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Investing in Agrifoodtech and Cleantech

06 Nov 2019
2:00pm - 6:45pm PST

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06 Nov 2019
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06 Nov 2019
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06 Nov 2019
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Event Details

Meet BC's most promising Agrifoodtech & Cleantech companies

 

There has never been a better time to invest in Agritech, Foodtech, Agbiotech and Cleantech. New ways to grow, process and distribute healthier and more nutritious foods at better yields because innovative technologies provide tremendous opportunities for investment at a global scale.

With this event we want to introduce you to some of the most promising seed stage companies in BC that have the potential to provide great returns for investors while contributing to the health and sustainability of our people and planet.

Together with local accelerators and angel investors we selected and vetted BC’s most promising startups. We invite accredited investors, industry experts and stakeholders for an afternoon of investor panels, pitches and networking.

Hosted by VANTEC Angel Network, this event is created in collaboration with Innovate BC, Foresight Cleantech Accelerator, Natural Products Canada, Entrepreneurship UBC,  SFU VentureLabsSpring Activator and with support from the Government of Canada.

In 2019, Rocketbuilders  published its list of Emerging Rocket and Ready to Rocket  Agrifoodtech companies and Agfunder created an overview of the  Canadian Agrifoodtech market that includes a fair number of BC companies. This is one of the biggest sectors in BC and for our future!  

VANTEC members invested in BC's most promising Agritfoodtech startups including Barrelwise, Chopvalue, Creatus Biosciences, Cuboh, Daiya (exit), Foodee Media, Mazza Innovation (exit), Open Ocean Robotics, Ostara Nutrient Recovery, Semios, Terramera, This.Fish, VitaminLab and many others. We look forward to presenting the next wave of investment opportunities.

Register early. Seats will sell out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A G E N D A

  

Investor Meeting Registration & Networking 2:00pm

Presentation: Investment Trends 2:30pm

Industry experts present trends, opportunities and examples why investing in Agtech, Foodtech and Cleantech is rapidly growing and rewarding.

 

Trends in Agtech & Foodtech - Tom Urban, Investor and Founder of  Agribusiness Advisors

Tom Urban is a Vancouver based investor in early stage Agtech companies, and the founder of Agribusiness Advisors. He  provides advisory services to CEOs and Boards and has made a number of direct investments in promising Ag start ups. Tom is also an Entrepreneur in Residence and Adjunct Professor at UBC and is part of a team and a large network of mentors that is supporting innovation and entrepreneurship at UBC. He has spent more than 25 years in the world of agriculture.

 

Trends in Cleantech - Jeanette Jackson, CEO at Foresight Cleantech Accelerator

Jeanette is an experienced CEO, entrepreneur and business strategist with broad-based experience in technology, business development, marketing and operations. Over the last 4 years, Jeanette has supported more than 20 Foresight companies as an Executive In Residence in several markets including bio-energy, electric vehicles, smart buildings, water tech, robotics and wind.  She is excited to bring the new vision of Foresight to life:   advancing the adoption of Canadian transformative cleantech companies through programs that help them launch, scale and grow.

 

EBC Investment Program UpdatesKevin Harvey, Portfolio Manager, Investment Capital Branch

Kevin Harvey is a Portfolio Manager with the Investment Capital Branch.  Kevin is dedicated to helping small businesses raise capital in BC under both the Eligible Business Corporation (EBC) and Venture Capital Corporation (VCC) programs.  Kevin Harvey is a CFA® charterholder, and is committed to working with entrepreneurs, investors, and industry stakeholders to grow the venture capital ecosystem in BC.

 

CEO Panel: The Journey from Startup to Scale-Up  3:00 pm

Tom Urban, Angel Investor and Advisor in Agrifoodtech talks with 3 successful local entrepreneurs and looks back at their journey from idea to business and scaling up.

Michael Gilbert, CEO at  Semios, Automated climate, pest, insect and disease management and treatment for orchards.

