Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, March 10, 2022 – The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network (CAAIN) has unveiled the seven projects to be funded through its inaugural Open Competition.
“CAAIN is pleased to be adding these excellent initiatives from across Canada to our roster of supported projects,” said CAAIN CEO, Kerry Wright. “We received 42 proposals in response to our October 2020 nationwide call for submissions. These seven finalists made it through our rigorous evaluation process. What our team finds particularly gratifying is the diversity of the recipients’ initiatives. They cover a broad swath of subsectors, including beef ranching, pork processing, the use of artificial intelligence in wheat production, and improving the traceability of barley used in brewing beer.”
CAAIN funding advances the agriculture and food sector by supporting projects that apply technological solutions to address identified needs, with particular focus on automation and robotics, data collection and validation, and smart farms. The initiatives announced today will support the achievement of those goals.
“Canada’s agri-food technology sector is a hive of activity and CAAIN has a significant role to play in supporting the rapidly expanding culture of innovation,” said Ms. Wright. “It is worth noting that while our support goes to teams that find themselves at the early-to-middle stages of development, we target concepts that demonstrate potential commercial value. That is why we require project teams to include the financial commitment and active participation of at least two small or medium-sized enterprises. Our role is to help grow nascent Canadian businesses whose successes will contribute to the long-term viability of an agri-food value chain facing significant and diverse challenges.”
When added to the total of approximately $14M CAAIN expects to provide to the nine winners of its 2020 Closed Competition, the $2.7M shared by the seven 2020-2021 Open Competition recipients pushes CAAIN’s funding commitments to roughly $17M. And we are just getting started, so stay tuned for more announcements in the weeks and months to come.
Details regarding today’s seven announced projects are provided in the attached fact sheet and are available online at caain.ca.
Quotes
“With support from our government, CAAIN has allowed Canadian companies to excel and advance our Agri-Food sector. By continuing to invest in innovative AgTech projects, we are encouraging the growth of new areas that will strengthen the Canadian economy and will help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create more green jobs across Canada.”
The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
“With critical investments in innovation, Canada’s agriculture and agri-food sector continues to be a leader in clean agricultural technology. The Government of Canada is committed to support efforts, such as those underway by CAAIN, to leverage technological innovations that will help farmers grow their businesses, feed a growing population, and protect the environment. By adopting technologies that drive efficiencies within Canada’s food supply chain, we will ensure Canadians continue to receive high-quality and nutritious food across the country.”
The Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food
“Through these projects, CAAIN is building on the innovation ecosystem where agri-food, technology development, and advanced manufacturing intersect. This convergence creates a unique opportunity for the network to drive new growth.”
Laura Kilcrease, Chair, CAAIN Board of Directors
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About CAAIN
The Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network is a not-for-profit company launched in July 2019 with funding of $49.5million from the Government of Canada’s Strategic Innovation Fund and assistance from Alberta Innovates in the form of significant in-kind contributions. CAAIN connects and invests in Canada’s agri-food and technology sectors to drive innovation and productivity.
Project Funding Inquiries
Kerry Wright
CEO
Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network
kerry.wright@caain.ca
Media Inquiries
Eric Morin, CMP
Manager, Communications and Marketing
Canadian Agri-Food Automation and Intelligence Network
780.405.3742
eric.morin@caain.ca