Entries accepted to Ontario agriculture innovation pitch competition

Entries are now being accepted for the second annual Ontario Agri-Tech Pitch Competition. The event offers promising early-stage Ontario ag innovation start-ups the opportunity to pitch their innovations to a panel of judges, connect with potential investors and use coaching and mentorship services to hone their business strategies.

Why it matters: Competition for available investors dollars is fierce in the Canadian agri-tech space, and pitch competitions are becoming a popular way to identify emerging start-ups and support them in their journey to commercialization.

The pitch competition, run by the Research Innovation Office at the University of Guelph, was first held earlier this year as an extension of the former Gryphon’s LAAIR showcase and competition at Guelph, an initiative to help researchers turn ideas into marketable products or services with the help of commercialization grants.

For Sean Thompson, CEO and co-founder of start-up Psigryph, the competition has provided valuable support on his company’s path to commercialization. He has participated in both the Gryphon’s LAAIR event in 2020 and in the 2023 pitch competition.

“It really forces you to hone your message for different audiences and gets you exposure to investors,” says Thompson. “It’s a very good experience especially at beginning of starting a company because you learn how to speak to different audiences. I would encourage anyone with an early-stage innovation to participate.”

Psigryph’s proprietary process, pioneered by Thompson’s co-founder and former University of Guelph professor Gopi Paliyath, creates nanoparticles from Montmorency sour cherries. These nanoparticles are used as a delivery system to help molecules of interest be absorbed by cells.

“Think of it as a UPS for living cells,” Thompson says. “The innovation came out of my co-founder’s interest in reducing chronic inflammation in people using food, but as we’ve done more research, the issue of absorption by cells is a problem in primary agriculture too, for fertilizer, pesticides or animal nutrition.”

According to Thompson, the company is preparing to launch its first product next year in the United States, a human dietary supplement where the nanomaterials contain nutrients from plants like soy or broccoli.

The presence of the nanoparticles makes it easier for the human body to absorb those nutrients, creating positive impacts on weight and cholesterol control.

In addition, a team of PhD students at Guelph is working on using nanoparticles to improve fertilizer absorption and develop more effective pesticides.

“Our goal is to minimize phosphorus runoff and nitrous oxide emissions by making the absorption of inputs more efficient,” he says.

For better crop protection, the team is using RNA interference to stop the production of proteins that certain pests need to sustain life.

“If you can take out the protein needed for life for one species, it can make a pesticide only toxic to that species,” Thompson explains. “We have evidence we can stop the growth of fusarium. We’re also working on Palmer Amaranth.”

Psigryph is working to source its sour cherries from growers in Ontario as well as nearby Great Lakes states, offering those farms a value-added market opportunity for their crops.

Past Gryphon’s LAAIR winners include University of Guelph professor Bonnie Mallard for her work in genetic selection for disease resistance in beef cattle; professor George van der Merwe, whose research into novel regional yeast strains for craft brewers helped lay the groundwork for Escarpment Laboratories; and professor Wael Ahmed, developer of innovative water circulation technology that is marketed by FloNergia Systems Inc.

Entries for the 2024 competition will be accepted until Feb. 19, and finalists will make their pitches in Guelph on June 20. The $10,000 grand prize will be awarded to the team with the greatest potential for impact on the Ontario agri-food sector, with $2,500 going to a People’s Choice Award winner selected by the pitch finale audience.

The competition is supported by the Ontario Agri-Food Innovation Alliance, a collaboration between the University of Guelph and the provincial government, RHA Partners/519 Growth Fund, and the John F. Wood Centre for Business and Student Enterprise at the University of Guelph.

More information on the competition and how to enter can be found at the University of Guelph website.