Dairy Farmers of Canada and Bioenterprise have partnered to host a $50,000 National Sustainability and Innovation Challenge – a business pitch competition focused on sustainability in the agriculture and food industry.
Virtual Pitch Competition taking place on October 5th, 2023. | Click here to Register!
What is The Green Pursuit?
The Green Pursuit is a national business pitch competition that will provide a $45,000 cash prize to the winner and a $5,000 cash prize to the runner up. Applications will be scored on the problem or opportunity they are addressing, their unique solution, their team experience, and the overall sustainability impact to the agriculture, food, and drink sector in Canada.
The 10 highest scoring applications will be selected to participate in a virtual event where they will pitch their business and/or demo their technology to a panel of experts who will ultimately determine the winner and runner up.
Eiligible applicants are incorporated, for-profit Canadian companies with a minimum Technology Readiness Level of 4+ who operate in the agriculture or food & beverage sectors. This competition is designed for early stage companies who are pre-revenue or have trailing 12 month revenues of less than $250,000 and have 5 or fewer FTE employees.
Contact
We’re looking for innovative sustainability solutions for the agriculture and food & beverage sectors in Canada!
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Questions?
Please Contact: braden.kemp@bioenterprise.ca
Eligibility:
Applicant must be:
- Operating in the agriculture or food & beverage sectors;
- An incorporated, for-profit private company headquartered in Canada;
- Pre-revenue or generating a maximum of $250,000 in revenues;
- Having 5 or fewer full time equivalent employees;
- Achieve a minimum 4+ Technology Readiness Level (Component and/or validation in a laboratory environment – basic technological components are integrated to establish they will work together)
Timeline
- May 17, 2023 - Program Launch - Applications open
- June 17, 2023 - Applications Close
- June 17 - July 30, 2023 - Application Review & Scoring
- July 30 - August 30, 2023 - Selected finalists are notified and participate in mock pitch sessions
- October 5, 2023 - Finalists participate in virtual challenge / competition event
- TBD October, 2023 - Winner and runner-up are selected and cash prize is distributed
Application Process
How do I apply?
Applications will be accepted beginning May 17, 2023, in one-phase process consisting of an online application form. Click the button below to get started!
Applications will be scored against a standardized scoring rubric and the finalists will be notified by July 30th 2023 at the latest.
Application Toolkit
About Bioenterprise Canada
Bioenterprise is Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine, a national agri-technology focused commercialization accelerator. Bioenterprise uses its 20 years of industry experience and a global network of experts, mentors, funders, researchers, and industry partners to help small and medium-sized agri-food businesses connect, innovate and grow.
About Dairy Farmers Association of Canada
We’re a farmer-funded and farmer-run organization (not a government body), and we represent the interests of the hard-working men and women on almost 10,000 Canadian dairy farms, day in and day out. Indirectly, we also stand with the over 195,000 extended members of the dairy farmer community and workforce from coast to coast.
