Kitchener-based startup Ceragen has secured US$2 million in seed funding to expand operations and develop its technology in additional countries.
The company was co-founded by Waterloo Engineering alum Matthew Rose (BASc ‘21, mechatronics, robotics and automation). The startup optimizes fruit and vegetable production by developing soil microbes that aid produce grown in greenhouses.
Most tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers you buy in the grocery store are grown in greenhouses across Canada. However, with field production becoming increasingly unreliable because of climate change, the demand for greenhouse-grown produce is increasing, Danielle Rose, CEO at Ceragen said.
Based on outcomes from the Ceragen’s pilots in Canada and the U.S., their microbes can boost production yield by 10 per cent on average.
With two products now on the market for lettuce and tomato plants, and commercial pilots underway in Canada and the U.S., the seed funding will allow the company to expand into Mexico and the Netherlands, while also developing new microbe products for cucumbers and strawberries.
“We regularly get asked when we will also have solutions for strawberries and cucumbers, and with this funding round we can finally develop these products,” Rose, who also works as Ceragen’s CTO said.
Ceragen is based at Velocity, the University of Waterloo’s startup incubator.
Read Fresh funding to help food security startup Ceragen bloom for the full story.