Greenhouse and vertical farming technology came out on top among five entries in this year's Ontario Agri-Tech Pitch Competition.
Interius Farms won the competition, in which five Ontario-based innovative early-stage start-ups pitched their products to a panel of investors on June 20.
The event was organized by the University of Guelph's Research Innovation Office in collaboration with the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance.
The competition aimed to unite farmers, academics, agri-tech entrepreneurs and investors to raise awareness about problems worth solving and to showcase investment-worthy companies.
Interius Farms co-founder Jonnie Lawson convinced the judges his company—which combines greenhouse and vertical farming technology to grow fresh, sustainable produce—had the greatest potential impact. His entry took home the $10,000 best-in-class prize.
"The win goes a long way towards projects on the horizon—being able to launch pilot projects and execute on them," said Lawson after the event. "It's really important for us to expand our network and especially get tapped in with the University of Guelph. I've already made a lot of good connections today.
"One message to send out to the world is we definitely need more early-stage investment in Canada, particularly for ag-tech sustainability. It's really tight in terms of dollars out there, so getting that exposure is really important."
"It's always a great day when we have entrepreneurs interacting with our campus, especially those of this caliber," said Tyler Zemlak, manager of innovation strategy in the Research Innovation Office. "Everyone did an outstanding job, making the decision to pick a winner very challenging."
Beck's Broth was voted People's Choice by audience members and received a $2,500 prize. The company sells powdered bone broth that consumers mix with water to make "bone broth lattes" or "hot chocolate," with 15 grams of protein per serving.
Company founder and CEO Beckie Prime and Domenique Mastronardi, chief operating officer and "food sustainability engineer," say they plan to launch a third product in the coming months and to start exporting by year-end.
Source: uoguelph.ca