Cluster
- Canada’s Natural Product Innovation Cluster develops high-potential opportunities that address the growing global demand for naturally-derived products and services.
Join the Cluster
- The Cluster connects you to innovators, industry leaders, investors and others focused on the exponential market potential of natural products¹. Select a title from the right to see how membership in the Cluster can benefit you, or read this article to learn more.
¹ Natural products include naturally-derived solutions in nutrition and natural health products; functional food and feed additives; bioproducts including biochemicals and bioplastics; water treatment and waste streams; agri-tech and value-added agriculture; biotech and clean tech.
-
SME or Start-Up
Gain access to strategic Commercialization Programs, showcase your product or technology to corporate partners, attract investors and capital, and much more.
-
Researcher or Research Institute
Gain access to strategic Commercialization Programs, showcase your product or technology to corporate partners, attract investors and capital, and much more.
-
Large Corporations
Find innovative natural products and technologies—and the networks and resources to develop and de-risk them—at a fraction of the cost of running a traditional innovation department.
-
Investor
Find a pipeline of screened opportunities in natural products and technologies, as well as the experienced partners and trusted resources to develop and de-risk your investment.
-
Service Provider
Showcase your domain expertise with a connected community of innovation-focused professionals who value the insights, experience and capabilities of professional service providers.
-
Collaborate
We’re Stronger Together
Canada’s Natural Product Innovation Cluster is strategically resourced to foster connections and collaboration among its members.
-
Innovation Hub
The Hub brings innovators, industry and investors together through an online database, investor meetings, and opportunity calls.
-
Commercialization Programs
These strategic programs provide insights, support and services to help innovative solutions and products reach their full potential.
-
Custom Scouting
Corporations can access specific solutions from Canada’s business and research community through private innovation scouting services.
-
Industry Reports
Exclusive reports include research discoveries, investments, emerging companies, acquisitions and much more to help you stay in the know.
-
Investment Fund
A dedicated fund for early stage opportunities in natural products, backed by expertise and resources to develop and de-risk investments.
- See how we can connect you to the information and resources you need.
Join the Cluster Now
STAKEHOLDERS
RDP Associates
For the past 30 years RDP Associates has been working with a whole range of companies—startup and established— in diverse business sectors to obtain various forms of government funding. RDP operates in Canada, UK, Ireland, Netherlands and other European countries. RDP also specializes in R&D tax credit returns, commonly known as SR&ED. The latter is also a form of government funding, but with a complex set of rules and regulations that require in-depth expertise. Since its launch in 1987, RDP has managed to secure for its clients SR&ED tax returns to the tune of half a billion dollars.
FireRein Inc.
FireRein Inc. is a Napanee, Ontario-based company dedicated to providing the firefighting community with effective, innovative and sustainable firefighting technologies. FireRein has created Eco-Gel™ - the world’s first and only 100% bio-sourced and food-grade firefighting water additive. When deployed through standard firefighting equipment, Eco-Gel™ transforms water into a potent firefighting solution that “sticks and stays” to any surface in any orientation. Eco-Gel™ outperforms incumbent water additives by knocking down fires faster while using less water and protecting the environment. Eco-Gel™ represents a new class of firefighting water additive, addressing the emerging performance and environmental needs of the global fire protection industry.
InfraReady
InfraReady's quest as an industrial food ingredient supplier is clear: we enable food manufacturers to profit from over 300 unique whole grain ingredients. As the name suggests, InfraReady uses "infrared" cooking technology to make products "ready". Our success in domestic and export markets is measured by our client’s ability to create and keep customers who desire and benefit from the consumption of whole grains. There is much at stake. As a BRC-GFSI accredited company, food safety programs are a prerequisite, however creativity and innovation are how we achieve "The Good We Get from Grain™".
Innovation Guelph
Innovation Guelph provides mentorship, programs and services to help innovative businesses start, grow and thrive. Serving Guelph, Wellington County and Southwestern Ontario, our novel business acceleration programs – including Speedway, Fast Lane, Fuel Injection and the Rhyze Project – support high-potential businesses from start-up to scale-up. Innovation Guelph also serves as a single point of access to Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs (ONE) resources. We empower entrepreneurs, build community partnerships, and foster initiatives to build an innovation ecosystem that drives lasting economic growth, supports environmental sustainability and enhances the quality of life for everyone in our region.
The Cultured Coconut
Launched in 2015 by Haligonian Linda Peers, Coconut Goodness Food Products Inc. was born out of a desire to create a probiotic dairy-free kefir that could make a significant difference in one's health. The company’s product, The Cultured Coconut, is currently available through retailers around the Maritimes, in Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa. With a move to a larger commercial facility mid-2018 in Bedford, NS, the company will be able to significantly increase production capacity to meet growing consumer demand across Canada.
