Two companies won big at the first ever Farmers Den, a new pitch competition for emerging agriculture and food innovators and entrepreneurs.
“There is such overwhelming talent and potential coming out of B.C.’s agritech sector” said Gavin Dew, Chief Strategy Officer, Abbotsford Tech District, a planned ag and food innovation hub and the organizer of Farmers Den. “It was so inspiring to see the number of people who applied to pitch, and I think everyone was blown away today by the quality and variety of companies.”
Farmers Den showcased emerging agriculture companies, giving them the opportunity to step into the spotlight and present their business ideas to a panel of industry experts and investors for a chance to win a non-dilutive monetary prize to help expand their businesses.
“There are big challenges ahead when it comes to food and fresh water, but it’s great to see smart and committed entrepreneurs offering solutions,” said Don R. Campbell, President, Cutting Edge Research Inc.
The judges of Farmers Den were four industry experts and investors:
• Don R. Campbell, Cutting Edge Research Inc.
• Meghan Larson, Farm Credit Canada
• Dr. Lenore Newman, University of the Fraser Valley
• Steve Saccomano, Royal Bank of Canada
“It’s crucial that we don’t just have researchers and policy makers talking about food,” said Dr. Lenore Newman, Director, Food and Agriculture Institute, University of the Fraser Valley. “We need business leaders to bring innovation to market and make it work.”
“On behalf of the Maia team, I want to thank Farmers Den, put on by Abbotsford Tech District, for bringing together a network of leading agricultural entrepreneurs and for their support of world changing ideas right here in B.C.,” said Gavin Schneider, CEO, Maia Farms. “We look forward to investing this money ($50,000) in the future of our company, leading to meaningful job opportunities.”
“We’re really grateful for the opportunity to pitch in the first ever Farmers Den,” said Mallory Flynn and Amanda Ackroyd, Co-Founders, Insporos Technologies Inc. “It’s an honour to win ($10,000) in a community of our own. It was motivating to see all of the creative solutions and sprouting entrepreneurs.”
The judges evaluated pitches from nine agri-businesses.
Seedlings (early-stage entrepreneurs and students with emerging companies or ideas for an agribusiness)
• Advanced Agriscience: Advanced Agriscience is developing microbial bioproducts for cost-effective agricultural frost protection to support the Canadian agrifood sector and global food security.
• Circular Harvest: An Abbotsford-based mycelium farm, Circular Harvest is on a mission to reshape agriculture to a circular agri-food system by creating environmental and economic value from waste in the gourmet mushroom sector.
• Insporos Technologies Inc.: Insporos’ intelligent seed sorting technology identifies and removes diseased and defective seeds to help growers conserve resources and make sure every seed planted counts.
• South Central Greens: Maintaining a healthy diet can be expensive. South Central Greens strives to make high quality greens accessible for everyone… without the big grocery bill or large carbon footprint.
Agripreneurs (established agricultural companies)
• 4AG Robotics: 4AG Robotics builds mushroom harvesting robots that solve the growing labour issues in the mushroom industry, while simultaneously increasing the yield for a farm.
• CanDry Technologies Inc.: CanDry Technologies Inc. is at the forefront of revolutionizing food dehydration and reshaping the agri-food industry with a patented low-temperature drying solution.
• Maia Farms: Healthy, sustainable, and easily incorporated into different products and meals, Maia Farms is building a third pillar of protein using mushrooms.
• Sarcomere Dynamics Inc.: Sarcomere Dynamics is pioneering the field of agricultural automation with its advanced, near- human robotic hand, engineered for precise and delicate harvesting of fruits and vegetables.
• Verdi: Verdi builds modern automation tools for growers, using fleets of intelligent devices to retrofit and automate farm infrastructure.
Abbotsford Tech District was proud to partner with the Pacific Agriculture Show to hold the competition during the exhibition in Abbotsford — Canada’s most productive agricultural jurisdiction.