From far and wide: meet our Canadian Agtech Accelerator Cohort 1 companies

📍 Vancouver,  BC + Saskatchewan
https://www.lucentbiosciences.com/

Lucent BioSciences is a Canadian company focused on developing sustainable crop nutrition products with superior ROI to help farmers feed a growing global population. The company was formed in British Columbia and is taking strides to move its production to Saskatchewan in the near future. The company has developed a zero-waste manufacturing process that binds nutrients to cellulose. This new material ‘soileos’ has unique properties and characteristics that prevent run-off or tie-up, and improve yields, plant health, and crop quality.

Jason McNamee, Founder of Lucent Biosciences, is an energetic, experienced team leader with a history of leading multi-disciplinary project teams in the agtech, ocean tech, and engineering industries. Jason has been the project manager for the development of biotech materials, agtech R&D including field trials, the development, and implementation of deep-sea research projects, and environmental remediation projects. Jason has degrees in biology and geology and claims to be still a “decent hockey player”.

📍 Toronto, ON
https://Ukko.ag

Ukko Agro’s predictive analytics platform analyses disconnected weather, soil, and crop data from producer’s fields and advise them on the specific crop input applications needed for best optimization. This analysis can provide the data to producers up to a week in advance.

Ketan Kaushish, Co-founder + CEO of Ukko Agro, devised and executed a go-to-market strategy for pulse businesses in India, and expanded it in eight new regions.

📍 Mississauga, ON
https://www.intelliculture.ca

IntelliCulture is a farm management software that improves labor optimization, pest and mildew prevention, and machine management. Its focus is to collect data from a producer’s agricultural equipment and provide insights into their operations. IntelliCulture can install their plug and play device into farm machinery to then provide detailed insights into spray coverage, equipment health, and labor management. As the data is collected, producers can review the recommendations through the IntelliCulture portal and access detailed reports. 

Cole Powers is the Founder and CEO of IntelliCulture. Cole’s empathetic nature is at the forefront of every discussion he has in the ag business. In doing so, Cole ensures the roadmap stays user-centric and is always facilitating feedback and farmers’ needs. Cole has an experienced background in automotive technology and studied mechanical engineering whilst pursuing an opportunity in entrepreneurship. Cole has worked in various engineering and management roles and is excited to be pouring his heart and soul into the agriculture sector.

📍 Salmon Arm, BC
https://techbrew.com/

TechBrew Robotics manufactures fully autonomous, vision-guided mushroom harvesting robots with data collection capabilities. Labor shortages in the mushroom industry limit production capabilities. Harvesting mushrooms can require scaling 4 meters high shelving and putting in long shifts in back-breaking positions, every 24 hours. Despite a growing demand for mushrooms, many farms lack enough workers to harvest. This causes food to go to waste at a time when it is needed most.

The solution TechBrew Robotics has built is an autonomous machine that attaches to the farm’s existing shelving so there’s no need for changes to farm infrastructure. The robot is transportable and can move easily between growing rooms when needed.

Mike Boudreau is the President + CEO of TechBrew. He specializes in vision-guided robotics, augmented reality, industrial process optimization, sensors + robotics, and machine vision.

📍 Calgary, AB
http://www.livestockwaterrecycling.com

The Livestock Water Recycling System (LWR) is the only proven and fully operating technology that reduces the overall volume of manure, concentrates nutrients, and delivers a renewable, high-quality water source to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, concentrate and segregate nutrients for strategic fertilizer application, and recycle clean, reusable water. LWR gained the Solar Impulse Efficient Solution Label following a 15-month long assessment performed by external independent experts and based on verified standards. This introduces LWR into the #Beyond1000solutions group, an initiative by the Solar Impulse Foundation that identifies solutions that meet specific high standards in profitability and sustainability and presents them to global decision-makers to fast-track their implementation.

LWR is the award-winning global innovator of on-site fertilizer PLANT. This patented technology platform provides hog, dairy, anaerobic digester, and food processing operations the ability to selectively extract particles from a biosolid stream. This allows for the best use of the liquids – recycled clean water, fertilizers, and biogas feedstock. LWR’s approach to water treatment achieves triple-bottom-line outcomes: it meets the growing demand for food, increases farmer profitability through biogas and fertilizer revenues, and protects the environment and public health.

The Co-founder and CEO, Karen Schuett, has led her team to develop a multi-patented, award-winning waste-to-worth approach to on the farm manure treatment. Karen is responsible for running all facets of the business, specifically overseeing the integration between LWR’s overall corporate strategy and its focus on innovation. Karen was named one of the six most influential women in Canadian Agriculture and was selected to join Google’s first Startup Accelerator for Women Founders. Karen was granted the Clean50 designation in 2021 for her leadership in sustainability.

