Ithaca, Poughkeepsie firms among those awarded funding in this year’s Grow-NY agribusiness competition

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. — Firms from Ithaca and Poughkeepsie, two from Ontario, and companies from Georgia and the United Kingdom won prize money in this year’s Grow-NY business competition.

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.  

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

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.