Halifax-based Outcast Foods is increasing its production of upcycled food products with the support of a $500,000 rebate from Nova Scotia Business Inc.

Outcast, which calls itself the global leader in scalable food waste reduction, will use the money to expand its Nova Scotia facility.

The company has been growing rapidly and recently closed a $10 million funding round, half of which came from District Ventures Capital, the fund led by Arlene Dickinson of Dragons’ Den. It has now been awarded a business development incentive in the form of a Small Medium Enterprise Innovation Rebate by NSBI.

Outcast says it is currently the only company in the world that has created technology that allows surplus upcycled fruits and vegetables to maintain micronutrients after processing in its zero-waste facility.

The surplus produce is dried to create nutrient-dense wholefood powders that become new, sustainable food sources. The shelf-stable powders are used in both Outcast’s line of nutritional supplements and distributed to other companies for use in their own products

The rebate will support installing larger-scale machinery for Outcast’s patent-pending processing line and allowing the company to increase its drying capacity by approximately ten times its current amount.

“NSBI has been incredibly supportive of our efforts to disrupt the status quo of needless food waste. This rebate will directly result in hundreds of thousands of pounds of food being upcycled into highly nutritious products,” said TJ Galiardi, Co-Founder and CMO of Outcast Foods in a statement.

NSBI’s most recent backing of Outcast will also assist the company’s partnerships with farms across Nova Scotia and Sobey’s. The company is eligible to earn a maximum innovation rebate of $500,000 through NSBI once the project is completed.