📍 Winnipeg, MB
https://feedflo.com/

FeedFlo provides the animal agriculture industry with real-time, actionable data on the feed flowing through barns. Its patented sensor and predictive software technology reduces feed costs, increases operational efficiency, and improves overall animal health. FeedFlo is creating the barn of the future and a better food system. Livestock ranchers can see how much feed is flowing through different sites on your operation with total usage data, real-time alerts (when pipes are running empty), and updates on the health of your feeding systems. With FeedFlo farmers gain a new layer of data and insight into their entire barn operations.

Scott Russell is the CEO and founder of FeedFLo. Scott has extensive experience in the development, management, and growth of both new ventures and established businesses across a wide range of industries including energy, agriculture, e-commerce, real estate, health, and beauty. He is a serial entrepreneur and has led and developed projects and partnerships worth $40M+ USD in over 20 countries around the world.

📍 Moose Jaw, SK
https://www.parametrics.ag

Parametrics.ag uses sophisticated satellite data to give simple insurance coverage for crops and provides farmers with the most accurate way to assess the risk of their crop during peak heat. This allows farmers an opportunity to make the best decision for their farm. 

Damon Johnson, Founder of Parametrics.ag, was raised on a family farm in east-central Saskatchewan and remains actively involved in its processes today. Damon obtained an MBA and currently maintains three financial management designations. His career has been focused on agriculture finance, economics, and data analytics.

📍 Guelph, ON
https://farmhealthguardian.com/

Farm Health Guardian is a proven digital biosecurity software platform that helps producers and their employees protect the health of their livestock and poultry. The proven biosecurity software system offers two components: Farm Health Protect and Farm Health Monitor. Both provide software solutions to help swine and poultry producers to lower their cost of production through improved animal health and by reducing the risk of disease spread.

Rob Hannam, CEO, and Founder of Farm Health Guardian is a seasoned entrepreneur who excels in strategic planning, marketing communications, and market research. His passion for agriculture was cultivated while growing up on his family’s grain farm in Ontario, Canada. He has experience throughout the agricultural industry and has worked with multinationals, large and small agribusinesses, and provided consulting services to government institutions, industry organizations, and farmer-led associations. Rob is currently a founder/owner of several business ventures, including Synthesis Agri-Food Network.

📍 Montreal, QC
https://chrysalabs.com

ChrysaLabs is a portable probe that can measure, in real-time, soil nutrients and soil health. This allows producers and agronomists the needed information within seconds with the same exact accuracy of a laboratory. Through their management platform, the user can easily track data and take action quickly if needed.

Samuel Fournier, Co-founder and CEO of ChrysaLabs, has spent all his career working in the cleantech industry. He is a seasoned international development leader, having worked on four continents, enabling innovative companies to expand their markets. Samuel has a large comprehension of the agtech industry and carries a vision for a more sustainable agricultural industry. He holds a BA in Political Sciences from Sherbrooke University and an MBA from Laval University.

📍 Vibank, SK
https://farmsimple.ca/

FarmSimple has designed IOT products that monitor water levels and temperatures that are critical to your livestock operations. This technology helps farmers and producers save money and reduce losses with network-connected electronics.

Katlin Lang Co-Founder of FarmSimple studied Electronic Systems Engineering at the University of Regina and could never shake the idea of designing and building electronic devices. After 7 years in project management and engineering consulting, Katlin decided to take a step into the tech world with the creation of FarmSimple.

📍 Calgary, AB
https://www.AGvisorPRO.com

AGvisorPRO’s app provides farmers, ranchers, and agri-businesses a seamless way to connect with ag industry experts anytime and anywhere. The network of experts found on the app provides support with agronomy, crop protection, market assessment, mental health, animal health, feed, farm real-estate, insurance, succession planning, as well as mechanical assistance with ag equipment.

Robert D Saik is the Founder and CEO of AGvisorPRO. Robert has forty years of experience as a professional agrologist, entrepreneur and international consultant who’s worked with a wide variety of agriculturalists from Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture to Bill Gates. In 2021 Robert was recognized as one of Canada’s Top 50 Most Influential Agriculture Leaders and was named one of Canada’s Top 10 Ag Mentors. His latest book, “FOOD 5.0 How We Feed the Future” is a pragmatic look at the five iterations of agriculture, culminating in an examination of how technology convergence is reshaping the farm and the consumer.