Every Body Eat wins $1 million Grow-NY grand prize

Richard A. Ball, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, announced the recipients of the $3 million in prize money. This included a $1 million grand prize, won by Every Body Eat and accepted by cofounder Trish Thomas.
Richard A. Ball, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, announced the recipients of the $3 million in prize money. This included a $1 million grand prize, won by Every Body Eat and accepted by cofounder Trish Thomas.
(Photos courtesy Grow-NY)

Empire State Development and Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement revealed that Every Body Eat was named the $1 million grand prize winner of Grow-NY, a food innovation and agriculture technology business competition based in Syracuse, N.Y.

The competition focused on enhancing the emerging food, beverage and agriculture innovation cluster in Central New York, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier, according to a news release.

Marking its third year, the competition attracts start-ups and entrepreneurial talent from around the globe to compete in its two-day pitch competition and symposium. Every Body Eat is a company that makes, markets and sells food free from the most common 14 allergens, corn and sugar. It was one of eight finalists to take home prize money during Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit. The award ceremony was Nov. 16 and 17, at the Oncenter in Syracuse.

“This competition not only helps these companies continue to innovate but will further support New York State's regional economies by drawing even more worldwide attention to our globally renowned food and agriculture industry,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in the release.

For year three of the Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit, more than 1,200 people registered for the event and audiences had the option to attend either in-person in Syracuse or virtually.

The in-person event featured panel discussions on the biggest issues facing the food and agriculture industry, a summit showcase of vendors and organizations supporting the start-up community, and a pitch competition where the top 20 finalists presented their business ideas to a live audience.

A panel of five independent judges—reflecting a depth and breadth of agriculture, food production, and entrepreneurial expertise—listened to each presentation and presented questions before determining the top winners. Grow-NY winners with Jenn Smith the director

The summit culminated with an awards ceremony where Richard A. Ball, Commissioner of the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, announced the recipients of the $3 million in prize money. This included a $1 million grand prize, two $500,000 prizes and four $250,000 prizes.

Upon accepting the award, winners commit to operate in the Central New York, Finger Lakes or Southern Tier regions for at least one year, while providing Grow-NY with a small equity investment stake in each entity.

Winners included:

  • Grand prize $1,000,000 winner: Every Body Eat, Chicago, Ill., makes, markets and sells food that is free from the most common 14 allergens, corn and sugar;
  • $500,000 winner: Ascribe Bioscience, Ithaca, N.Y., uses naturally occurring signaling molecules from the soil microbiome to produce a novel class of broad-spectrum, non-toxic biopesticides that prime the plants’ immune systems to enhance resistance to pathogens and increase crop yields;
  • $500,000 winner: Neupeak Robotics, Surrey, Canada, produces fully autonomous berry harvesters that are designed to work in all weather and lighting conditions, alongside human workers, to save farmers money by charging a fixed rate per pound of berries collected;
  • $250,000 winner: DraughtLab, Webster, N.Y., produces sensory tools for every level of sensory expertise, offering practical and approachable sensory analysis solutions that deliver real-world value to companies of any size;
  • $250,000 winner: EmGenisys, Houston, features an embryo health assessment platform with a comprehensive embryo evaluation system to improve pregnancy outcomes of assisted reproductive technologies in livestock;
  • $250,000 winner: Nordetect, Copenhagen, Denmark, provides rapid chemical analysis for nutrients in the agrifood industry. The company’s first product is a lab-on-a-chip test for nutrients found in soil, water and leaf samples, aimed at optimizing the amount of fertilizer used to cultivate crops; and
  • $250,000 winner: WeRadiate, Buffalo, N.Y., offers a turnkey solution to improve soil quality using hardware, software and data technology, offering a complete array of tools to create high-efficacy and high-quality compost end products at all composting sites.

Judges based award decisions on the following five criteria:

  1. Viability of commercialization and business model
  2. Team’s demonstration of cohesion, completeness and readiness within, and diversity and inclusion among the founders, employees and advisors;
  3. Customer value that addresses a substantial market;
  4. Agriculture and food innovation; and
  5. Regional job creation.

Also, the competition also featured an Audience Choice for the most innovative and promising pitch. Agri-Trak, Williamson, N.Y., received the $10,000 prize, sponsored by Wegmans, and $5,000 in marketing services from The Martin Group. Agri-Trak features a farm management application suite developed especially for the apple industry. The suite includes customizable modules that provide real-time information in easy-to-read widgets allowing farms to make daily data-informed decisions.

“By creating new jobs and sharing new ideas, the winners of the first two rounds of the Grow-NY food and ag competition have made an important difference in our region’s food and ag ecosystem in less than two years,” Grow-NY program director Jenn Smith said in the release. “We’re confident that this year’s winners will continue that positive growth.”

In all, 330 startups applied from 32 countries — including Singapore, Israel and Switzerland — participated in the contest. In the U.S., 23 states were represented, including 138 entries from New York. And 44% of applicants included a female founder, and 51% included a founder from an underrepresented minority group, which is a significant increase from 2020’s applicant pool, according to the release.

The 20 finalists received mentorship from regional business advisors leading up to the competition. Those selected as winners will now immediately get to work executing their business plans in New York State, leveraging the connections they made and regional knowledge they gained from the competition.

“We look forward to leveraging this award and all of the connections we have made in the region, to take our company to the next level, expand our market and hire more talent,” Nichole Wilson, co-founder and president of Every Body Eat, said in the release.

Empire State Development provided funding for the Grow-NY competition through its Upstate Revitalization Initiative, and Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement administered the competition. The winner will be required to make a positive economic impact in the Grow-NY region, which consists of 22 counties where there are farmlands as well as several major urban centers, including Rochester, Syracuse, Ithaca, Geneva and Binghamton. The winning business will help contribute to job growth, connect with local industry partners and contribute to a thriving economy, according to the release.

 

 

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