Following the Accélération Cycle Momentum Agtech and Innov'agtech programs, powered by the Zone Agtech, seven companies presented their solutions to support the agricultural and agrifood sector in its transition during Demo Day, the closing event highlighting the success of companies that have completed their course.
In front of a panel of over 20 players, investors and funding bodies from the agricultural and cleantech industries, the companies captivated the event's audience with their innovative, high-potential solutions, designed to increase consumption of local produce, improve the use of precision farming tools, reduce energy consumption, increase performance, reduce consumption of non-renewable inputs and support the emergence of a new agricultural sector.
For many, Demo Day represents the end of a support cycle. For the Zone Agtech, dedicated to the development and growth of innovative companies in agtech and plant bioproducts, the Demo Day is the starting signal for even more intensive support to be given to companies setting up in the MRC de L'Assomption over the coming months. Zoom in on the 7 innovative solutions presented.
Offering a "market-place" platform for agricultural producers and distributors in the bio-food chain, Neobox simplifies order taking and management, while increasing the share of local products in the Quebec food chain. Integrating sales process automation tools, Neobox enables chefs and food stores to access a centralized online catalog of Quebec suppliers and distributors, automate their ordering and better forecast their inventory management and delivery schedules. Equipped with a multi-channel and data analysis platform, the system enables users to chat in real time, receive automated alerts and obtain personalized reports on their sales and purchases. The benefits are numerous, enabling users to reduce errors, delays and food waste through better order and inventory forecasting. The platform is available as a monthly or annual subscription at www.neobox.io.
Available growing substrates and energy consumption have long been an issue for greenhouse growers wishing to increase their profit margins and reduce their environmental impact. That's where HerbiaEra and MMSK come in, offering completely new solutions for growers looking to produce in a controlled, sustainable environment.
The substrates available in the industry are made of rock wool - which prevents greenhouse growers from receiving their organic certification - and coconut fiber - which has a heavy ecological impact due to its importation. Faced with this challenge, Herbia Era has been concentrating for several years on developing a bonded, earth-based growing substrate made entirely from bio-sourced inputs. The results are convincing, as it confirms in 2021 that its sustainable substrate outperforms competing substrates on 27 different crop varieties, leading to the receipt of its patent and FCC certificate for export. An important added value for greenhouse growers and nurserymen, the substrate is produced in Quebec and, in addition to being sustainable, facilitates automation and standardization of production. These are available at www.herbiaera.com.
Driven by an architect with a passion for food development and the environment, MMSK is focused on developing and marketing a new, more sustainable, energy-efficient and affordable rooftop greenhouse concept. Inspired by bioclimatic concepts, the new solution, called Nubes, is an inflatable greenhouse that is easy to install on the roof or on the ground, is highly energy-efficient and allows production directly on the ground, without the need for a concrete slab. It is made from ETFE resin, an emerging material renowned for its durability and performance, and offers unrivalled sunlight coverage of 99%. Particularly interesting for permaculture, biointensive agriculture and microculture, the first pilot greenhouse will be demonstrated on the roof, directly in the Agtech Zone, in the coming weeks. Further information is available at 31szym@gmail.com.
Following a 17-year career in Norway dedicated to data analysis for turtle conservation, Gaspé native John Bornardelli returned to Quebec to found Ground up data, a company dedicated to the development of a "sub-gigahertz" (non-WIFI, LORA-type) telecommunications solution capable of capturing quality data deep in the soil. The solution we've developed will be of particular interest to agricultural producers who want to set up data collection tools without fear of snagging them when farm machinery passes by, or who don't want to remove them before winter (because they're below the frost line). The undeniable advantage of this telecommunications solution is that it operates off-grid, making it ideal for use in remote areas or those poorly served by traditional telecoms providers. Following several conclusive trials in different crop varieties and climatic contexts, the company is now embarking on a major round of financing that will enable it to begin commercializing its solution on a large scale. Further information is available at www.groundupdata.ca.
