MaRS launches new Food and AgTech Mission to strengthen Canada’s food system
This new initiative aims to mobilize capital, coordinate adopters and accelerate ventures that will strengthen Canada’s food system.
TORONTO, September 18, 2025 – MaRS Discovery District today announced the launch of a national Food and AgTech Mission powered by Farm Credit Canada (FCC). This mission aims to help strengthen Canada’s food systems in three key ways:
- Increase the flow of investment to support the growth and scaling of Canadian food and AgTech solutions.
- Build resilience into the food and agriculture sector to boost Canada’s global competitiveness and support climate adaptation efforts.
- Reduce the operational emissions of Canada’s food and agriculture sector through the adoption of new innovations.
Why this approach now
Globally, the food and agriculture industry accounts for nearly one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, while shifting trade dynamics are also creating new challenges for Canadian agri-food exporters. Together, these pressures underscore the urgent need to strengthen domestic production, diversify export markets and build a sustainable food system.
The mission brings together industry leaders, startups and adopters in a collaborative, closed-loop system. By identifying key challenges, supporting innovative ventures and piloting real-world solutions, this approach streamlines the path from bold idea to large-scale adoption — ensuring impactful results for Canada’s food and agriculture sector.
“Canada has the chance to lead the world in building the food systems of tomorrow,” says Grace Lee Reynolds, CEO of MaRS. “This mission aims to kick-start that process. We are backing bold ideas and scaling homegrown innovation so we can feed people sustainably, cut emissions and set the global standard for resilient supply chains.”
“This mission connects every part of the innovation journey — from identifying real market challenges through the coalition to equipping ventures with the tools to solve them to partnering with adopters for real-world deployment,” says Graeme Millen, vice president of strategic finance and business development at Farm Credit Canada. “By aligning problem definition, solution development and adoption in one program, we’re reducing risk, accelerating impact and ensuring that innovation translates into tangible benefits for producers, processors and communities across Canada.”
This mission features three integrated components that are designed for adoption at scale:
Venture accelerators: Scaling bold ideas into global solutions
As part of the Mission from MaRS: Food and AgTech, MaRS is launching a venture accelerator designed to fast-track the commercialization and adoption of Canadian innovations tackling the sector’s most urgent challenges, starting with a focus on supply chains. The venture accelerator will support up to 10 Canadian startups that are developing innovations across the supply chain ecosystem, which reduce emissions, cut waste, improve efficiency and build resilience in our food systems.
Registration for the venture accelerator begins on September 18 and ends on October 17, 2025. Click here to apply to the venture accelerator.
Corporate adopter cohort: Shaping tomorrow’s food system
In parallel, an 18-month corporate adopter cohort will bring together six innovation-minded industry leaders from across the agri-food value chain. Working directly with ventures, adopters will aim to co-develop pilot projects designed to accelerate commercial-scale adoption and create real-world impact.
National coalition: Uniting industry leaders to drive national adoption
Both the venture accelerator and the corporate adopter cohort will be guided by a national coalition of experts and stakeholders from industry, finance and the innovation community, who will identify market barriers and enable large-scale adoption of agri-food innovation. The coalition will serve as an advisory body for all Food and AgTech Mission activities. The founding coalition members include representatives from Wittington Ventures, S2G Investments, TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods, The Arrell Family Foundation and NYA Ventures.
“At a time when global food systems are being asked to deliver more with fewer resources, this mission creates the connective tissue between innovators, corporates and capital to accelerate solutions that matter,” says Audre Kapacinskas, principal at S2G Investments and a founding coalition member. “We’re excited to help cultivate an ecosystem where promising AgTech and food innovations can move beyond pilots and reach the scale needed to make agriculture more productive, resilient and sustainable.”
“I am most excited to contribute to and help grow the mission’s focus on building resilience in our food supply chain,” says Aaron Cheng, director of ventures and strategic investments at TELUS Agriculture & Consumer Goods and a founding coalition member. “By supporting and scaling Canadian innovation, we can not only enhance our national food security but also significantly boost Canada’s global contributions as a leader in sustainable food and agriculture technology.”
“Food security is central to Canada’s future prosperity. Investing in technologies that make our food system more resilient and prosperous means healthier communities and a stronger economy,” says Leah Perry, senior associate on the Innovation Fund Investment team at Wittington Ventures and a founding coalition member.
The Food and AgTech Mission will host a launch virtual webinar on October 2, 2025. Click here to reserve your free tickets and click here to apply to the venture accelerator.
About MaRS
MaRS Discovery District is a charitable organization and North America’s largest urban innovation hub, dedicated to helping Canadian technology companies succeed. With a focus on climate, health sciences and other emerging technologies, MaRS supports startups tackling some of the world’s most pressing issues. MaRS spans more than 1.5 million square feet of cutting-edge office, lab, meeting and event space in downtown Toronto across two locations — the MaRS Centre and MaRS Waterfront. Since 2010, MaRS has helped ventures generate $11.5 billion in cumulative revenue, raise $19 billion in funding, and create and maintain more than 33,000 jobs. The MaRS platform also includes MaRS IAF, one of Canada’s top seed-stage venture funds. Through its world-class facilities, strategic programs and partnerships, MaRS accelerates the adoption of groundbreaking Canadian technology and bolsters a globally competitive innovation ecosystem. For more information, contact mfm@marsdd.com
About FCC
FCC is proud to be 100 per cent invested in Canadian agriculture and food. The organization’s employees are committed to the long-standing success of those who produce and process Canadian food. FCC provides flexible financing and capital solutions, while creating value through data, knowledge, relationships and expertise. FCC offers a complement of financial and non-financial products and services designed to support the complex and evolving needs of the industry. As a commercial Crown corporation, FCC is a stable partner that reinvests profits back into the industry and communities it serves. For more information, visit fcc.ca.
For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact:
Amanda Whalen, senior manager, media relations at MaRS
awhalen@marsdd.com