Dave Dinesen, CEO at Cubic Farms - Commercial scale automated indoor farming systems.

Hamlet Abnousi, CEO at  Novobind - Biological food additive to target and disarm dangerous microbes in farm animals.

 

Networking Break 3.30pm

 

Community Announcements 4:00pm

Innovation Canada | Boon Ng Boon.Ng@canada.ca

Get funding. Launch your idea. Connect with experts

Innovate BC | Maggie Chan | mchan@innovatebc.ca

EBC Investment Program Update Kevin Harvey | Kevin.Harvey@gov.bc.ca

Entrepreneurship UBC |  Kari LaMotte | kari.lamotte@ubc.ca

SFU VentureLabs | Floyd Sijmons floydsijmons@gmail.com

AVAC Group |  Martin Vetter | MVetter@avacgrp.com

Natural Products Canada | Darren Boldingdarren@naturalproductscanada.com

Foresight Accelerator | Jeanette Jackson | jjackson@foresightcac.com

Agritech Collaboration Agreement

 

INVESTOR EVENTS

Angel Investing Workshop for New Investors - Deal Screening & Due Diligence Friday, November 28 Vancouver

VANTEC 20 Year Anniversary Reception  Friday,  November 28 Vancouver

Deal Structuring and Term Sheets half day workshop Thursday, November 21 Vancouver

Keiretsu Forum Vancouver Chapter Meeting Tuesday, December 3 Vancouver

VANTEC Investor Meeting Wednesday, December 4 Vancouver

Exits half day workshop Thursday,  December 12 Vancouver

Cybersecurity for Investors and Startups Wednesday, January 22 Vancouver

 

ENTREPRENEUR EVENTS

Women's Pitch Night Vancouver Thursday, November 7 Vancouver

 

Company Presentations 4:15pm

VANTEC members can now review the decks, company profiles, GUST and contact details of the companies presenting on the Event Presentations page and more easily connect with companies of interest before during or after the investor meeting.

 

PREVIEWS​​​

Ocean Protein | Food Technology | Producing the lowest cost and highest quality protein from seaweed

Taste of BC Aquafarms | Fishtech | We are looking for impact investors that will help us validate our model and enable us to move on to the next stage of development of a Land Based Salmon Farm.

True Honey - Authentic Food Solutions | Agtech | Fake food is a growing problem that cheats consumers and exposes them to danger

Farmershive | Agtech | We bring valuable insights into farming as part of the unique solution, saving farmers time and money while utilizing resources more efficiently

 

PRESENTATIONS (5 minutes)

Voltsafe | Cleantech Energy | The Electrical Plug Transformed Smart Simple Safe.

Open Ocean Robotics | Cleantech | We collect ocean data using our revolutionary solar and wind powered autonomous boats for research, government and offshore industries.

Plant Veda Beverage | A Plant-Based Mylk Company on a mission to reduce climate change by shifting humans to plant-based diet.

Kits Brew | Beverage | A low sugar, low carb, great tasting Alcohol Kombucha​​​​beverage made locally using certified organic ingredients.

Susgrainable Health Foods | Food | Susgrainable produces premium, healthy, and sustainable flour, baking mixes, and baked goods using upcycled ingredients from beverage producers.

Scout Canning  | Food | Scout creates modern Canadian craft seafood products for the $38B global canned seafood market, investing 1% of revenues into ocean health projects.

Renaissance BioScience | Foodtech & Agtech | A biological engineering company developing a novel yeast-based biopesticide platform for agriculture.

BarrelWise Technologies | Foodtech |  BarrelWise is giving winemakers the tools to better practice their art by facilitating precise and efficient management of the barrel aging process.

