• Picketa Systems

  Participated · Seed · Jun 2026

  Picketa Systems develops a portable leaf-evaluated nutrient system (LENS) that uses optical spectroscopy and machine learning to estimate 13 key crop nutrients in minutes, coupled with a Fieldbook software platform to deliver recommendations to growers and agronomists. LENS has been validated against third-party laboratory chemical testing and the company works with institutions including the University of Guelph, University of Missouri, University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Cornell to build its calibration dataset. The technology has been validated on potatoes, corn and canola and is being expanded to soybeans and wheat, with cotton, onions and tomatoes in the pipeline. Picketa’s go-to-market has reached 45 agricultural retailers in North America and users include grower Chris Weaver; the company charges $10,000 (USD) per year for hardware, unlimited sampling, support and Fieldbook access, with 10% of that fee allocated to lab validation. Management says Fieldbook recommendations can help reduce fertilizer costs by up to 20% and enable more granular, region- and variety-specific nutrient guidance. The company plans to scale adoption across more crops and geographies as it commercializes the LENS technology.

• Maia Farms

  Led · Seed · May 2024

  Maia Farms is a Vancouver-based food-tech company that engineers mushroom and mycelium ingredients through liquid-state fermentation, extrusion processing, and a proprietary "fungal intelligence" platform. Its products target food manufacturers that want sustainable, nutrient-dense alternatives to conventional animal or plant proteins. The startup already collaborates with more than 70 global service companies and maintains an impact partnership with The Greater Vancouver Food Bank. With a focus on scaling, Maia plans to accelerate commercial production, broaden its ingredient portfolio, and deepen partnerships across the food industry. The firm will also expand its fermentation and extrusion capacity to meet anticipated demand. Including non-dilutive capital, the company has secured more than $6.5 million in funding to date, underscoring strong early investor and grant support for its technology and mission.

• ChrysaLabs

  Participated · Series A · May 2023

  ChrysaLabs offers a patented Probe™ that combines spectroscopy, AI and machine learning to analyze 40 soil parameters and deliver a complete soil readout within 30 seconds of sampling. The probe reports macronutrients, micronutrients, pH, organic matter, CEC, organic carbon, bulk density, moisture and more, enabling frequent, low-cost sampling compared with traditional wet labs. Its solution is cloud-connected and intended to create a digital twin of fields to inform precision fertilizer management and other agronomic decisions. The company is positioning the product to support the growing agricultural carbon market by providing scientifically accurate, scalable measurements for carbon verification and nature-based credits. ChrysaLabs says its technology has been used on more than two million acres across seven countries, six Canadian provinces and 25 U.S. states. The company recently completed a CA$15 million (US$11 million) Series A financing to advance commercial expansion and carbon verification capabilities. ChrysaLabs develops an accurate, affordable, real-time soil fertility assessment solution for precision agriculture. Its system combines artificial intelligence, optics, cloud computing, and a database of thousands of soil samples to deliver agronomic parameters in real time to agronomists and growers. The solution is the result of several years of research and field trials in North America. ChrysaLabs says the tool helps growers increase yields, optimize fertilizer use, and better manage soil health and fertility. The company is based in Montreal. In January 2021 it announced funding to support commercialization in Canada and the USA.

No current team members are available.