CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — An Ithaca business secured $500,000 in the seventh annual Grow-NY agribusiness competition held last week in Canandaigua. The company called Seen Nutrition is a food tech startup in the menopause market, initially focused on bone health, with a patented dietary calcium chew made with dairy produced in Central New York. Brekland of […]
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — An Ithaca business secured $500,000 in the seventh annual Grow-NY agribusiness competition held last week in Canandaigua.
The company called Seen Nutrition is a food tech startup in the menopause market, initially focused on bone health, with a patented dietary calcium chew made with dairy produced in Central New York.
Brekland of Brooklyn was the $1 million grand-prize winner, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in announcing the winners. Brekland is building a novel, biodegradable foam coating that brings new, in-field functionality to crop protection products.
The competition awarded a total of $3 million in prize money to seven of the 20 finalists selected for the Grow-NY business accelerator.
Winners were announced at the Grow-NY Summit, a two-day event in Canandaigua where finalists pitched their business plans to a panel of expert judges.
Besides Seen Nutrition, Mothership Materials of New York City also won $500,000. The $250,000 winners included Living Ink Technologies of Berthoud, Colorado; Trebe Biotech of Pergamino, Buenos Aires, Argentina; Whipnotic of New York City; and ZILA BioWorks of Renton, Washington.
Each winning company will establish operations in the region for at least one year and provide a modest equity stake to Cornell University, helping to fund future food and agriculture-entrepreneurship programs.
Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement administers the competition, which is focused on “enhancing the emerging food, beverage and agriculture innovation cluster” in Central New York, Finger Lakes and Southern Tier regions, per the Hochul announcement.
“Grow-NY exists to create lasting economic development by attracting startups and investors into our world class agrifood ecosystem, leveraging innovation to create opportunity, supporting and creating growth for new and existing ventures alike,” Jenn Smith, Grow-NY program director, said in the state’s announcement. “We are thrilled to have this year’s winners help us accomplish our goals while moving toward their own.”
