In their inaugural year, Innovation Saskatchewan's AgTech Growth Fund provided funding for 11 project and committed $1.6 million to develop agricultural tech startups in the province. (Government of Saskatchewan)

By Becky Zimmer

Agtech projects

Innovation Saskatchewan ready to talk new AgTech all year round

Jul 28, 2021 | 11:22 AM

HUMBOLDT, Sask. — For the past 12 years, Innovation Saskatchewan has been working with a number of different partners to grow the technology sector in the province.

And this has included a number of agricultural tech companies as Innovation Saskatchewan acts as a catalyst for the growing technological ecosystems in the province, said CEO, Kari Harvey.

Their AgTech Growth Fund (AGF), created to focus on this technological growth in the ag sector, is now in its second year of distribution.

“We have been engaging with many Agtech startups who are actually founded by individuals who grew up on a farm and they understand the challenges. So they’re developing technologies that are relevant and impactful to the industry,” Harvey told farmnewsNOW.

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According to Innovation Saskatchewan, since the inception of the AGF, they have supported 11 projects and have committed over $1.6 million in funding. These projects have gone on to leverage $7.7 million in private investment and $600,000 in federal funding.

In a 2019 report from Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), supporting technological advances in the agricultural industry has the potential to add $11 billion to the Canadian GDP by 2030.

Given the obvious prevalence of the agriculture sector in the province, Innovation Saskatchewan is doing their part to support this budding industry, said Harvey.

Early stages of tech growth and getting funding for these projects can be difficult to secure in traditional ways, she says, so the AGF is providing that place to get new technologies off the ground. Technological agricultural developments can be difficult in itself when developing prototypes, said Harvey, since they can be more capital intensive than traditional tech advances in other industries.

Working with producers and demonstrating projects take time and money and tech producers can always use a hand.

While the global population will grow to 9.7 billion people by 2050, predicts RBC, the global demand for food will rise by 70 per cent, noted Harvey. As well, energy efficiency and sustainable practices have also become an important factor in food security so producers are needing to meet these food demands while reducing their emissions and input, she said.

Saskatchewan is well suited to rise to these challenges.

“We’ve got the agricultural expertise here, we’ve got a growing technology sector and tech entrepreneurs, and I think by matching these two strengths, we can really be a leader in Canada and North American, and frankly, globally in this area,” said Harvey.

For producers who have ideas they are trying to get off the ground, becoming part of the agricultural tech sector and searching for supports, including those offered by Innovation Saskatchewan, is the first step in developing new technologies in the agtech industry.

While the recent Agtech Growth Fund application deadline has passed for the spring intake, Harvey welcomes producers to get in touch with staff members at Innovation Saskatchewan any time during the year to talk about their projects, especially with another funding application intake coming in September.

They received 20 applications in 2020 for their inaugural funding year and 30 applications for their Saskatchewan Advantage Innovation Fund which targets research and development in miniding, energy, manufacturing, education, and healthcare sectors, Harvey is expecting a greater demand during this year’s intake.

According to their website, AGF accepts application for many areas of focus, including:

• Digital Ag Software/Hardware (e.g., sensors, imagery, precision ag, data stewardship)
• Smart Farm Equipment (e.g., robotics, machinery, automation)
• Food Processing (enabling technologies)
• Indoor Agriculture (enabling technologies)
• Animal Health/Verification Technology
• Supply Chain Technology (e.g., traceability)
• Agricultural Marketplace/Fintech

Since 2009, Innovation Saskatchewan has been a government agency focused on “creating growth in the technology sector in the province [and]…. we develop a number of different policies and programs to help advance innovation priorities in the province,” said Harvey.

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becky.zimmer@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @bex_zim