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.
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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.
For more information on the Nutrien- Radicle Challenge Canada, visit http://radicle.vc/the-radicle-challenge/.
About Radicle Growth
Radicle
Growth is a San Diego-based acceleration fund that selects
innovative agtech and food tech startups for investment, ensuring that
powerful, disruptive technologies reach their full potential. In
addition to providing seed-stage capital, they provide a fertile
environment for visionaries in the ag space to flourish. Their
proprietary platform is one of a kind in the agriculture industry,
filling a huge void in the market by identifying the most innovative
technologies and accelerating them with a range of value-creation
initiatives. To connect and learn more about Radicle Growth follow us on LinkedIn,
Facebook,
Instagram,
and Twitter.
About Nutrien
Nutrien
is the world’s largest provider of crop inputs and services, playing a
critical role in helping growers increase food production in a
sustainable manner. We produce and distribute 27 million tonnes of
potash, nitrogen and phosphate products worldwide. With this capability
and our leading agriculture retail network, we are well positioned to
supply the needs of our customers. We operate with a long-term view and
are committed to working with our stakeholders as we address our
economic, environmental and social priorities. The scale and diversity
of our integrated portfolio provide a stable earnings base, multiple
avenues for growth and the opportunity to return capital to shareholders.
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