Amount: up to 100% of total eligible project costs for maximum of $10,000.

The NextGen Food Innovators Program aims to accelerate the pre-competitive development of promising technology into a new venture. Students who are currently or aspire to be entrepreneurs can apply to fund the further development and validation of their solutions, further substantiating the market opportunity for the innovation.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible Applicants include individuals enrolled in a full-time program at a Canadian Accredited College or University in a diploma, advanced diploma, degree, graduate certificate, master’s, or PhD. Students at private institutions, junior colleges, and CEGEP programs are not eligible to apply. Applicants will need to provide a letter of endorsement or recommendation from their institution’s entrepreneurship office, or a professor or mentor.

Eligible Projects

Applicants must outline their proposed solution, which must touch on food processing, food service, or grocery retail, and must be IP-driven, with new knowledge, science, or processes being developed and applied.

To qualify for funding, all projects must:

  • Address an area of the post- farmgate food production supply chain – food processing, distribution, food service, or grocery retail. Projects that primarily focus on agricultural activities and mainly benefit farmers are not eligible;
  • Identify activities that support the further development and validation of novel intellectual property;
  • Identify a defined goal or outcome that has commercial application;
  • Conduct research and development at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) 1 to 7. Projects including TRL 8 and 9 components will only be considered if they are part of a project that also includes a TRL 1 to 7 (see 4.3 Technology Readiness Level Eligibility Requirements for further information); and,
  • Projects must be completed by December 31, 2025.

Funding

The total eligible project costs should be between $5,000 to $10,000, and the maximum level of funding from CFIN will be 100% of total eligible project costs, or $10,000.