Forte Biotech is a biotechnology startup founded in 2021, headquartered in Singapore, and actively operating in Ho Chi Minh City. Despite being relatively new to the market, the startup has quickly made a name for itself in the aquaculture industry, particularly with its rapid shrimp disease diagnostic solution that enables farmers to proactively prevent outbreaks and move toward more sustainable farming models.
Forte Biotech‘s flagship product is the RAPID platform, short for Robust Accurate Prawn Infection Detector. This is an on-site diagnostic system that utilizes LAMP PCR (Loop-mediated Isothermal Amplification Polymerase Chain Reaction) technology to detect shrimp pathogens in under 50 minutes. The innovation allows farmers to directly monitor shrimp health at the farm level without sending samples to a lab, significantly reducing the time required for disease detection and response.
One of the key advantages of LAMP PCR lies in its operational simplicity. Unlike conventional PCR, it does not require fluctuating temperatures, which lowers equipment costs and makes it easier to deploy in remote farming areas. Instead of waiting several days for test results using traditional methods, Forte Biotech‘s kit enables early detection of critical diseases such as White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV), Enterocytozoon hepatopenaei (EHP), and Acute Hepatopancreatic Necrosis Disease (AHPND), helping farmers avoid losses worth billions of Vietnamese dong per farming cycle.
In fact, shrimp disease remains one of the main causes of revenue loss in aquaculture across Asia, with estimated annual damages reaching billions of dollars. Most farmers still rely on visual assessment or resort to widespread antibiotic use when disease is suspected, which drives up production costs, pollutes the farming environment, and increases the risk of antibiotic resistance. In this context, Forte Biotech‘s technology not only improves disease management but also helps shift farming practices toward eco-friendly shrimp production, supporting lower emissions and enhanced food safety.
To date, the RAPID diagnostic kit has been deployed on numerous shrimp farms in Vietnam. Its initial success has earned Forte Biotech notable attention from the startup ecosystem. The company won third prize at TECHFEST Vietnam 2022 and subsequently secured a $100,000 grant from the Net Zero Challenge competition in 2023. In addition, they have successfully raised investment from seasoned green venture capital firms such as Sopoong Ventures and Touchstone Partners.
A key takeaway from Forte Biotech’s journey is how the startup chose to focus on developing a core technology that solves a very specific yet large-scale problem. Rather than offering a broad solution, they targeted one critical issue—shrimp disease detection—and executed it thoroughly in both technological development and real-world applicability. By working closely with farms and understanding production workflows from the outset, they were able to fine-tune their product to meet practical needs and build trust among their target users.
For other founders exploring technological pathways in agriculture or aquaculture, Forte Biotech’s story highlights the value of investing methodically in product development while staying grounded in field realities. Choosing the right problem, the right technology, continuously validating with real users, and maintaining close ties with the supporting ecosystem are all vital ingredients that lay a solid foundation for the long-term growth of a tech startup.
