GRAS x Bioenterprise Canada partnership story

Helping to foster innovation in the agricultural and environmental space is the foundation for growth of these industries. With Canada being one of the largest agri-food exporter in the world, you would expect we would be in the top 10 of the Global Innovation Index (GII), right? Except we aren’t, we are only number 23 in the world! 

As you dig into this statistic, understand that as a nation we are 9th in the world in investing in research in the ag industry. Pretty good, right? 

But this raises the question of how we can be top 10 in the world for research but only 23^rd in the world for bringing this research to market. The discrepancy between these two ratings means that we, as a nation, aren’t investing enough into the commercialization of the research…this is a big concern as Canada needs strong agriculture to have a strong economy.

Bioenterprise, Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine, is helping to shift this and GRAS is proud to jump on board as one of their Sustainable Innovation Sponsors.

“As an agri-food focused accelerator, Bioenterprise Canada looks to its Sustainable Innovation Sponsors to help support the development and advancement of sustainable innovation in Canadian food and agriculture,” says Carla Berquo, Director, Canada’s Food & Agri-Tech Engine. “These companies and organizations help share sustainable practices and participate in programs to promote Canada as a leader in food sustainability, which ultimately helps bring a positive impact and engagement on social issues.”

The partnership between Bioenterprise Canada and GRAS helps each organization be at the forefront of innovation in the agri-tech and green-tech fields. Promoting a commitment to innovation and building the ag sector, GRAS is eager to sit at the table with investors and innovators to help expand into the agriculture/environment sectors.

This partnership is growing each organization’s network within the agri-tech space. Along with other Sustainable Innovation Sponsors, GRAS and Bioenterprise have begun putting together a national strategy to accelerate the commercialization, bringing ag research and innovation to market.

Overall, it’s a mighty but powerful goal to be a part of helping bring massive change in our country in the agri-tech field and GRAS is excited to be one of many voices at the table, contributing to accelerating the commercialization of agri-food innovation in Canada.