The Canadian Food Innovation Network and Creative Destruction Lab – Rockies have announced a new community partnership aimed at helping more Canadian foodtech ventures move from early-stage innovation to commercial success.
The collaboration is designed to create a stronger “producer-to-plate” pipeline by combining CFIN’s national food-sector network and industry expertise with CDL-Rockies’ objectives-based mentorship model for science and technology ventures.
Together, the organizations plan to help early-stage agrifood startups access the mentors, investors, industry relationships and commercialization support needed to scale in Canada and beyond.
“Canada is home to incredible foodtech brilliance, but the path from lab to market is often fragmented,” said Dana McCauley, CEO of CFIN. “By working alongside CDL-Rockies, we hope to expand opportunities for the companies we support to connect with potential mentors, investors and industry leaders who can help them build successful businesses.”
The partnership will focus on three key areas: building a referral pipeline between the organizations’ networks and programs, connecting founders to relevant relationships and expertise, and supporting broader ecosystem-building across Canada’s agrifood innovation sector.
Based in Calgary, CDL-Rockies works with high-potential founders through programs that help stress-test innovations, sharpen business objectives and prepare companies for commercialization. The partnership gives the organization another national channel to support founders working across the food value chain.
“This partnership strengthens our ability to support founders building solutions across the entire value chain,” said Heather Marshall, Site Lead at CDL-Rockies. “This partnership reflects a shared priority to support the commercialization of technologies solving the most complex challenges in the food sector both at home and around the world.”
CFIN has become one of Canada’s most active food innovation networks since launching in 2021. The organization says it has awarded more than $22.3 million to 122 Canadian foodtech projects, matched by more than $25.1 million in industry investment. CFIN-funded companies have generated $90 million in economic impact, created more than 355 jobs and co-op placements, and attracted more than $82 million in follow-on investment.
The organization’s membership now includes more than 8,500 people and companies across the food value chain.
The partnership is effective immediately, with joint activities planned throughout the 2026 program year.
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