Lotte Ventures Leads 7 'Future Food' Companies to AFPRO 2025

The Future Dining Table Unfolding at COEX, Lotte Ventures Leads Food Tech Innovation The 2025 Agri-Food Tech Startup Fair (AFPRO), which will be held at COEX in Seoul from July 16th to 18th, presents a blueprint for the future dining table. At the heart of this innovation is Lotte Ventures, Lotte Group's Corporate Venture Capital (CVC). Going beyond mere participation in the fair, Lotte Ventures is gaining attention by leading the revitalization of the food tech ecosystem. Lotte Ventures' core program, ‘Future Meal Plan’ (미래식단), discovers promising food tech companies and drives their growth by providing opportunities for PoC (Proof of Concept) with Lotte Group affiliates. In addition to collaborations with the Korea Agency of Education, Promotion & Information Service in Food, Agriculture, Forestry & Fisheries and the Korea Institute of Startup & Entrepreneurship Development, various Lotte Group companies, including food affiliates like Lotte R&D Center, Lotte Wellfood, and Lotte Chilsung Beverage, as well as Lotte Hotel, Korea Seven, and Lotte Home Shopping, participate as mentors to closely support the growth of startups. At this fair, innovative companies fostered through the ‘Future Meal Plan’ will showcase diverse visions. Cohort 5 companies participating include Romansive, which develops customized sleep foods; ABBR, which upcycles beer byproducts to create alternative coffee; and NANU, which offers eco-friendly pulp containers to replace single-use plastics. Additionally, senior companies such as Biocom, which presents the sugar-free Korean food brand ‘Zero Bapsang’; Re:harvest, which reprocesses food manufacturing byproducts; and SY Solution, which develops plant-based alternative meats, will also participate, providing in-depth insights into future diets. Park Jun-young, Team Leader of Lotte Ventures' OI Team, stated, “We hope visitors will have the opportunity to directly view and experience the innovative products of participating companies and discover new markets.” Indeed, Romansive has achieved tangible results, such as introducing the sleep-specialized ‘Sleepcation’ package in collaboration with Lotte Hotel Seoul. This fair will be a valuable opportunity to personally experience these innovative products and gauge future trends. The selected companies plan to generate even greater achievements through synergy with Lotte Group affiliates by the end of the year. At the final Demo Day scheduled for November, they will share their collaborative achievements and further open the doors to follow-up investments and partnerships. Lotte Ventures will continue to contribute to the revitalization of the startup ecosystem through various accelerating programs such as L-CAMP.