BioNorth Solutions of Thunder Bay has won first place in a challenge to find the next big innovation in agri-tech.
The company has won Bioenterprise Canada's Northern Ontario Innovation Challenge for its line of microbe-based products that encourage plant growth, including in crops like barley and wheat. With the top place comes $5,000 in prize money.
Second place was awarded to Agri-Tech North of Dryden, an indoor vertical farm and social enterprise that is the first of its kind year-round wholesale-scale grower of fresh produce in Northwestern Ontario, while third place went to TECC Agriculture Ltd., a precision agriculture company in New Liskeard.
All three winners will receive one year of business mentorship and networking support.
“We congratulate all of our winners and are really pleased with the level of interest in the Challenge and the quality of participants that came forward,” Dave Smardon, CEO of Bioenterprise Canada, said in a news release.
“We’re always looking for new ways to identify and support innovative Northern Ontario businesses and start-ups in the food and agri-tech sector so we can help them reach new levels of success, both for themselves and for the Canadian economy.”
Based in Guelph, Bioenterprise Canada is a FedNor-funded network of entrepreneurs, accelerators, and service partners that promotes innovation in the agri-tech and food industry.
