take our bio-methanol technology from the lab to a first-of-a-kind pilot facility for real-world testing and validation."
Applications for the 2027 cohort of BE Fellows – SEA are now open here.
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