Fifteen agriculture companies have been selected to participate in the AgTech Accelerator program.

Of the 11 Canadian companies selected, 2 are Saskatchewan-based – ABAzyne Biosciences and PathoScan, both from Saskatoon – 4 are from the U.K. A list of all 15 companies can be viewed below.

• ABAzyne Biosciences Saskatoon, SK
• AgGene Calgary, AB
• Agtelligence Ltd London, UK
• Bug Mars Toronto, ON
• BugBiome Bristol, UK
• FlyBox London, UK
• GECO Engineering North Vancouver, BC
• Grain Discovery Prince Edward County, ON
• insporos Technologies Vancouver, BC
• Kyomei Ltd Cambridge, UK
• PathoScan Saskatoon, SK
• Pividl Bioscience Moncton, NB
• Susterre Grassie, ON
• Transport Genie Aurora, ON
• VETson Norwich, ON

Bre Walkeden, Community and Partners Manager for Cultivator powered by Conexus, the organization running the program, says the companies selected are a diverse group specializing in biotech, animal science, software and hardware.

This is the 3rd group to participate in the AgTech Accelerator program. Walkeden says in March these companies will be going through “intensive programming”, where they will connect with expert mentors, investors, industry leaders, and producers in Regina for a week. “It’s a big week – they meet with a ton of people but the hope is that they gain a lot of value, a lot of really great industry insight, and contacts, as well as that producer connection.” she said.

Laura Mock, Director of Cultivator, adds when the companies complete the intensive programming in June, they will be pitching their company on the Launch Pad, during Demo Day, at Canada’s Farm Show. “Based off of those demos, there are venture capital companies there that will look to partner with some of these companies.” said Mock.

The U.K. companies involved are part of a global partnership with Innovate UK and its Global Incubator Programme. “They’ve been really impressed with the synergies between the Canadian and U.K. companies, a lot of the partnerships and collaborations that have come (up) after the fact between the companies has been really great to see. We’ve had our Canadian companies travel out to U.K. so lots of synergies and collaborations there that have been great; a lot of them are really impressed by the producer connection and the direct access to the ag industry, so a really great partnership that were really looking forward to continuing into cohort 3 and beyond.” Walkeden said. 

Since it launched in 2021, the AgTech Accelerator has helped 32 companies from 2 previous cohorts raise $107.7 million in private capital, generated $47 million in revenue and received $32.7 million in public funding.