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Two startups from Bloomfield and Canandaigua are among Grow-NY’s 20 finalists. These food and agriculture businesses will compete for $3 million in prize money.
Bloomfield’s Finger Foods Farm, a family-run, certified organic farm, produces a line of frozen soups made with local ingredients, while Renewal Mill from Canandaigua focuses on baking ingredients, using byproducts from food manufacturing.
In its seventh year, Grow-NY is funded through New York’s Upstate Revitalization Initiatives—Finger Lakes Forward, CNY Rising, and Southern Tier Soaring—and Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation. It was started to spur growth in Upstate New York.
Finalists are required to commit to growing jobs, partnerships or operations in the 22-county region. Prizes include a $1 million top prize, two $500,000 awards, and four $250,000 prizes.
“Each year, the Grow-NY food and agriculture competition attracts top-quality startups and talent from around the world to Upstate New York,” says Hope Knight, president, CEO and commissioner of Empire State Development. “Through continued support from New York State, these Grow-NY innovators will create jobs and generate new investments that will drive economic growth in Central New York, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier for years to come.”
This year, 270 fledgling companies from 41 countries applied to enter the competition. Among the U.S. applicants, 53 came from New York. Nearly half the applicants included a female founder and 74 percent had a founder from a culturally diverse background, officials say.
Forty judges with expertise in agribusiness, economic development, equitable access to capital, food systems, and entrepreneurship selected the 20 finalists. These companies will now move to the next phase: a 10-week business development accelerator. During the accelerator program, finalists will receive mentorship, and support with their go-to-market strategies and growth plans.
“The Grow-NY competition operates at the intersection of innovation, agriculture, and economic development,” says Grow-NY program director Jenn Smith. “Our team spends months searching for novel food and ag startups making valuable changes to our food systems that could thrive and create opportunity in Upstate New York. We’re excited to facilitate their deep connections in the region over the next couple of months and look forward to sharing their pitches with the public in November.”
Here are the finalists in addition to the two area businesses:
■ Brekland, Brooklyn—Brekland is developing a biodegradable foam coating that enhances the in-field functionality of crop frost-protection products.
■ DeepAgro, St. Louis, Mo.—DeepAgro develops artificial intelligence solutions for selective agrochemical spraying, sowing, and monitoring and diagnostics.
■ Ergo Bioscience, Sunchales, Argentina—Ergo pioneers plant cell culturing through a proprietary platform that combines AI, genetic engineering, and automation to create plant-based proteins.
■ Frost Methane, Juneau, Alaska—Frost Methane partners with livestock farmers to neutralize methane from manure ponds, earning carbon credit revenue and preventing water ingress.
■ Full of Beans Kitchen, New York City—Full of Beans is developing a fava bean platform, beginning with regenerative, New York-grown crops and culminating in high-protein, ready-to-eat foods.
■ Knead Technologies, Calgary, Canada—Knead’s software platform leverages technology to streamline food rescue operations, enabling businesses to redirect surplus food to those in need while quantifying environmental impacts.
■ Living Ink Technologies, Berthoud, Colo.—Living Ink repurposes renewable biomass waste, like algae, into sustainable black printing inks and pigments.
■ Medium Well Technological Solutions, Tel Aviv, Israel—Medium Well’s BioResin and BioBags are made from biodegradable materials, offering scalable and sustainable solutions for food and pharma.
■ Mothership Materials, New York City—Mothership Materials transforms agricultural waste into carbon-negative feedstocks—such as glucose and cellulose—that power the foods, fuels and fabrics of the future.
■ Picketa Systems, Fredericton, Canada—Picketa Systems offers real-time plant analysis for precision nutrient management.
■ PollenSmartHiveLtd, Nairobi, Kenya—Pollen Patrollers empowers small-scale farmers and beekeepers through AI-powered smart hive technology and precision pollination services.
■ Roca, Alameda, Calif.—Roca has developed an electrochemical system that removes ammonium from wastewater and recovers it as nitrogen fertilizer, helping farms and food processors reduce pollution and lower fertilizer costs.
■ Seen Nutrition, Ithaca—Seen Nutrition is a food tech startup in the menopause market, initially focused on bone health, with a patented dietary calcium chew made with dairy produced in Central New York.
■ Shire’s Naturals, Peterborough, N.H.—Shire’s Naturals offers clean-label, dairy-free foods made entirely from whole-food, plant-based ingredients.
■ ThermoShade, Los Angeles, Calif.—ThermoShade’s shade panels absorb radiated body heat, making outdoor spaces feel up to 20°F cooler than under standard awnings.
■ Trebe Biotech, Pergamino, Argentina—Trebe Biotech uses insect larvae to produce faster, more scalable, and cost-efficient bioproducts for animal health, such as recombinant proteins and vaccines.
■ Whipnotic, New York City—With a patented nozzle technology, Whipnotic creates whipped creams infused with all-natural fruit juices and flavor essences.
■ ZILA BioWorks, Renton, Wash.—ZILA converts vegetable oils into high-performance, low-carbon, recyclable bio-epoxy resins for use in industrial composites, coatings, and adhesives.
This year’s Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit will take place Nov. 12-13 in Canandaigua.
Smriti Jacob is Rochester Beacon managing editor.
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