WeRadiate Among the Top Winners at Grow-NY Summit 2021
WERADIATE LLC AMONG THE TOP WINNERS AT 2021 GROW-NY, AN UNPRECEDENTED GLOBAL FOOD AND AGRICULTURE BUSINESS COMPETITION
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Empire State Development and Cornell University’s Center for Regional Economic Advancement have named WeRadiate LLC the $250,000 winner of Grow-NY, a food innovation, and agriculture technology business competition focused on enhancing the emerging agriculture innovation cluster in Central New York, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier. Marking its third year, the unprecedented competition attracted a group of exceptional startups and entrepreneurial talent from around the globe to compete in its two-day pitch competition and highly anticipated symposium. WeRadiate was one of seven finalists to take home prize money during the Grow-NY Food and Ag Summit’s award ceremony held at the Oncenter in Syracuse this past Nov. 16 and 17.
“We are thrilled to be a winner of the 2021 Grow-NY Competition. Improving soil health through data and technology is important to us and we are grateful that our company vision was recognized by the judges. We look forward to investing in people and in creating a local supply chain in upstate New York.” Sashti Balasundaram, CEO WeRadiate.
The Summit culminated with an awards ceremony announcing the recipients of the $3 million in prize money. This included a $1 million top prize, two $500,000 prizes, 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 in each entity. WeRadiate of Buffalo, NY was chosen for the $250,000 prize.
Judges based award decisions on the following five criteria:
Viability of Commercialization and Business Model– Generation of revenue and maintenance of a cost structure that allows for a competitive and sustainable business; demonstrated readiness of the applicant’s technology or innovation to fulfill its needed value proposition.
Team– Demonstration of a level of cohesion, completeness, and readiness within, and diversity and inclusion amongst the founders, employees, and advisors of the business that will allow the team to deliver on its potential.
Customer Value– Provision of significant value for customers for which they are willing to pay; addressing a substantial market.
Agriculture and Food Innovation– Pushing the state-of-the-art in food and agriculture and contributing to making Upstate NY a global leader in agriculture and food innovation.
Regional Job Creation– Potential for the creation of high-quality jobs in the Grow-NY Region and relevance to the existing food and agriculture ecosystem.
WeRadiate has a unique solution and is building a network of connected compost systems using hardware, software, and data. By using its technology, WeRadiate clients are able to track compost temperatures, minimize the risk of e.coli & salmonella, reduce production costs, and create high-quality, consistent end-product that can be sold as blended soils, castings, or compost to gardeners, landscapers, hemp growers.
WeRadiate has an experienced, inclusive, diverse team with certification as an NYS Minority Business Enterprise. The company already has strategic partners in the Grow-NY region and is creating high-quality jobs within the agriculture & data-technology sectors. ArcWorks, Rochester, is a current strategic partner who employs special needs adults to assist in manufacturing, assembling, packaging, and distributing smart-sensor compost units.
“We are excited for WeRadiate to have been named the $250,000 grand prize winner in the Grow-NY competition. WeRadiate has been a part of LNYs Emerging Cleantech Opportunity (ECO) Incubator since 2019 and has continued to show promising advancements leading the way in Upstate New York’s cleantech sector. Launch NY started the ECO Incubator in order to support cleantech startups with measurable and scalable impacts on New York State energy efficiency, renewable energy, greenhouse gas reduction, and overall sustainability goals. Seeing validation of the great progress of companies like WeRadiate speaks to the strength of the region’s growing cleantech ecosystem,” said Marnie LaVigne, PhD, President and CEO of Launch NY
330 startups applied from 32 countries including Singapore, Israel, and Switzerland. In the U.S., 23 states were represented, including 138 entries from New York. 44% of applicants included a female founder and 51% included a founder from an underrepresented minority group, which is a significant increase in founder diversity from last year’s applicant pool. The 20 finalists received dedicated mentorship from hand-selected 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 the regional knowledge they gained from the competition.
“We will continue to work with our mentors that were assigned to us by Grow-NY in preparing milestones for 2022 and onwards as we think about the company’s growth and future, keeping with the momentum the competition has provided us in the last few months.” Jui Khopkar, Head of Brand.
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 within Central NY, the Finger Lakes, and the Southern Tier of New York State where there are vibrant 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.
WeRadiate, 2021 Grow-NY Pitch
To learn more about WeRadiate and its mission to improve soil health, visit weradiate.com. To find out more about the remaining Grow-NY winners, mentors and judges, check out grow-ny.com.
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About WeRadiate
WeRadiate’s mission is to improve soil health through precision data and technology. Our innovation includes the development of smart-sensor compost systems and building a network of connected compost sites to create healthier soils faster. To learn more, visit https://weradiate.com
About Empire State Development
Empire State Development (ESD) promotes a vigorous and growing state economy, encourages business investment and job creation, and supports diverse, prosperous local economies across New York State through the efficient use of loans, grants, tax credits, real estate development, marketing and other forms of assistance. To learn more about ESD visit https://esd.ny.gov
About the Cornell Center for Regional Economic Advancement
The Cornell Center for Regional Economic Advancement (CREA) supports economic impact in Upstate New York through entrepreneurship and innovation. We help people advance ideas that will create jobs in our region, enriching the area’s economic diversity. To learn more, visit https://crea.cornell.edu.
About Emerging Cleantech Opportunity Incubator: ECO
Launch NY’s ECO Incubator is part of the six incubators administered by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), for high-growth cleantech companies. ECO Incubator’s mission is to support cleantech startups with measurable and scalable impacts on New York State energy efficiency, renewable energy, greenhouse gas reduction, and overall sustainability goals. ECO Incubator supports clients across a wide range of industries including advanced manufacturing, demand management and energy efficiency, energy storage, energy transmission and distribution, financial technology (fintech), power generation, sustainability and waste management, and transportation. To learn more visit: https://launchny.org/eco-incubator/
Grow-NY Winners 2021 Source: https://www.grow-ny.com/2021-winners/
Header and Featured image Molly Israel (Cornell)