 

UPDATES (90 seconds)

CryoLogistics Refrigeration | Cleantech | We are a Victoria-based cleantech startup company commercializing an innovative transport refrigeration container for the cold chain industry

Lucent BioSciences | Agtech | Soileos is a new class of "bio released" micronutrient fertilizers that don't pollute, grows crops with higher yield & nutrient levels at a lower price/ha.

FoodMesh | Cleantech | We provide apps and services for food businesses and charities to safely divert surplus food to the highest end use.

Elevated Signals | Agtech | A digital cultivation management experience for licensed producers.

This Fish | Foodtech | World Leader in Seafood Traceability and Production Software

Novobind | Foodtech | We target and disarm dangerous microbes with next-generation biologics

 

 

1:1 MEETINGS

The following companies will not be presenting but would like to have 1:1 meetings with interested investors.

Plugzio | Cleantech Energy | Making parking lots ready for autonomous vehicles using the data management tools of Enforz.io and the charging capabilities of Plugz.io

Nutrienvisus | Agtech |  We produce a sustainable eco-friendly but precision-formulated bio-organic nutrient to grow healthier plants without harmful chemicals and microbes.

 

Investor Decks

The company presentations and investor packages, including more details on the team, financials and other documents are available to VANTEC members on the Gust platform. Email us at info@vantec.ca if you have any questions.

 

Networking Reception 5:30-6:45pm

We will serve snacks, wine, beer and non-alcoholic drinks.

 

1:1 Meetings

Investors can request 1:1 meetings with CEO's of the presenting companies. We will provide contact details, decks and GUST investor profiles to investor members and registered investors. We have recommended companies to reserve time for in person or online 1:1 meetings with investors in the following week.

 

Access Vetted Early Stage Investment Opportunities

Become a member and join any of our 11 monthly investor pitch meetings. Each meeting is followed by a networking reception with snacks and beverages. Get access to online pitch decks, investor packages, and pitch videos on demand for only $600 per year. Remote investors who just want investor decks and videos on demand only pay $300 per year.

Missed a meeting or want to review a pitch? Access the deck and video in our Presentations section. 

 

 

NOTE: We record our events and make them available online.

By attending this event, you consent to the use of photography/video/audio in all forms of media, for any and all promotional purposes including advertising, display, audiovisual, exhibition or editorial use by VANTEC Angel Network without payment or other compensation.

By registering for this event you will be added to our Angel Investor newsletter list where you will be emailed twice per month with upcoming investor events. You may unsubscribe at any time.

In the days ahead we'll give a short summary of what each company presenting is working on and why it matters.


Open Ocean Robotics is a cleantech solution to collecting ocean data. Using proprietary solar and wind-powered autonomous boats equipped with sensors and cameras, the start-up is on a mission to provide actionable, real-time ocean insights. 

With over 80 percent of the ocean still unmapped, unobserved, and unexplored, the ability to collect and analyze ocean data has potential to impact a $3.25 trillion ocean industry. 

A clean technology solution like Open Ocean Robotics can make a huge difference in the ocean industry. Their boats can be in the ocean and travel non-stop for months without producing greenhouse missions, noise pollution, or oil spills. 

In the industry, boats in Canada produce more than 1,000 megatons of greenhouse gas emissions every year. Their boats can plot more fuel-efficient roats to conserve fuel and reduce emissions altogether. This is like taking 100 cars off the road for an entire year. 

Their boats can patrol the ocean, safeguard Marine Protected Areas and crack down on illegal fishing. Illegal fishing accounts for 20 percent of all the wild fish caught. 

Open Ocean Robotics can help us better understand climate change by measuring the changes in the ocean. The melting Arctic ice has tripled the amount of traffic to the area in the last 25 years. These boats can help provide a cost-effective way to map the Arctic while reducing the amount of boats running aground. 

The clean technology company was founded by Julie Angus and Colin Angus. Open Ocean Robotics has partnered with MaRS Cleantech and Natural Resources Canada. In June, they won the Most Promising Startup of 2019 Award from NACO at the World Angel Investment Summit

For more information about Open Ocean Robotics, visit: https://openoceanrobotics.com.

