New accelerator hub offers support to innovators

A helping hand can go a long way in supporting someone starting out, whether in a new farming venture or launching a new product.

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For entrepreneurs and start-ups in the agri-tech innovation space, that helping hand is even more critical, but often hard to come by.

Why it matters: Canada invests in research but has poor record of bringing meaningful agricultural innovations to market.

An initiative funded by the provincial and federal governments aims to change that. The Grow Ontario Accelerator Hub (GOAH), delivered by Bioenterprise Canada, is a five-year program in which 100 Ontario-based agri-food and agri-tech companies will receive advisory, mentoring and business support services tailored to their needs.

The hub has already welcomed 40 companies since it launched in November 2023.

“The hub is open to companies actively doing research and development all the way through to being deployed into the market,” says GOAH manager Braden Kemp.

“The core purpose is to find ways to meaningfully help companies progress their business forward more rapidly than they’d be able to on their own.”

Once a company is accepted into the hub, the Bioenterprise team will match them with an innovation advisor who will work with them for 12 months on a specific project or area where help or advice is most needed. The advisor may also bring in other experts and resources.

“We try to match advisors and companies based on industry, skills, need and also personality — and that person will act almost like a concierge to bring in others to help as needed, like make connections with industry, investors or business advisors,” Kemp says.

The advisor service is supplemented by a new online resource hub built specifically for entrepreneurs with templates, guides, how-tos, videos, webinars and other content developed by Bioenterprise partners, experts, staff and advisors.

Its goal is to guide users step by step through various topics at their own pace.

Response to the program has been strong since it launched earlier this year, notes Kemp, and all applications are reviewed by a selection committee through a competitive process.

“We are looking for solid, committed and innovative companies, but also those where we know we can provide meaningful support that is going to advance their business,” he says.

Since April 1, GOAH participant companies have launched 21 new products, services and processes into the market, filed four new patents and raised more than $2 million in investment capital.

Beck’s Broth has been working with GOAH for two months on mentorship, funding and community building. The start-up, founded about three and a half years ago, sells bone broth-based powdered hot chocolate, coffee and matcha.

“Bone broth is a super food that supports gut health and is high in protein but it’s not intuitive for people to drink it first thing in the morning. They want their coffee,” says chief operating officer Domenique Mastronardi.

The company’s GOAH advisor has been invaluable, she adds, connecting them with an opportunity to access $50,000 in funding and building relationships with experts and other entrepreneurs through a new online resource that allows participants to communicate with each other.

Of the first 40 companies participating in the hub, 20 per cent represent clean tech innovations, 16 per cent are food and beverage, 11 per cent are agri-waste management and the remainder are spread across various categories.

The next intake, for 20 additional hub participants, will open in February 2025.