Two years after Dartmouth construction technology startup CarbonCure won the internationally noted NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, another Atlantic Canadian company, Halifax’s Smallfood, is one of six finalists in the competition’s US$15 million foodtech edition, XPRIZE Feed The Next Billion.
Smallfood has teamed up with Toronto’s Terra Bio to form Team ProFillet, which was named one of six finalists on Wednesday. The two startups are the only multi-company team in the competition and beat out hundreds of other applicants to reach the final rounds. ProFillet is also the only finalist from North America.
The XPRIZE is modelled on the Orteig Prize that marked the advent of transatlantic air travel when Charles Lindbergh won it in 1927. Like its forbear, the XPRIZE attracts industry-leading competitors from around the world in pursuit of some of the most valuable prize pools on offer from a major startup competition.
For such a small region, Atlantic Canada has produced a few companies that have performed well in the various XPRIZE competitions. CarbonCure won a total of US$8 million for its 2021 win.
Another Halifax company, Planetary Technologies — which has developed a system to convert alkaline rocks left over from mining operations into a substance called bicarbonate, which could be used to help counteract ocean acidification — also won a US$1 million Milestone Award from the US$100 million Carbon Removal XPRIZE last April. (CarbonCure and Halifax-based Reazant, a maker of organic farm products, are also competing in the Carbon Removal prize, which will be decided in 2025.)
“Team ProFillet has developed a fish fillet alternative, rich in protein and omega-3 DHA, that outcompetes conventional fish on sustainability and cost,” wrote Smallfood CEO Marc St-Onge on LinkedIn. “The process centers around Smallfood's unique microalgae biomass fermentation and Terra Bioindustries upcycled proteins from spent grains.”
Led by serial entrepreneur St-Onge and founded in 2018, Smallfood is developing protein-based ingredients for the food and animal feed industries, manufactured via industrial-scale algae fermentation.
Terra Bio, meanwhile, upcycles spent grains from breweries into raw food ingredients like sugars and protein powders.
The goal of the Feed the Next Billion Xprize is to find new forms of nutrition that can sustainably produce foods for the world's growing population without harming the environment. As well as Team ProFillet, the finalists are:
- CellX: Cell-based chicken team from China;
- Eternal: Fermentation-derived chicken team from Argentina;
- The PlantEat: Plant-based chicken team from South Korea;
- Revo Foods: Plant-based fish team from Austria;
- And, TFTAK: Plant-based fish team from Estonia.
“Exponential technologies are giving humanity the ability to reinvent how we feed the world. Today 9 million people die from hunger every year and 25% of humanity isn’t receiving adequate nutrients,” Peter Diamandis, the XPRIZE Executive Chairman, said in a statement. “Breakthroughs in food technology will allow us to feed a growing world of 8+ billion people with cheaper, better tasting and higher quality protein.”