Julie Angus, CEO and Cofounder will be presenting at the VANTEC Investor Meeting on November 6th during the company presentations at 4:15pm. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Susgrainable Health Foods upcycles ingredients including spent grain from food and beverage producers to create healthy and sustainable flours and products. Their movement started after realizing most local craft breweries in Vancouver were producing a large amount of spent grain which ended up being wasted. 

Their proprietary processing technology is exclusive to North America and provides significant cost and quality advantages compared to their competition. Susgrainable Health Foods is able to produce 2,000 to 3,000 kg per month. 

With over 11.2M tonnes of edible food wasted in Canada every year, Susgrainable provides a massive solution between the $47 billion upcycled food waste and $80 billion functional flour industries. 

Their product line includes Susgrainable flours, baking mixes, and baked goods. These are currently being delivered through wholesale and retail channels. 

Susgrainable Health Foods was founded by Marc Wandler and Stuart Karol. They were a finalist in the Small Business BC Award’s Best Concept category. They were also a top 100 finalist in the TELUS Pitch in 2019. 

For more information about Susgrainable Health Foods, visit: https://www.susgrainable.com/.

Marc Wandler, Cofounder and President will be presenting at the VANTEC Investor Meeting on November 6th during the company presentations at 4:15pm. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BarrelWise Technologies Ltd. (BarrelWise)’s proprietary interlocking winemaking system makes managing wine barrels simple. Their unique system allows winemakers to keep the barrel sealed throughout the entire aging process. Winemakers can barrel tap, sample, sulphate, and analyze the chemical composition all in one interaction, without opening the barrel. 

Usually, wineries manage 2000+ barrels of wine. These barrels need to be sampled, chemically analyzed, topped and have sulfites added every 2-4 weeks. This process takes about 5 minutes or more per barrel. However, BarrelWise makes this process simple and reduces the time spent on barrel management by 70 percent. 

Currently, there are over 150,000 wineries worldwide with more than 35 million barrels. The wine barrel industry is growing with a potential $1.4 billion market. 

BarrelWise has recently launched a technology solution, Barrel by Barrel Data. This is a sensor within the barrel gun that measures the free sulfur content in each barrel. This data is shared in the cloud and allows winemakers to get real-time data on their barrel’s sulphur content, trends, and alerts. 

For more information about BarrelWise Technologies Ltd. please visit: https://www.barrelwise.ca/

Jason Sparrow, CEO, will be presenting at the VANTEC Investor Meeting on November 6th during the company presentations at 4:15pm. 

 

 

 

Scout Canning modernizes canned seafood for consumers by giving them a premium ‘seacuterie’ product. Scout is the first premium North American canned seafood brand. Using tradition canning techniques combined with modern, chef-prepared recipes, their produce high-quality canned seafood products with a long shelf life. 

Seafood consumption is the highest it has been in decades. The global canned seafood market is expected to reach $38 billion USD by 2025. With more and more consumers wanting local products, Scout is North AMerican sourced and hand-packed. 

As an activist brand, they have developed an Ocean Program where 1 percent of their profits are given back to ocean health projects. They also use 100 percent recyclable packaging and no plastic. 

Their first phase of products include Atlantic Canadian lobster, PEI mussels with roasted red peppers and tomatoes, and Ontario lake trout with dill. Scout has plans on expanding to vegetarian source seafood products and prepared foods in the near future. 

For more information about Scout, please visit: http://www.scoutcanning.com/

Adam Bent, CEO will be presenting at the VANTEC Investor Meeting on November 6th during the company presentations at 4:15pm. 

 

 

 

 

 

ThisFish Inc. is a smart technology solution for seafood processors. They are a leader in seafood traceability and production software that strives to improve social, environmental, and financial sustainability of the fish industry. 

