Grow-NY recognizes firms from Ithaca, Poughkeepsie, and beyond

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — This year’s Grow-NY business competition awarded prize money to businesses from Ithaca and Poughkeepsie, two from Ontario, and companies from Georgia and the United Kingdom as well. 

Grow-NY is focused on “enhancing the emerging” food, beverage, and agriculture innovation cluster in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier.

The office of Gov. Kathy Hochul announced the winning firms following the competition’s conclusion on Nov. 15 in Binghamton. 

Now in its fifth year, the program awarded a total of $3 million to seven finalists participating in the business-development accelerator and two-day pitch competition at the Grow-NY Summit this year held in Binghamton. 

Both Clean Label Solution of Ithaca and Mush Foods of Poughkeepsie won $250,000 prizes. Cattle Scan of Toronto also won a $250,000 prize, and SomaDetec of Thornhill, Ontario, (north of Toronto) won $500,000 in the contest. In addition, MycoLogic of Kennesaw, Georgia was awarded $250,000 and Crover of Edinburgh, United Kingdom also won a $500,000 prize.

Hypercell Technologies of Peachtree Corners, Georgia won the $1 million grand-prize.

The competition also featured a “Wegmans Audience Choice” award, selected by the public, for the startup that had the most standout and promising pitch. Big Yield Growers of Endicott received $10,000 in prize money sponsored by Wegmans.

The winning teams must commit to operating in the participating regions for at least one year, while providing Grow-NY with a small equity investment stake in their entity. The competition is administered by Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement, Hochul’s office noted. 

“The winners of this year’s Grow-NY competition represent some of the most innovative and forward-thinking entrepreneurs from around the world that will take our state’s food and agriculture sector to the next level,” Hochul said in a news release. “Through Grow-NY and the Upstate Revitalization Initiative, my administration is doubling down on its commitment to driving economic growth in every part of our state, sparking innovation, and creating the jobs and opportunities that will move New York forward.”

About the winning firms

Clean Label Solution of Ithaca has proprietary technology that improves protein and fat digestibility and reduces carbon-dioxide emissions and energy consumption in the production of soy-based animal feeds for livestock such as dairy cattle, poultry, deer, and fish farms, as described in the state’s news release. 

Mush Foods of Poughkeepsie “harnesses the power and intelligence” of mushrooms with its edible mushroom mycelium, creating a “groundbreaking, sustainable, animal-free” protein for the food and beverage industry.

MycoLogic of Kennesaw, Georgia is a “comprehensive solution” for starting or expanding a specialty mushroom-cultivation business. They provide hardware and software for the semiautonomous cultivation of specialty mushrooms, as well as biological support and consultation, per the release.

Crover of Edinburgh, United Kingdom is “on a mission to help” grain-storage operators reduce losses and maintain “optimum” storage conditions, “efficiently and remotely monitoring and maintaining the quality of grain bulks through its ‘grain swimming’ robotic technology.” 

SomaDetect of Thornhill, Ontario says its “cutting-edge” sensor and software system provides farmers with the information they need to make the “best milk possible,” offering dairy producers “automatic and reliable” milk-based data directly from their milking line to streamline day-to-day operations of dairy farms, the state said.

Cattle Scan of Toronto, Ontario says its cattle-monitoring bolus allows dairy farmers to “facilitate real-time monitoring” of individual cattle, “improving overall herd health, increasing production efficiency, and helping advance business sustainability and operational excellence,” according to the release.