Mazza Innovation
Mazza Innovation specializes in extracting solvent-free bioactives from botanical sources for use as ingredients in functional foods, dietary supplements, natural food colourings/flavourings, and personal care and cosmetics products. Mazza’s patented environmentally friendly PhytoClean™ pressurized water extraction process produces ingredients that are free of any carrier compounds or residual solvents. The company is fully certified as GMP, organic, Halal, Kosher and offers over 20 extract ingredients, including blueberry, green and purple tea, cranberry, and guarana. Based in Vancouver, Mazza’s portfolio of award-winning ingredients gives product manufacturers the opportunity to tap into consumer demand for high-quality, 100% clean-label products, all while preserving a healthy planet.
Brand for Benefit
Brand for Benefit provides visionary strategy for the common good. We serve brands, corporations and most importantly, the people who breathe life into them. Brand for Benefit exists to help business and not for profit leverage their greater purpose to achieve better in class results. Services include: Strategic and Marketing Planning; Visioning and Purpose; Emotion Analytics with Heartbeat AI; Employee Engagement; B Corporation Certification Do good business better.
Composites Innovation Centre
The Composites Innovation Centre (CIC) is a technical service provider of design, analysis, testing and prototyping of composite parts and tooling for manufacturing industries. The CIC is a leader in the Canadian biomaterials market including applications development, fibre grading/testing and design. Our office is located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, and we work with companies to help them stay competitive with our vast level of experience and the latest composite knowledge.
Bioenterprise Corporation
Bioenterprise Corporation is a national, non-profit business accelerator offering commercialization services to support the creation, growth and expansion of businesses in the agricultural technology sector. Since 2003, Bioenterprise has focused exclusively on agri-technology, providing companies with scientific and technical expertise, industry knowledge, business services and global connections. Examples of services include: access to strategic networks, technology and science assessment, market and competitive analysis, funding application guidance, identification of regulatory barriers, marketing strategy development, investment preparation, sourcing investment capital as well as ongoing advice and council.
Indezone Energy
Featured on CBC Dragons' Den, Indezone Energy is the first product to market from Ioffe Biotechnologies Inc. Indezone is a new patent-pending Natural Health Product that improves brain performance, helping students and busy professionals focus on what's important. Quickly jumping to a Top 3 Best Seller in its category on Amazon.ca, this is a new kind of energy product for the modern lifestyle, with an emphasis on productivity and brain health— not the jittery rise and crash that traditional stimulants deliver.
KGK Science
KGK Science is the leading contract research organization offering clinical trial services and regulatory consulting for the dietary supplement, functional food, ingredient, and cosmetic industry. For over 20 years, KGK has been designing and conducting clinical trials to support clients with claims substantiation and product marketing. KGK offers a seamless solution to clients’ clinical research and regulatory needs. As your one stop shop, KGK provides research strategy, regulatory support, clinical trials, and clinical trial management all under one roof. KGK currently operates a clinical trial unit where over 250 clinical trials have been conducted. Some of our major areas of expertise include, but are not limited to: Probiotics, Gut Health, Weight, Bioavailability, Cognitive function, and Immunity.
YoFiit
YoFiit is an innovative plant-based functional food company. YoFiit has developed two product lines, one of which, a milk alternative, is patent-pending and won the Most Innovative Product award at the 2016 Canadian Federation of Independent Grocer’s Show. YoFiit’s vision is to provide sustainable foods that provide more body fuel per ounce of food than competing products. YoFiit’s milk alternative is directly comparable to the nutritional composition and the functionality of cow’s milk and surpasses the nutritional composition of other milk alternatives currently in the market place. YoFiit’s second product is a nutritionally complete and easily digestible energy bar.
POS Bio-Sciences
POS Bio-Sciences is a contract R&D / scale-up and toll processing organization. We specialize in the extraction, fractionation, modification and purification of bio-based ingredients. In our 40 year history we have worked on a wide range of materials; from biomass extraction from algae, yeast and bacteria, to protein extraction, fractionation and purification and oil refining and fractionating. POS has locations in Canada and the United States. Two facilities are located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan and a third facility is located in Batavia, Illinois. We allow our partners to being to enter markets faster using our experience, expertise and capacity, thereby limiting their investment, and generating revenue sooner.
Island Water Technologies
Island Water Technologies ("IWT") is a wastewater technology company that has developed, and is now commercializing the REGEN wastewater treatment solution - focused on low-energy, "IOT / smart" wastewater treatment. The REGEN solution was developed as the result of years of experience with fixed film materials, bio-electric sensors and next generation water treatment solutions by the team at Island Water Technologies.
