SYRACUSE — Those interested in applying for the second year of the Grow-NY competition have until July 15 to do so, and they may have a chance to pitch their idea at the Oncenter in Syracuse in November. Grow-NY, a global food and agriculture business competition, held a May 14 virtual briefing on the competition’s […]
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SYRACUSE — Those interested in applying for the second year of the Grow-NY competition have until July 15 to do so, and they may have a chance to pitch their idea at the Oncenter in Syracuse in November.
Grow-NY, a global food and agriculture business competition, held a May 14 virtual briefing on the competition’s website to launch its second year.
The contest “is known to attract high-growth food and agricultural startups from around the world” to compete for a combined total of $3 million in prize money, organizers say.
Those interested can apply at the competition’s website, grow-ny.com.
“Applicants can apply from anywhere in the world,” Jenn Smith, program director for Grow-NY, said during the virtual briefing.
Smith also works at Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement.
“One of the outcomes of the [COVID-19] pandemic has been a heightened awareness of the challenges and limitations of our current models of agriculture and food production. A light has been shown on the need for innovation and how we grow, make, store, move, and sell food and the Grow-NY competition is positioned to nurture that innovation to attract fresh ideas to the region and to help the industry move forward,” said Smith.
Grow-NY is in the second year of its three-year initiative and focuses on “strengthening the food and agriculture innovation cluster [that’s] so important” to the Finger Lakes, Central New York, and Southern Tier regions of New York. Empire State Development is funding the competition through its Upstate Revitalization Initiative connected with the three regions — CNY Rising, Southern Tier Soaring, and Finger Lakes Forward — and Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement is administering the competition.
Winners will be required to create a “positive impact” in the Grow-NY region, grow job opportunities, connect with local industry partners, and contribute to a thriving upstate New York economy. Each year, one finalist will be selected for a $1 million top prize. Two $500,000 prizes and four $250,000 prizes will also be awarded for a total of $3 million in prize money, per Grow-NY. Tax incentives will also be included.
“The final pitches will occur Nov. 17 and 18,” said Smith. “As of today, we’re planning to feature the pitches at the Grow-NY Summit at the Oncenter in Syracuse, along with a symposium of enriching panel conversations and an exhibit hall showcasing food and ag innovation and the resources that help startups thrive. We’re also planning an awards ceremony as our grand finale where we’ll be giving out a combined total of $3 million in prize money.”
Smith also acknowledged that having a live audience at the competition or a large number of participants at the Grow-NY Summit will be contingent upon New York COVID-19 safety guidelines at the time.
Impressions from 2019 prize winners
The briefing also included remarks from companies that captured prize money in the competition’s first year, including RealEats America of Geneva and Dropcopter, a tenant at the Syracuse Tech Garden.
RealEats America won the top prize of $1 million, while Dropcopter was awarded $500,000 for its efforts in the competition.
RealEats is a food-tech company that develops products to make it simpler for people to enjoy the benefits of real food. The company’s first product innovation is a “highly successful” line of healthy, “hyper-convenient,” chef-prepared meals, as described by Smith during the briefing.
She also asked Dan Wise, founder and CEO of RealEats America, about participating in the Grow-NY competition.
RealEats had heard about the competition through the New York State Center of Excellence for Food and Agriculture, which recommended that the business participate. The company then organized its presentation and worked with a mentor.
“The whole mentor program was phenomenal. He really helped to fine tune that presentation. And then we got up on stage and we talked about our business. We said this is what we’ve done. This is where we hope to go and that we would really love the help of upstate New York to be able to achieve some of these goals. I guess we were really fortunate among some pretty heavy competition to have won,” said Wise.
As the briefing continued, Smith also spoke with Adam Fine, founder of Dropcopter, which deploys drones to perform aerial pollination of crops. It’s a method that helps growers improve farming efficiency, reduce waste, and drive healthy crop growth.
Fine called the Grow-NY contest a “pressure cooker” to hone and refine presentation skills and networking skills.
Smith also asked Fine how the business-development phase benefited Dropcopter, aside from the cash prize. He replied that getting the opportunity to work with Cornell University was “instrumental” for Dropcopter.
“We’ve been trying to work on a project with Cornell for a long time since we came to Syracuse. And bridging that gap has always been difficult to get the research we wanted to do started … We had done some independent research ourselves, but getting the work with Cornell has always been kind of a key to unlocking the industries we work in. So, now we’re doing that and that was a big part of what we wanted to get out of Grow-NY,” said Fine.
