CANANDAIGUA, N.Y. — Seen Nutrition of Ithaca won $500,000 in the seventh annual Grow-NY agribusiness competition held Nov. 12-13 in Canandaigua.

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, as described in the Nov. 13 announcement about the Grow-NY winners from the office of Gov. Kathy Hochul.

Brekland of Brooklyn was the $1 million grand-prize winner. 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.

About Seen Nutrition

Seen Nutrition was co-founded by Cornell University lecturer Adrienne Bitar, and pharmacist Jennifer Han. Their flagship product, the Calcium Chew Complete, is made with dairy from the Upstate region. It is the first dietary calcium supplement made entirely from real foods.

“The company is committed to sourcing local ingredients and addressing the urgent need for bone health solutions for women over 40,” the company said in an Aug. 26 announcement about its selection as a Grow-NY finalist.

The startup has “deep ties” to Cornell and the region. Seen Nutrition is an alum of Cornell’s Dairy Runway program; a Rev Ithaca Startup Works member; and has used the Food Innovation Lab at Cornell AgriTech and the Seneca Foods Foundation Pilot Plant in Geneva to develop and scale its product.

Production was supported at Sweet Pea Kitchen in Rochester and fulfillment is completed by Watkins Glen ARC, Seen Nutrition said.

“Being selected as a Grow-NY finalist is an honor and a responsibility,” Bitar said. “We are proud to build a business that strengthens the local dairy industry while innovating in the field of women’s bone health nutrition.”

“As a pharmacist, I’ve seen the challenges women face with bone health. We created a solution rooted in the foods we trust here in Upstate New York,” Han added.

Additional winners

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.”

In its seventh year, the Grow-NY competition attracted 270 applicants from 41 countries. Applicants came from 31 states, and 53 startups applied from across New York state.