Oilseed Innovation Partners
The Mission of Oilseed Innovation Partners is to collaborate with our client partners in the identification and commercialization of new and innovative opportunities from Canadian oilseeds. OIP conducts its own market analyses, as well as working with external parties to identify marketplace intelligence in the oilseed sector. This makes the organization uniquely capable of advising companies it works with about market potential. OIP has a solid understanding of regulatory requirements surrounding food and industrial use products and uses that expertise to achieve regulatory compliance. Oilseed Innovation Partners can assist with getting your innovative products made from Canadian oilseeds to market.
SRC Biotechnology Laboratories
SRC Biotechnology Laboratories is an applied research, biomanufacturing and DNA testing laboratory. It enables and accelerates biotechnology innovation across Saskatchewan’s core resource sectors of mining, energy and agriculture. With world-class expertise and facilities, we deliver a broad portfolio of genomic, microbiology and biomanufacturing services. Areas of strategic focus for the team include biomining, crop protection, microbial enhanced oil recovery, bioremediation and bio-based specialty chemicals. SRC and the National Research Council co-manage a fermentation plant, which offers clients contract biomanufacturing services that are uniquely well-positioned to support the commercial development of biotechnologies across Saskatchewan’s core resource sectors of mining, energy and agriculture.
Duckish
Duckish, established in October 2015, is a natural, handmade personal care brand that manufactures and sells skin care products primarily for women and babies. For women, the product line includes a variety of body butters, bath salts, lip balms, moisturizing lotion sticks, and bath bombs. For babies, we make mess-free diaper rash cream sticks and baby body butter. All products are free of synthetic dyes and fragrances, and are made in Canada with all-natural ingredients, many of them organic.
Bioindustrial Innovation Canada
Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC), a not-for-profit, supports Ontario and Canada become globally recognized leaders in the field of sustainable technologies. With a vision to create jobs and economic value sustainably for Canada, BIC provides critical strategic investment, advice and services to business developers of clean, green and sustainable technologies. In Sarnia-Lambton, a hybrid cluster has developed around sustainable chemistry, based on fostering partnerships from industry, academia and governments to support the development of the cluster. In 2016, BIC established the Centre for Commercialization of Sustainable Chemistry Innovation (COMM SCI) initiative program, which acts as a hub for the commercialization of sustainable chemistry and bio-based innovation.
dicentra
dicentra is a professional consulting firm that specializes in safety, quality and compliance matters for all product categories in the life sciences, food, and cannabis industries. We evaluate, implement, and provide all the necessary support for products and operations, allowing companies to gain market access while building brand confidence. We achieve this through our four business divisions: Life Sciences, Food Safety & Quality, Global Certifications, and Cannabis Consulting. Services include: Acquisition Due Diligence, Regulatory Business Strategy, Safety & Efficacy, Quality & Compliance, Market Authorization, Training, Global Certifications, Auditing & Verification, Importation and Export, Adverse Event Reporting, Advertising Clearance, and Marketing & Sales Strategy. Companies look to us to help protect their bottom line. We evaluate, implement, and provide all the necessary support for your products and operations to gain market access and build confidence in your brand.
National Research Council (NRC)
The National Research Council (NRC) is the Government of Canada’s premier research organization supporting industrial innovation, the advancement of knowledge, technology development and fulfilling government mandates. The NRC plays a unique role in Canada, undertaking large-scale mission-oriented R&D programs through a national network of experts and facilities. The Aquatic and Crop Resource Development (ACRD) Research Centre is NRC’s leading Research Centre supporting the bio-economy. With expertise in agricultural, industrial, and marine biotechnologies as well as genomics and bioinformatics, ACRD provides cutting-edge scientific advances, technical services, technology development support, and credible scientific advice to Canadian stakeholders transforming bio‐based resources into sustainable, high‐value products.
NaturalSci Regulatory Consulting Corp.
NaturalSci Regulatory Consulting Corp. helps vitamin and supplement manufacturers get their products to market by delivering Professional Regulatory services attuned to the Canadian NHP market using expert knowledge and industry experience with product launches.
McKercher LLP
With offices in Regina and Saskatoon, McKercher LLP has over 70 lawyers practicing in all major areas of the law. For over 90 years we have provided legal services to private business, public corporations, municipalities, public boards, crown corporations and First Nations in all areas of the law; our clients are successful locally, provincially, nationally and internationally. We understand the legal, business and political issues present in each matter. Our goal is to assist our clients in all areas of law that it may require and provide thorough legal advice in a timely manner.