The finals of the first-ever Ontario Agri-Tech Pitch Competition is coming to Guelph March 24.
The event is for early-stage businesses to pitch, gain feedback and hopefully win $10,000 as the chosen finalist.
The finalists will pitch to judges in-person, while anyone wishing to watch the event March 24 from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. can do so via Zoom by registering through Eventbrite.
The agri-tech businesses are pre-seed, so they haven’t closed on any seed funding to support their business.
The five finalists will be announced Wednesday, March 8, at the London Farm Show.
Each start-up in the finals will have three minutes to pitch to three judges; John Lansink, general partner at Ag Capital Canada, Brian Cram, general partner at 519 Growth Fund, and Deb Stark, an angel investor and former deputy minister with Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA).
There will be seven minutes after the pitch for judges to provide their feedback and ask questions.
“The question and answer period is something to certainly pay attention to because these are very experienced people in the field of agriculture that are going to be providing feedback,” said Tyler Zemlak, manager of New Venture Creation at the University of Guelph.
A winner will be chosen and they will receive a cash prize to go towards their business. There is also a people’s choice award, where attendees can vote on their favourite pitch, the winner will get $2,500.
“The main purpose of this event is to strengthen the relationships among the ecosystem supporters, so those people that would be supporting innovation in the community in different geographic hotbeds of agriculture in Ontario and then the startups that we support,” said Zemlak.
