SMU alumnus Alan Phua, who co-founded start-up Alchemy Foodtech in 2015, said an Enterprise Singapore grant helped his firm take its food technology to market when there was no certainty of research success. He said, "It was difficult to get private funding at the concept stage to finance the research." His technology – which lowers the blood glucose levels of staple foods – is now used by breadmaker Gardenia and restaurant chain Han's, among others.