In our first year of competition we saw an outstanding cohort of finalists that represent much-needed innovation and potential for impact in the Grow-NY region. We congratulate all of our finalists on their vision, their growth during our business development phase, and their dynamic performance in the live pitches. You can learn more about our inaugural winners below.
2019 Winners
The Grow-NY Finalists include innovative, high-growth food and agriculture startups from across the globe2019 Grow-NY $1,000,000 Winner
RealEats America
Delivers fresh, healthy meals, while minimizing food waste
Geneva, NY
RealEats is a mission-driven, innovative food-tech company that develops products to make it simple for people to access and enjoy the benefits of real food. The company’s first product innovation is a highly successful line of healthy, hyper-convenient meals that minimize food waste. RealEats meals are delivered directly to consumers and are available in RealEats branded, healthy smart fridges in corporate office locations.
2019 Grow-NY $500,000 Winners
Dropcopter
Leverages drones to pollinate crops and increase crop yield
Syracuse, NY
Since winning in 2019, Dropcopter has developed customer bases for their drone-centric pollination technology portfolio throughout North America, South America, and Israel.
Tiliter
Identifies products at supermarket checkouts with AI—no bar code needed
Munich, Germany
Through its Rochester branch office, Australian company Tiliter has developed strategic partnerships with Bizerba North America, IdolMea, and Retail Data Systems, which grows its tech globally.
2019 Grow-NY $250,000 Winners
Capro-X
Upcycles dairy waste into valuable biofuels and bioplastics
Ithaca, NY
Capro-X is producing new chemicals and bioplastics to be introduced in 2022.
Combplex
Eliminates pests that threaten the health of honeybee hives
Ithaca, NY
Complex has hired additional employees and is raising a Series A round.
The Perfect Granola
Crafts locally-sourced granola for NY schools while giving back
Victor, NY
The Perfect Granola has used its expanded Victor, New York, facility to partner with PepsiCo’s Food for Good, expanding its brand philanthropic reach.
Whole Healthy Food
Develops new food ingredients with therapeutic benefits
Ithaca, NY
Having grown its tech and product portfolio, Whole Healthy Food is ready to expand its product sales.
2019 Grow-NY Finalists
AGVoice
AgVoice
Norcross, GA
AgVoice enables food and ag workers to use management tools on-the-go. This software is the world’s first voice-driven, hands-free, workflow management and analytics platform for mobile workers in the food and agriculture industry.
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2019, Agtech, Finalist, United States
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Capro-X
Capro-X
Ithaca, NY
Capro-X has created a sustainable fermentation technology to upcycle dairy wastewater into valuable biofuels and bioplastics.
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$250K, 2019, Agtech, Finalist, New York
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Combplex
Combplex
Ithaca, NY
Combplex solves the primary problem driving honey bee population decline by eliminating the invasive Varroa mite that threatens the health of honeybee hives.
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$250K, 2019, Agtech, Finalist, New York
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Dropcopter
Dropcopter
Corning, CA, USA
Dropcopter provides pollination services using drone aircraft to help growers achieve a better fruit set and harvest. They also partner with Green Atlas to deliver ground-based scanning services that map orchards, providing precise fruit and flower counts, fruit sizing, color evaluation, and tree characteristics across entire fields.
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$500K, 2019, Agtech, Finalist, New York, United States
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Independent-Barley-Malt
Independent Barley & Malt
Litchfield, MI
Independent Barley & Malt (IB&M) is growing new supply chains to provide world-class malt for the craft food and beverage market.
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2019, Finalist, United States
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Livestock-Water-Recycling
Livestock Water Recycling
Calgary, Canada
Livestock Water Recycling (LWR) delivers PLANT systems that separate and treat dairy manure and anaerobic digestate, recovering clean water and nutrients on-farm. Their technology helps dairies reduce manure management costs, lagoon storage, generate methane avoidance credits, and improve environmental performance and herd health.
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2019, Agtech, Finalist, Foodtech, International, Investment-ready, Woman-owned
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Nuravine
Nuravine
West Hurley, NY, USA
Nuravine builds advanced and affordable nutrient dosing systems for indoor farms, greenhouses, and outdoor fields for all scales. They do recirculating, batch dosing, and inline dosing to match the exact needs of all types of growers.
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2019, Agtech, Finalist, Investment-ready, New York, United States
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Paragon-Pure
Paragon Pure
Princeton, NJ
Paragon Pure creates flavors, colors and nutrients protected within whole grain rice flour.
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2019, Finalist, United States
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Radical-Plastics
Radical Plastics
Beverly, MA
Radical Plastics developed a patented catalyst technology that renders conventional plastics biodegradable.
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2019, Finalist, United States
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RealEats
RealEats America
Geneva, NY
RealEats is a mission-driven, innovative food-tech company that delivers fresh, healthy meals, while minimizing food waste.
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$1 million, 2019, Finalist, Foodtech, New York
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Slate
Slate Milk
Boston, MA
Slate was founded with the goal of creating a healthy chocolate milk they could drink every day. Today, Slate has expanded into new flavors and additional product lines, all of which are packed with protein from ultra-filtered milk, contain 0g added sugar, are lactose free, and are 100% plastic neutral.
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2019, Finalist, Food/Beverage, Investment-ready, United States
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The-Perfect-Granola
The Perfect Granola
Victor, NY
The Perfect Granola produces allergy-free, locally sourced, single-serve granola for NY schools. The company purchases raw ingredients and “seconds” from local farms, providing them with new revenue streams.
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$250K, 2019, Finalist, Food/Beverage, New York
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Tiliter
Tiliter
Sydney, Australia
Tiliter builds a Vision AI platform that helps businesses turn images into trusted operational decisions. Organisations can create AI-powered image verification workflows for inspections, compliance, inventory and quality assurance, with technology proven at scale across more than 1,000 retail locations.
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$500K, 2019, Finalist, Foodtech, International, Investment-ready
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Whole-Healthy-Food
Whole Healthy Food
Ithaca, NY
Whole Healthy Food creates therapeutic food ingredients and is currently focused on producing a white kidney bean protein that can be added to foods and beverages.
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$250K, 2019, Finalist, Food/Beverage, New York
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