Ten years ago, a small team from the innovation ecosystem across the country asked a question: What would it take to increase the success of early-stage commercialization to grow the Canadian bioeconomy?

Not another grant-based funding program. A new model, purpose-built for early-stage companies developing bio-based and natural product innovations; the kind that combines deep understanding of science-heavy technologies, go-to-market commercialization expertise and patient capital.

That question became Natural Products Canada (NPC). Back then, there were no guarantees the approach would work. The team was operating in the same uncertain space many NPC-backed founders know well: moving forward without all the answers, but with an unshakeable belief in the mission.

On April 1, NPC gathered some of its network in Ottawa to mark a decade of trying to answer that question.

A decade in numbers

The vision NPC had a decade ago has yielded results that prove the model works:

• $11.9 million invested in 93 companies, fuelling new bio-based and natural products and jobs
• 327 new products brought to market
• $622 million in capital raised
• For every $1 NPC distributes, member companies have raised $52

“Today, NPC’s network includes 4,000 members and 2,000 companies supported and the reality has exceeded even my most optimistic early projections,” said Shelley King, Founder and CEO of Natural Products Canada. “Early-stage innovation isn’t just about having a great idea; it’s about solving problems at scale and having the resilience to navigate a path that is rarely linear.”

When NPC launched, the goal was to build a model that enabled early-stage companies to grow through innovative financing and the specialized expertise required to drive successful commercialization. That focus remains unchanged.

Canada’s moment in the bioeconomy

Canada stands at a significant inflection point. Food security is no longer a distant policy concern — it is a pillar of national resilience. Sustainability is no longer optional; it is a fundamental way of thinking about how business interacts with the planet. Canada has the agricultural base, the scientific talent, and the innovation infrastructure to lead, but seizing that opportunity requires rethinking the entire system, from how we maximize Canadian crops to how we convert every byproduct into high-value bio-based products.

By aligning resources and partnerships through NPC’s Natural Product Innovation Cluster, that leadership is within reach. The future of Canada’s bioeconomy isn’t something that simply happens. It is something we actively create and shape through coordinated action.

10 years of natural product innovation

To mark a decade of supporting innovation that is better for people, animals and the planet, NPC hosted a celebration at the Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa. Members, partners, board members and staff gathered alongside distinguished guests — with non-alcoholic bubbly and beers from Silver Swallow and Partake, and plant-based salmon sushi from NPC-backed New School Foods (the consumer facing arm of NSTX Industries) setting the tone. Attendees explored new bio-based products entering the Canadian market, and delegate bags featured products from NPC-backed women-owned food, health and wellness companies.

The main event was two fireside chats with NPC-backed founders on the future of Canada’s food systems — not food in the traditional sense, but as a sophisticated bioeconomy where waste doesn’t exist and Canadian innovation ensures supply chains are as resilient as they are sustainable.

What the founders said

The first fireside chat brought together Eric Zimmerman, Co-Founder and CEO of Enhanced Medical Nutrition, and Gregg Curwin, President and CEO of Novagevity (known for its plant-based meal shake Sperri). Both founders are developing functional food products derived from Canadian crops and navigating the complex path from clinical validation to commercial scale.

Eric identified three areas where Canadian bio-based start-ups consistently face gaps: Brand and storytelling (“critically important and often underestimated”); attracting the operational talent needed to grow beyond the lab (“When you scale, you need the people to scale too”); and continuing to innovate beyond the initial product.

Gregg offered a frank read on capital: Government support at the seed stage has been essential, but growth-stage financing is increasingly scarce. “I firmly believe we’re on the cusp of a day when you go into primary care and that doctor will actually use nutrition thoughtfully — just as fast as reaching for a prescription pad. But you’ve got to get these companies financed.”

The second fireside introduced Gavin Schneider, Co-Founder and CEO of Maia Farms, and Chris Bryson, Founder and CEO of NSTX Industries, both focused on novel food and feed ingredients. Maia Farms won NASA’s Deep Space Food Challenge in 2021 and Gavin asserted: “If you can feed astronauts on a mission to the Moon, you can probably make an impact on food security here on Earth.” Maia has since launched products with roughly 15 Canadian customers, partnered with Amy’s Kitchen, and fed approximately 360,000 families through food bank partnerships coast to coast.

NSTX Industries took a different path: Chris developed a purpose-built directional freezing technology to solve what he saw as the plant-based industry’s core problem. “Every company was using the same borrowed technology from pasta and cereal making — it’s not going to recreate the intricacies of meat. We wanted to make plant-based foods that don’t suck.”

Both founders addressed a broader challenge: Scaling novel food manufacturing requires investment in capital equipment and proprietary infrastructure, not just labour. This is an area where current funding instruments have room to evolve. Both also pushed back on the public narrative around plant-based products.

As Chris noted, food service operators and distributors show genuine appetite for better alternatives. The barrier isn’t consumer resistance, it’s product quality. “If you create a great product that tastes great, has a good nutritional profile, and a good price, there’s definitely a lot of potential.”

Gavin’s recent deal underscored this: A new supply agreement with Centennial Food Solutions, a traditional meat company, now selling Maia Farms’ mushroom ingredients at a per-serving price below ground beef.

Here are the key takeaways from the fireside chats:

• Uncertainty is the operating condition, not the exception. The companies that build adaptive capacity alongside their products will be best positioned for what comes next.
• Canada’s food systems opportunity is real — and time-sensitive. Making food systems more effective, healthier and nutritious is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must.
• Science is table stakes. Commercialization is the game. Canadian start-ups need more structured support to bridge the gap between technical validation and commercial scale — in brand-building, talent, and growth-stage financing.
• Scaling foodtech companies requires the right funding tools. Canada’s innovation ecosystem does a strong job at the earliest stages. The opportunity ahead is to continue evolving those tools so that capital investment and infrastructure needs are better addressed alongside labour costs — a conversation the sector is ready to have.
• Consumer perception and market reality don’t always match. The opportunity for Canadian companies is to shift the narrative by building products that genuinely compete on taste, texture, nutrition, and price.

Looking ahead

A decade in, the mission hasn’t changed. What has changed is everything NPC now knows about how to pursue it. The founders in the room on April 1 are doing the hard work of proving out Canada’s bioeconomy potential — and NPC’s role in the next chapter is to grow alongside them, deepening the capital expertise, partnerships, and commercialization support that moves companies from promising to proven.

Connect with us.

The bioeconomy is being built by Canadian founders working on some of the most important problems of our time. Here’s how to learn more:

• Meet the innovators. Browse the many NPC-backed companies across natural and bio-based product sectors: https://canadiangamechangers.ca
• See the evidence. Read NPC’s Proof Beyond Potential economic impact report here for a full picture of what Canadian bio-based innovation has produced with NPC’s help.
• Building something that belongs in the bioeconomy? If you have a bio-based or natural product innovation and want to explore whether NPC is the right partner, let’s talk: https://www.naturalproductscanada.com/contact/