In recent news, Ecuador was given a warning for its poor enforcement and traceability in the seafood sector. NIRSA, the country’s largest tuna exporter, processes 340 tonnes of tuna everyday. ThisFish’s team has been commission and will be flying to Ecuador to install their Tally Software for NIRSA.

Seafood is a $143 billion industry and the world’s most globally traded protein. Traditionally, the massive amount of data has been all paper-based. There has been no place for the seafood processors to sync their data. Because of the lack of traceability, there has been problems including illegal fishing, seafood fraud, and human slavery. Their software is being used in Canada, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. 

TheFish’s Trace software allows for improved traceability and efficiency.  They make it easy for seafood enterprises to code their catch, upload their seafood catch’s information, upload information on handling and shipping, and trace their seafood to connect to their harvester. 

TheFish Inc. was selected as a finalist for the $100,000 Neptune Award in 2019. Eric Enno Tamm, CEO and Co-founder has been asked to join the Consultative Committee of Seafood Alliance for Legality and Traceability. In this role, he will be providing technical advice on the development of guiding principles for electronic catch documentation and traceability systems.
For more information about ThisFish, please visit: http://this.fish/.

Eric will be presenting at the VANTEC Investor Meeting on November 6th during the company presentations at 4:15pm. 

1:1 Investor Meetings

 

Investor members can find the decks, company profiles and contact details of the companies presenting on the Event Presentations page and connect with companies

  • for a 1:1 conversation at or after the VANTEC meeting
  • to include them in monthly investor update emails.
  • to offer connections or advise 

 

Partnering & Sponsoring Opportunities

We are looking forward to partnering with eco system partners from BC and beyond that want to support the growth of angel investment in promising startups before, during and after this event. 

Please email info@vantec.ca to express your interest, start a conversation and receive our sponsoring package.

If you wish to make a 90-second community announcement at the investor meeting, please send us your request and details for posting on the website and event agenda to info@vantec.ca

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About our Sponsors

Innovate BC is a one stop service centre to connect innovators — large and small — with BC government funding, tools, resources and support.

 

Natural Products Canada (NPC) is the driving force behind Canada’s Natural Product Innovation Cluster–a strategic community of SMEs, research institutes, corporations, investors, government departments, and service providers who support the development and commercialization of naturally-derived products and technologies in health and life sciences, natural resources, agriculture and agri-food, and sustainable bioproducts. As part of its role in the Cluster, NPC offers a suite of Commercialization Programs to help companies and researchers advance high-potential products and technologies; provides connection and innovation scouting services to industry and investors through its Innovation Hub; and leverages its Investment Fund to help develop and de-risk promising Canadian opportunities. NPC has over 500 opportunities in its pipeline, has completed six investments, and has already experienced two exits.

 

MNP is a major accounting, tax and business advisory service firm in Canada. Since 1945, MNP’s team has proudly worked alongside producers, farmers and food processors to keep their businesses current, competitive and profitable. MNP's team of industry leaders provide specialized expertise in taxation, financial reporting and assurance, valuations, strategic planning, marketing, corporate finance, succession and consulting from an agri-food perspective.

From the farm gate to the dinner fork, MNP has invested more time and resources into understanding the agri-food value chain than any other chartered accountancy firm in Canada. With more than 15,000 agri-food related businesses, MNP has the home-grown experience to find the right solutions for you and your business.

 

AVAC Group is a team with industry and venture capital expertise who invest across the continuum of entrepreneurship.

 

About our Partners

Foresight is Western Canada’s Cleantech Innovation Center which supports the identification and validation of cleantech opportunities and the successful commercialization of solutions. We bring together industry, government, academia and technologists to innovate and enable a responsible, more sustainable tomorrow.

 

e@UBC aims to nurture and foster the entrepreneurial culture within the UBC community, and to assist in the growth of start-up companies emerging from UBC.

