Provincial economic development agency Invest Nova Scotia has revealed the companies in its eighth GreenShoots accelerator cohort, all but one of which are receiving the maximum funding amount 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 Greenspring Bioinnovation 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 Invest NS or its predecessor Innovacorp.

Here’s a look at the latest cohort:

BioLabMate – $40,000

Sarika Kumari and Sanjay Dubey

Sydney

BioLabMate replaces single-use plastic waste from research labs and medical facilities with ocean-based materials.

Genuine Taste – $40,000

Emily Farrar and Pooya Mamaghani

Sydney

Genuine Taste is developing a technique to cell-culture fat, which can be used to improve the taste of meat alternatives.

HOPE Pet Food – $40,000

Sofia Bonilla

Dartmouth

HOPE sells what it describes as nutritious and sustainable pet food with ingredients derived from insects, algae and fungi.

Profillet – $30,000

Greg Potter, Doug McNish, Ricardo Martinez, Steve George and Laura Hackl

Halifax

Profillet is developing affordable, whole-cut plant-based fish fillets.