ELORA – The Grand River Agricultural Society (GRAS) and RH Accelerator Inc. are working together to co-invest in support of local early stage innovative companies in the agriculture, food and cleantech industries.
“In its over 130 years as an agricultural society, GRAS’s roots form the foundation for philanthropy on which we operate today,” said Garth Green, GRAS board president.
“Through the success of Grand River Raceway, and our ownership of the building which is home to Elements Casino Grand River, we have the financial ability to look beyond traditional giving and venture into new ways of fulfilling our mandate in an impactful way.”
Vice president Deborah Whale added, “The GRAS board of directors is comprised of a number of successful local business owners and community leaders, with an entrepreneurial spirit that found us seeking opportunities beyond our community mini grants, philanthropic giving and scholarships.
“Through our commitment to impact investing, we are looking to create long-term sustainability in the agriculture and environmental sectors, and fuel innovation right here in our backyard.”
“We are very pleased to be teaming up with the Grand River Ag Society to support some promising new businesses,” said Joe Dales, co-founder at RH Accelerator.
“RH Accelerator will help recruit the innovative companies, conduct due diligence and co-invest with GRAS providing our 12 month founder/company development program.
Growing rapidly
“The combination of GRAS plus RHA resources will help the companies be more successful and grow, creating jobs and business activity in the region. This sector of the innovation economy is growing rapidly and our region has tremendous potential.”
According to AgFunder’s latest Agri-FoodTech Investing Report, $19.8 billion has been invested in AgriFood tech across 1,858 deals in 2019. The report covers the wide range of agri-food innovations, eGrocers and restaurants to farming agtech, ag biotech, farm robotics and equipment, bioenergy and biomaterials.
The South Western Ontario farming and food industry is a hotbed of innovation that fosters a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“With a mandate that strives to bring agriculture, education and community together, what could be more impactful that combining all three,” said Katie Giddy, director of hospitality, sales and marketing at Grand River Raceway.
“By partnering with RH Accelerator and entities such as Western Fair we can have a more fundamental impact together, supporting initiatives in Wellington, Waterloo and Perth in a new and innovative way.”
RH Accelerator Inc. is currently raising a private RHA fund with accredited investors using the Angelist.co system so it can continue to make future seed round investments in additional early stage innovative companies.
