Hong Kong biotech start-up eyes global pest control market with scent-based products
Plasticvore is a two-year old biotech start-up offering alternative, humane solutions to controlling and eliminating pests, founder says
For Rick Lui, a decision to take a one-year break from university in 2021 is starting to pay off. A stint during the gap year as a rodent-control specialist serving Hong Kong’s public housing provider has helped him launch a business with global targets.
The 24-year-old biotechnology graduate from Hong Kong University of Science Technology is the founder and CEO of Plasticvore Chain, a maker of natural pest repellents, which won a competition organised by the university in October.
The two-year-old start-up launched a natural pest repellent product that offers a more effective, humane and environmentally friendly alternative to its target customers: owners of shopping centres, restaurants, food markets, commercial buildings, farms and detached houses.
“Pest control is a very old-fashioned industry in Hong Kong, relying heavily on mouse glue traps, rat poisons and sometimes cement powder,” Lui said. “For example, some 300 glue traps would be deployed in an enclosed basketball court in one night shift, with only three mice caught on average. This is not very effective, humane or environmentally sustainable.”
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Global sales of rodent-control pesticides is forecast to nearly double to US$11.6 billion in 2032 from 2022, according to market research firm Future Market Insights, driven by health concerns. Plasticvore’s customers include the local franchise of global pest control firm Orkin, a Hong Kong-listed cleaning contractor and management firms for shopping centres and commercial buildings, Lui said.
Lui learned about the industry and its shortcomings related to conventional pest poisons and traps that use food-based baits during an internship at a consulting firm advising the Housing Authority.
