The Nutrien-Radicle Challenge Canada was created to Identify and Invest in Entrepreneurs Solving Ag and Food Challenges through Capital Infusion and Access to Radicle and Nutrien Platforms
SAN DIEGO -- Radicle Growth today announced that it has joined forces with Nutrien, the world’s largest provider of crop inputs, services, and solutions, to launch the Nutrien-Radicle Challenge Canada. Together, their efforts are focused on supporting innovation in Canada. The Challenge will accelerate the speed of innovation for entrepreneurs in ag and food in a country with incredible opportunity.
The Challenge will identify and invest in entrepreneurs that are solving ag and food challenges with groundbreaking technologies at both the Growth-Stage (series A or later) and Seed-Stage level. In addition to the capital infusion, the winners will have access to the Radicle and Nutrien platforms to accelerate development of their novel technologies.
Growth-Stage companies will be competing for a US$1 million investment and the Seed-Stage companies for a US$250,000 investment. To qualify, companies must be based in Canada; Growth-Stage companies must have raised a minimum of US$3 million in investment capital and Seed-Stage companies should have raised a minimum of US$100,000 in investment capital, in-kind capital or have gone through an agtech incubator or accelerator program. This is the first time investments of this size, and this manner, have been offered in the ag and food industry. Applications are open until June 28, 2019.
“Nutrien is a strong supporter of Canadian agriculture innovation, and we are excited to partner with Radicle to help enable the important work of entrepreneurs across the agriculture value chain. This partnership will result in financial support for start-ups and help accelerate the delivery of new solutions to farmers around the world,” said Chuck Magro, President & Chief Executive Officer, Nutrien.
After entries close, 4-6 finalists will be identified from both the Growth-Stage entrants and another 4-6 from the Seed-Stage entrants. The finalists will participate in a Pitch Day Competition at an event in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in early October. Each company will have the opportunity to present in front of a leading panel of judges. The winners will not only receive a significant investment from Radicle Growth, but will have access to the Radicle and Nutrien platforms (including a global agtech network, venture partners and strategic alliances, and access to Radicle’s acceleration platform) to accelerate the development of their ag and food technologies.
“Canada’s GDP generated from agriculture and agri-food is more than the national GDP of two-thirds of the world’s countries at more than $110 billion each year (according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC)). There is boundless potential in this region in ag and food,” said Kirk Haney, Managing Partner of Radicle Growth. “We are thrilled to have partnered with one of the largest ag companies in the world to provide this opportunity to Canadian entrepreneurs. The Radicle Challenge concept has been incredibly successful because it not only provides much-needed capital for entrepreneurs, but also brings a partner to the table with deep ag expertise.”
Leaf Agriculture, the winner of the Radicle’s last Challenge (the Global Pre-Seed Challenge), was selected for a US$250,000 investment for their innovative API product that facilitates fast, easy and secure data transfer between agtech platform partners, solving what had been a technical challenge in the agtech sector. This capital infusion is one that many Seed-Stage companies in traditional accelerator programs don’t have access to and was what allowed Leaf to continue expansion into North America. The Seed-Stage winner for the Nutrien-Radicle Challenge Canada will have this same opportunity with a capital infusion and custom accelerator program.
Source : businesswire