Many vertical farming systems are now able to produce microgreens, sprouts and leafy vegetables profitably. Even so, very few, if any, have managed to produce romaine hearts, a lettuce renowned for the complex environment it requires to avoid disease. Much of Quebec's supply of romaine lettuce comes from California, a region severely affected by climate change. Last fall, a particularly intense period of drought pushed the cost of romaine lettuce to a record high in Quebec. With its high-performance vertical production system, RVEST Upculture aims to bring agri-food production closer to the point of distribution, thereby reducing Quebec's vulnerability to imported bio-food products. In addition to producing a variety of micro-sprouts, sprouts and leafy greens, the company has successfully taken on the major challenge of producing romaine hearts. Backed by Oliva Capital, the company already operates a first showcase site in the Greater Montreal area, and plans to set up its own systems manufacturing plant in the coming months. www. upculture.com
The hemp industry in Quebec is expanding at breakneck speed, with major contractors and innovative start-ups rekindling their interest in this virtuous plant. Such is the case of Heco Innovation, a company dedicated to the valorization of hemp into biomaterials to replace gypsum in the real estate prefabrication industry. In addition to being produced from one of the cleanest bio-sourced materials, the hemp panels offered by Heco Innovation feature technical specifications that are highly distinctive for companies operating in the prefabrication sector: they offer enhanced fire resistance, are waterproof, acoustic, twice as light as conventional materials and fully recyclable. Now that large-scale commercialization has begun, Heco Innovation plans to open a factory to increase production capacity to 250 panels a day in the coming months. The solution is available here: www.heco-innovation.com
The software currently available on the market is not very applicable to small, intensive organic and permaculture farms. This observation led Gabrielle Bastien, founder of Regénération Canada, and Jean-Martin Fortier, Quebec's well-known urban farmer, to found Heirloom, which now offers one of the only management platforms suitable for small-scale polyculture farmers. Our mission? To support small-scale organic growers by creating a disruptive technology that enables them to increase their profits and impact without investing more land, time or money. Designed by growers for growers, Heirloom's platform already offers several modules, including crop planning, automated seed ordering, workload forecasting, harvest and revenue tracking, and yield recommendations. The platform will soon be available on a monthly subscription basis here: https: //heirloom.ag.
The first of its kind in Canada, the Zone Agtech is an innovation zone located on the territory of the Ville de Repentigny and the Ville de L'Assomption, dedicated to fostering innovations and companies developing innovative technologies and solutions that will form the basis of tomorrow's agriculture: an agriculture that will produce more nutritious food while using less land, water, chemicals and energy, and that will use agri-food residues as inputs for the production of value-added bioproducts. A veritable incubator for agricultural innovation, a number of innovation and demonstration projects are being developed on themes associated with the development of controlled environment cultivation, precision farming technologies, robotization and automation, circular agriculture, food diversification and the conversion of agriculture to technologies and practices with a low environmental footprint. In pursuit of its vision, it has assembled and implemented a number of strategic levers to propel companies that wish to take part in the development of a resilient, innovative, sustainable and low-carbon food chain, including access to financing, the value chain, markets, knowledge and talent, state-of-the-art infrastructure and some of the most specialized innovation and acceleration programs in Canada.
As part of the Agtech Acceleration Program, five companies offering innovative agricultural technologies and in the seed phase benefit from various forms of support, as well as proximity to the agricultural community in which they market their technology. The 4-month program has been designed to accelerate the development of companies at technological maturity level 6 and above, by offering tools and support in the following areas: business model optimization, financing, knowledge of the Quebec agricultural and agtech industry, contacts with key players, personalized support from a dedicated coach or mentor. The call for applications is renewed every year around November. Register your interest in participating in the next cohort here: info@zoneagtech.ca.
This 16-week program, offered in collaboration with the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières, is designed to train management teams and innovation project leaders in the various stages and considerations required to ensure the success - from ideation to market transfer - of an innovation in the innovative agricultural technologies and plant bioproducts sector. During the course, participating companies benefit from 75 hours of training, workshops and practical tools to understand and master the industry in which they wish to develop, as well as the potential markets, needs and behaviors of the customers who will use them, identify their strengths and areas for improvement that will influence the success of their project, and identify and clarify the opportunities, identify and clarify the opportunities, constraints and threats in their industry that could accelerate or compromise their project, define their strategic vision and the short- and medium-term objectives they wish to achieve, identify the issues that could compromise their attainment, and the strategies to be used to overcome them, determine and prioritize the strategic axes to be pursued in 1, 3 and 5-year horizons, design and deploy an action plan, benefiting from practical, concrete ways of doing things and tips. The call for applications is renewed every year around October. Register your interest in participating in the next cohort here: info@zoneagtech.ca.
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