Weston Family Foundation launches new phase of Homegrown Innovation Challenge

The Weston Family Foundation’s Homegrown Innovation Challenge to support the domestic production of berries is entering its third phase.

This year, as part of the “Scaling Phase,” grantees will receive $20 million to bring their projects to fruition.

Four teams from across Canada—chosen from a cohort of 11 teams from the previous round (Shepard Phase grantees)—will receive up to $5 million each over three years.

Grantees will use the funds to take their solutions from concept to implementation—demonstrating and refining their growing systems under real-world conditions at farm scale. 

Launched in 2022, the $33 million Challenge aims to support the development of a market-ready system that enables the year-round, sustainable and cost-competitive production of berries at scale in Canada. 

The foundation said the Scaling Phase will push the boundaries of controlled environment agriculture, driving advancements from automation of lighting to improved berry varieties for indoor production and microclimate management.

“Over the next three years, Scaling Phase teams will need to demonstrate large-scale implementation of their systems and prove market readiness. And most importantly, the berries need to be tasty and nutritious,” said Garfield Mitchell, chair of the Weston Family Foundation, in a press release. “This is an exciting time for academia, industry, and government to come together to accelerate innovative, homegrown solutions to hyper-local food production in Canada.”

Those interested can follow the journey of the Scaling Phase teams online.