Industry group Natural Products Canada, or NPC has announced that two Atlantic Canadian companies are among those receiving a total $2.8 million of funding for product commercialization.

The two Nova Scotia companies are Dartmouth’s Impactful Health R&D and Halifax’s Smallfood. Impactful Health is developing packaging for fish that prolongs its shelf life via antibacterial properties, and Smallfood is developing protein-based ingredients for the food industry, manufactured via industrial-scale algae fermentation. Impactful Health was also among the 12 companies that graduated from the innageural cohort of CDL Atlantic's oceantech stream.

The money for Impactful Health will go towards developing a proof of concept, and Smallfood’s funding will go towards hiring new staff.

“We are so encouraged by the incredible potential of these Canadian companies,” said Natural Products Canada CEO Shelley King in a press release. “They are tackling some of the most important issues of our time with truly ground-breaking, sustainable innovations.”

NPC has divided its funding distributions into three categories: the Proof of Concept Program, which funds clinical testing and field trials; the Access to Talent Program; and the Fast Track to Finance program, which helps companies fill data gaps that represent stumbling blocks to the fundraising process.

The organization works with companies, investors, industry experts and startup support groups to foster innovation in the natural products sector.