AgSphere this week unveiled an overseas collaboration.
In December, AgSphere launched out of Alberta with $2.75 million in support from The Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund to serve as a hub for connecting Canada’s agricultural producers and startups with investors and partners under one coordinated ecosystem.
“AgSphere will help innovators and entrepreneurs continue tackling global food and energy challenges with creative ‘made-in-Calgary’ solutions,” commented Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas in December.
The organization is now partnering with the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s food innovation arm, EIT Food in Belgium.
The partnership is structured to cultivate sector collaboration between Canada and Europe, according to a statement, allowing the two organizations to “facilitate activities for the agri-innovation sector, such as startup immersion programs and exchanges, training and skills development, and strategic collaboration between the two regions.”
“Our partnership with EIT Food opens up a world of possibilities for Canadian agri-food innovators to access European resources, while Canada has agricultural prowess that we can share with our European counterparts,” explains Chris Paterson, who functions as Executive Director of AgSphere.
“EIT Food has a proven model for sector collaboration that we can learn from,” he believes, “to help strengthen our own ecosystem here at home.”
EIT Food visited Canada in April to meet with AgSphere and sector stakeholders in Calgary and Edmonton.
“Partnerships like this are essential to delivering real change in the food system,” suggests Richard Zaltzman, who serves EIT Food as chief executive officer.
“By working together across borders with organisations like AgSphere, we are strengthening a pan-European and global innovation community that can make food more sustainable, accessible, secure and transparent for all,” he remarked.
AgSphere plans to attend the EIT Food event Next Bite in October in Poland.
The organization is inviting Canadian agri-food startups interested in or exploring the European market to join their delegation, with an Expression of Interest open through June 15, and selections being made in July.
“We’re hitting the ground running on our partnership with EIT Food by assembling a cohort for our first startup trip this fall,” says Paterson. “The EU is not only a major market for agri-food products, it’s also home to sector innovators that we want to help startups build relationships with.”
AgSphere’s founding partners include AdFarm, the Calgary Stampede, Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, and OCIF.
Leave a Reply