Provincial economic development agency Invest Nova Scotia has revealed the companies in its seventh GreenShoots cohort, each of which is receiving at least $10,000 of funding, with two receiving the maximum outlay of $40,000.

GreenShoots offers agtech, biotech and cleantech companies funding and mentorship to develop their ideas. Cleantech made a particularly strong showing this time, with all but one of the biotech and agtech companies also offering ecological value propositions.

Launched in 2020, the competition is run by Invest Nova Scotia, the Nova Scotia Innovation Hub and Guelph, Ont.-based Bioenterprise Canada, an innovation-focused industry group. To qualify, startups must have booked less than $1 million in cumulative sales and not have already raised more than $25,000 from Innovacorp.

Here’s a look at the companies:

Below are the six start-ups selected this time around.

Agapyo
Jeff Kostos, Alina Grenier-Arellano and Monika Rak
Sydney
$40,000
Agapyo has developed a biodegradable and biologically sourced replacement for petroleum-based ABS plastic, the type typically used for injection moulding and in consumer products.

Clean Valley CIC
Nicholas LaValle, Hunter Bishop and Timothy Edmonds
Halifax
$10,000
Clean Valley is developing technology to grow algae using the wastewater from land-based aquaculture facilities, which can then be used as oyster feed.

Lillianah Technologies
Benjamin Slotnick
Halifax
$40,000
Lillianah is working on a process for using algae to both remove pollutants from coastal environments and capture carbon.

Marin X
Sheamus MacDonald, Aleksandr Stabenow
Halifax
$30,000
The Sensor Globe, which doubles as MARIN X's public-facing brand name, is a sensor orb with adjustable buoyancy used to monitor the health of aquaculture environments.

Mycaro
Katie McNeill
Kentville, NS
$30,000
Mycaro has developed technology for growing mycelium — analogous to mushroom roots — in agricultural byproducts, with the mycelium then being used as a protein source in food.

Scotiaderm
Johanna Mercer, Dr. Ann Gordon
Port Williams, NS
$30,000
Scotiaderm has developed a fast-acting, complex compounded skin cream to treat infectious or non-infectious Candidal Intertrigo, which is an inflammatory skin rash that can occur when skin contacts moisture.