The Grow-NY is excited to announce the Food & Agriculture Startup Competition.
Donor Name: Grow-NY
State: New York
County: Selected Counties
Type of Grant: Awards and Prizes
Deadline: 05/15/2026
Size of the Grant: Not Available
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
Grow-NY is a business competition focused on growing an enduring food and agriculture innovation cluster in the Grow-NY region. Funded by Empire State Development, the competition attracts innovative, high-growth food and agtech startups from across the globe and engages them in the region’s rapidly-growing startup ecosystem.
Geographical Areas
The Grow-NY Region consists of the following counties:
- Central NY (Cayuga, Cortland, Madison, Onondaga, and Oswego counties)
- Finger Lakes (Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Orleans, Ontario, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming, and Yates counties)
- Southern Tier (Broome, Chemung, Chenango, Delaware, Schuyler, Steuben, Tioga, and Tompkins counties)
Eligibility Criteria
Applicants must be an established business entity in the food, beverage, and/or agriculture space. This includes food and agriculture companies at every point in the agri-food value chain that are working to serve a growing population, while striving to employ sustainable, environmentally conscious, and/or healthy methods. Examples of food and agriculture startups include, but are not limited to, companies that:
- Research and design new crop varieties
- Offer new methods and/or tools to support the efficient growing, monitoring, and harvesting of crops and livestock
- Offer new and/or improved methods for producing, preparing, and packaging food and beverage products or ingredients
- Represent high-growth opportunities for new and innovative food and beverage products or ingredients
To be eligible for the Competition, an applicant must be a registered, formative stage business entity that can enter into the Investment Agreement, such as a corporation or limited liability company (LLC), that meets two or more of the following criteria:
- Less than seven years from date of formal organization
- Has its first product or service in testing or pilot production
- Pre-revenue or early revenue
- Has a leadership team working towards commercialization and profitability.
Judging Criteria
- Team: Demonstration of a level of cohesion, completeness, diversity, and readiness within the team of founders, employees, and advisors; inclusion or plans for inclusion of employees and advisors from varied backgrounds and communities.
- 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.
- Customer Value: Provision of significant value for customers for which they are willing to pay; addressing a substantial market.
- Growth Potential: Ability to generate significant growth, as measured and assessed by employment and revenue growth and the potential for returns and liquidity for equity holders.
- Food and Agriculture 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.
- Grow-NY Regional Job Creation: Potential for creation of high-quality jobs in the Grow-NY Region and relevance to the existing food and ag ecosystem.
- Participation: Timely cooperation, participation, and engagement in program activities, such as regional visit, webinars, application updates, pitch deck delivery, and Summit week activities, including attendance at orientation.
For more information, visit Grow-NY.
