Seven food and agriculture start-ups have been selected to share $3 million in investment through a New York competition, with animal-health company Barnwell Bio taking the $1 million top prize.
The winners were announced on 13 November after 20 finalists competed at the eighth Grow-NY summit in Rochester. The awards are intended to help early-stage companies develop their businesses while building connections and operations across a 22-county region of upstate New York.
Barnwell Bio, based in New York City, analyses the communities of microorganisms found in barns. Its work is intended to give poultry and livestock producers information about animal health risks and opportunities on their farms.
Two companies, CryoBio and Fooditive BV, were each awarded $500,000. Four others – Earnest Agriculture, Frost Methane Labs, NRGene Canada and Spectacular Labs – were each selected for $250,000 investments.
From frost protection to food safety
Ithaca-based CryoBio is developing a treatment intended to protect crops from frost. A damaging cold spell can affect a crop before it reaches harvest, and the company is working on an approach designed to make protection more accessible.
Fooditive, based in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, uses precision fermentation in its work on animal-free casein, a protein associated with dairy products. It is also developing a sweetener for use by food and drink manufacturers.
Earnest Agriculture, from Illinois, is developing a platform that uses artificial intelligence to match microbes with agricultural uses. Its approach focuses on bacteria as an alternative to some chemical farm inputs.
Frost Methane Labs, based in Alaska, works with livestock farmers on a system intended to neutralise methane from manure ponds. NRGene Canada, based in Saskatoon, is working on ways to turn agricultural by-products into higher-value animal feed.
California-based Spectacular Labs is developing automated molecular testing systems for food producers. Its aim is to enable on-site testing for pathogens within a working shift, rather than requiring every test to be carried out at an outside laboratory.
The awards recognise business plans and potential, not proof that each proposed technology will achieve its intended results at commercial scale. The companies are working on different parts of the food system, from the conditions in which animals are raised to the testing of products after they leave farms.
Investment comes with conditions
The $3 million represents investment awards, rather than an unconditional sum handed to the companies in full at the summit. Payments are to be made in stages against business milestones agreed with each recipient.
Winners must also commit to growing jobs, partnerships and operations within the competition’s designated region, which covers parts of the Finger Lakes, Central New York and the Southern Tier. Each is required to establish operations there for at least a year.
The programme allows different ways of meeting the location requirement, including establishing a principal place of business, a primary manufacturing site or a primary research and development facility in the region. This gives companies from outside the area a route into the competition while tying the investment to a local presence.
Recipients must enter an equity agreement with Cornell University, which administers the programme through its Center for Regional Economic Advancement. The agreement can take the form of a warrant or a simple agreement for future equity. It is therefore an investment arrangement rather than a conventional grant with no ownership terms.
The competition is funded by New York State, with support from its economic development agency. Before the summit, finalists received mentoring and visited the region as they prepared their plans. A panel of five judges assessed the pitches, taking account of factors including business viability, customer value, growth potential and possible economic impact in the region.
A separate audience award
Summit attendees also voted for an audience choice award. RETRN Bioworks, an Ithaca company developing materials from agricultural and forestry waste, won the separate $5,000 prize. That award sits outside the seven investments that make up the $3 million total.
The Rochester event took place over two days and brought together founders, potential partners and people involved in food and agriculture. The finalists came from several US states and abroad, including the Netherlands and Canada.
For the seven investment winners, the announcement is the start of the next stage rather than the end of the process. They will need to meet their agreed milestones and establish the required regional operations as they work towards putting their business plans into practice.
