How Natural Products Canada fuels innovation that helps humans, animals, and the planet

On our way to becoming Western Canada’s most active pre-seed and seed investor, partners have played a critical role in our journey, as well as the success of the companies we back. One of those sponsors is Natural Products Canada (NPC), one of our 2024 Agri-Food Best Friend Forever. As we’re under two weeks until this year’s Summit Finale, we took some time to catch up with Shelley King, NPC chief executive officer to discuss how NPC propel innovations spanning multiple sectors and leverages expertise, capital, and an extensive network to support startups.

TNT: There are a lot of organizations out there supporting early-stage companies. Where does NPC fit into all of it?

SK: NPC is focused on natural product innovation that is better for people, animals and the planet. So that gives us both a broad and focused outlook at the same time. Focused because we are exclusively interested in natural product solutions – those with biologically-based innovation at their core – so not software or IT or drones. But at the same time, it’s broad because those innovations can be applied to nearly every sector. Things like bio-based resins and plastics for the manufacturing sectors, or functional ingredients for natural health products or animal feed, or biopesticides for the agriculture sector.

TNT: Why the focus on natural products when there are so many other interesting Canadian innovations?

SK: There’s a couple of reasons. One is the demand for cleaner, greener, healthier solutions is coming from nearly every industry. We have consumers, governments and major multinationals making decisions to get the planet back on track by transitioning how we produce our goods and services. That’s not only something we strongly believe is the right thing to do, it’s a trillion-dollar market opportunity.

And two, Canada is already such a leader in the bio-based side of things. We have exceptional natural resources – so much land and water that supports bio-based traditional industries like forestry, farming and fishing. When you couple that with Canada’s exceptional research capacity, you have the foundation for a truly unstoppable national bioeconomy. NPC exists to help Canada seize that opportunity.

TNT: And what is it that NPC actually does to help?

SK: At a high level, NPC brings a mix of expertise, capital and networks around innovative opportunities. Some of that comes from the national NPC team through our advice and guidance. We have an experienced team across the country. They dig in with tough questions about the technical and business aspects to ensure founders are taking the next best step on their commercialization path. 

TNT: And you have some funding too? 

SK: Yes. NPC has a really strategic suite of non-dilutive funding programs that provide up to $350,000 to develop and de-risk key opportunities. That’s a big deal to both the founders and the investors who are looking at these opportunities. Both of these parties see that when NPC funds  an opportunity, it is a major endorsement because we don’t just hand out funds to anyone who comes along. We spend a lot of time looking at the full potential of the company before we put one dollar towards it. 

And then we also have an extensive network of investors – including Nàdarra Ventures, which NPC was instrumental in launching - industry leaders, and a broad range of other resources like government programs, regulatory and IP experts, and scale-up and distribution partners. We gather all these resources around the opportunities that we think have high potential to become viable businesses addressing real-world needs. 

TNT: What do you think are the most pressing issues for start-ups? And how do you help them?

SK: Founders almost always tell us capital is their biggest issue. But we actually think it’s more nuanced than that. We know from our experience as investors and working with investors that capital finds opportunity. So there has to be more than just a product; there has to be a solid business opportunity. 

Often we see good products, but key gaps in other aspects of the business plan that haven’t been adequately addressed. If it doesn’t have a strong value proposition to the end customer, if they haven’t proven they can scale it, if there’s no IP strategy, if the regulatory side hasn’t been considered, if the financial model hasn’t been worked out, then you’re a long way from having a business that can attract capital. We work really closely with founders to make sure they’re thinking about all those critical pieces of the puzzle. If they work on those, the capital will follow.

Of course, if they do have the pieces in place, we’re happy to help make introductions to qualified investors. We’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of great companies so we have a bit of a track record with investors looking to us for pipeline and due diligence support. It’s one of the main reasons we got involved with StartUp TNT. Their track record in attracting angel investors around opportunities is impressive. Many of our clients have benefited from this network. We thought NPC could add value to that equation.

TNT: Speaking of that, who are some of your clients?

SK: We have so many to choose from! Across the country we have nearly 2000 opportunities at various stages of development. Some are further along, like Crush Dynamics that makes a high-quality food ingredient from a derivative of the wine industry. Crush received early investment through TNT. And we have 13 clients in the current roster of participants in StartUp TNT, including some that we have helped to de-risk through our commercialization programs like AltaGreen and their hemp-based animal feed, and BioBoost with their yeast-based biotechnology platform. 

TNT: How can investors or founders get involved with NPC?

SK: The best way to start is to talk to the regional director closest to you. The team is always happy to have a conversation to learn what your needs and interests are, and see what we can do to help.

Join us at the 2024 Agri-Food Summit on March 14

Register to join the Finale Pitch Night LIVE at the Saskatchewan Science Centre in Regina (or to watch the livestream).