SINGAPORE - A start-up here is looking to put a small crustacean on the world map - in farms, in stores and on dining tables. Singapore Crawfish produces 100kg of the crustaceans every month and is scaling up its production. It is also selling technology it has developed to farm crawfish sustainably.

Desmond Chow, the founder of Singapore Crawfish, is so convinced that crayfish aquaculture is ripe for investment that he’s spent the past two years, and considerable amounts of his own capital, developing a range of crayfish farming technologies and products, including specialized crayfish feed and high-tech integrated farming systems.

A well-known breed of crawfish native to northern Australia, called Cherax quadricarinatus, is often considered to be a high-end, high-value product with huge global demand in the food industry — and demand is growing at a rapid rate.

A Singapore-based firm is seeking funds to build what it believes will be the world’s first specific pathogen-free hatchery.