Forte Biotech – Action on Poverty

Investing in Impact

P4G has awarded the partnership with about US $172,000 in grant funding. 

Vietnam is one of the world’s top three exporters of shrimp, with seafood contributing to 3-5% of the country’s GDP. The sector has produced over 1.1 million tons in 2024 with a production target of 1.3 - 1.4 million tons this year. Smallholder farmers contribute to more than 80% of shrimp production and are increasingly vulnerable to threats to their livelihood. Rising temperatures, irregular rainfall, unmanaged expansion and outdated management practices are leading to disease outbreaks in shrimp farms, which leads to large economic losses. Worried farmers resort to unsustainable management methods such as antibiotic abuse, which causes more pollution, leading to a vicious cycle. 

Forte Biotech has developed RAPID, a range of test kits, that provide shrimp farmers with affordable and one-hour diagnostics that detects diseases and suggests practices to better manage their farms. By empowering farmers to detect diseases before symptoms appear, the startup reduces the use of antibiotics and chemicals in aquaculture, an especially prevalent problem in Vietnam where the number of antibiotics used is much higher than other countries. 

Forte Biotech also trains farmers to strengthen their technical and decision-making skills and ensures that women in shrimp production have equal access to training as their male counterparts. Farmers can track test results, manage risks, and prepare for sustainable certification audits through Forte Biotech’s app Aotomatic. 

The solution has knock-on effects of reducing feed waste in production because infected shrimp tend to be slow growing and require almost twice as much food to produce 1 kilogram of shrimp. 

Forte Biotech’s clients include both individual farm owners and businesses such as feed suppliers and agencies. The startup seeks to build partnerships with distributors to increase their market penetration. The startup is also piloting a subscription model in Vietnam where farmers can rent devices and test kits and avoid higher upfront costs. 

The RAPID system has applications in fish, crab, and poultry farming and in the long run Forte Biotech plans to branch out with testing solutions and management practices for those industries. 

Action on Poverty is an experienced nonprofit that will support Forte Biotech with government and community engagement. The nonprofit will also ensure accurate monitoring, evaluating, and knowledge management to share the impact and learnings from the startup’s journey to scale. 

During the P4G funding period, Forte Biotech aims to have 600 farms in the Mekong Delta adopt the RAPID test kit, raise $1 million in investment, and reduce more than 3,500 metric tons of carbon emissions. Through technical seminars and farm demos, the partnership aims to raise the awareness of more than 8,200 beneficiaries about this solution. 

The partnership comprises the following partners: Forte Biotech (lead business partner); Action on Poverty (lead administrative partner).