 

SFU VentureLabs scales-up world-class technology companies by ‘powering up’ ventures with amazing talent, technologies, entrepreneurial and research expertise, access to funding, gov’t. assistance programs and international expansion opportunities.

 

Spring Activator is using business as a force for good to empower social impact leaders with the know-how, network and support needed to build a better business.

Apply to Pitch

We invite all companies seeking seed investment to apply. Please express your interest by completing this short form and complete your application to pitch no later than Sunday October 6 at 11.59 PM.

Companies that apply and meet the criteria will benefit from the support and workshops that our community partners provide before and after the November 6 investor meeting.

 

Our Process

  • Upon receipt of your expression of interest we will ask you to complete a secure online investor profile on GUST by October 6.
  • Your submission will be reviewed by the selection committee and selected companies will be invited to an investor pre-screening in Vancouver on October 15 where you will give a 5 minute presentation, answer questions and will receive feedback on your business and presentation. Companies outside the lower mainland can give their pre-screening presentation remotely via video conference. Companies must attend in person to present and meet with investors at the Investor Meeting on November 6.
  • Selected companies will be offered the opportunity to join an investor ready workshop in Vancouver on October 22 and 24.
  • We plan to announce the final selection of companies on October 25
  • After all companies have been pre-screened and or completed the investor ready workshops we will let you know if you have been selected to present on November 6.
  • At the Nov 6 Investor Meeting you will present to an audience of up 150 people including 60+ angel investors, family offices, funds and community partners.
  • Participating investors will be offered the opportunity to request a 1:1 meeting with companies at or after the Nov 6 investor meeting.

 

Benefits

  • Get feedback and advise from investors and industry experts on your business, investor profile and presentation.
    • VANTEC Pitch Practice - Volition Pitch Night - Practice your pitch in front a a friendly audience and get feedback. 

    • VANTEC Angel Network & Tandem Innovation Group - Review & Feedback on Your Investor Profile & Pitch Deck from investors and CFO's.

    • Natural Products Canada - Consultation with NPC's Regional Manager for BC and industry experts across Canada

    • Foresight Accelerator - Investor Ready Workshop

    • Access to online resources to refine your fundraising strategy and execution

  • Grow your connections, relationships with industry experts, peers and investors. Set up 1:1 follow-on conversations with aligned investors
  • Connect with a Canada-wide community of investors with an interest in Agritech, Foodtech, Biotech and Cleantech.
  • Selected companies will be provided with the opportunity to share their story via pre and post event marketing content that will be created and shared by our partners.
  • Company pitches will be recorded on video and are made available to you to share with investors.
  • We will share the videos of the pitches and investor packages with our investors and affiliated angel groups.

 

Application Criteria

You are seeking an equity investment from angel investors and you are on your way to meet these criteria.

You are a BC-based company. Companies from other provinces are welcome to apply, and we will introduce you to our partners, however for this investor meeting BC companies are preferred.

Innovation & Impact: Concept is a transformative / game-changing approach to solving a problem or gap in the market that can have major impact at scale.

Product / Technology: Product or service has a competitive advantage and barriers to entry.

Customers / Traction: Validated customer needs and wants. Researched competition and substitutes. Understand key growth metrics. Steady progress in building a successful business.

Business Model / Scalability: Clear business model. Know how to scale, access markets, and acquire customers. Know costs and how margins improve with scale. High growth market opportunity.

Sustainability / Social Good: Business has a triple bottom line: people, profit and planet.

Team: Well rounded team of founders, staff and advisors.

Exit: Path to a high value exit

 

The Problems You're Solving

Agrifoodtech and Cleantech covers a lot of ground. Here is an overview of the value chain and the problems and technologies that we focus on for the November 6 investor meeting.

 

NOTE: If you meet the criteria but aren't selected for Nov 6, we will consider your application for upcoming investor meetings held monthly on the first Wednesday.

 

06 Nov 2019
2:00pm - 6:45pm PST

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