Grow-NY attracts high-growth food and agriculture startups to compete for $3 million in total prize money each year and supports 20 finalists through a business development phase that connects them with the region’s resources.
The application window is now open for the sixth year of the food, beverage, and agriculture business competition: They’re due by 5 p.m. ET May 15. Up to 20 finalists will be assigned mentors in August and enter the business development phase.
The Grow-NY region is a 22-county area spanning Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier. Grow-NY is a unique initiative connecting innovators and investors in the food, beverage, and agriculture sectors locally and internationally and has resulted in economic growth and entrepreneurial opportunity in upstate New York over the past five years. Since the program’s launch in 2019, its winning startups have created 289 new jobs and attracted millions of dollars in follow-on investment due to winning the competition.
This year, the program invites applicants to “grow and lead change,” situating the accelerator and competition at the center of an emerging, climate-smart bioeconomy. Grow-NY offers food and ag-tech startups worldwide the opportunity to win up to $1 million and dedicated business mentorship and introductions to the region’s leaders and resources to connect them to potential partnerships and other strategic opportunities.
In exchange for making a positive, measurable impact on the region’s economy through economic development activities such as job creation, Grow-NY winners receive their prize money as an investment into their company.
One finalist will receive a top prize of $1 million; two others will be awarded $500,000 prizes; and four more will be given $250,000 prizes.
Past Grow-NY winners have continued to raise money, expand, and succeed. Year five grand prize winner Hypercell was featured in an article in Forbes magazine shortly after winning the competition. Year four $250,000 winner Vivid Machines completed an additional $4.3 million seed round. Hempitecture, a $500,000 year four winner, became the first company to open an industrial hemp manufacturing facility in the U.S.
The selected finalists will present their business plans during the Grow-NY Summit on Wednesday, November 6, and Thursday, November 7, in Ithaca, New York, alongside a symposium of panel conversations and keynotes, a showcase of agencies, companies, research groups, and other organizations that serve startups working in food and ag, and a student stage where middle and high school aged New Yorkers will pitch their ag and food tech ideas.
Funding for the program comes through Empire State Development from the Upstate Revitalization Initiative’s three regional entities, CNY Rising, Finger Lakes Forward, and Southern Tier Soaring. It is administered by Cornell’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement.
Empire State Development President, CEO and Commissioner Hope Knight, said, “Grow-NY is a unique initiative that links agribusiness innovators with experts and investors, creating entrepreneurial opportunity in upstate New York. The sixth round of the accelerator will no doubt build on Grow-NY’s incredible success, helping to further grow the next-generation ideas of these industry pioneers and bring significant investment to the region, bolstering the future of this crucial industry in New York State and around the world.”
