Ithaca startups represented among finalists for $1 million agriculture competition

ITHACA, N.Y. (WBNG) -- Three Ithaca-based businesses are currently in the running for a life-changing investment through the Grow-NY food and agriculture competition.

The Grow-NY Food & Agriculture Startup Competition is a program that helps build a lasting hub of food and farming technology in the local region.

The competition awards $3 million in prizes, including a grand prize of $1 million to the winning finalist.

Supported by Empire State Development and Cornell University, the competition recently announced its 20 finalists. Over the next 10 weeks, these startups will receive mentorship and explore ways to expand their operations within Upstate New York.

One of the local finalists is Quantera Analytical, which operates out of a business incubator on the Cornell University campus.

The company is developing a field platform designed to make trace-level chemical testing in food faster and more affordable.

Quantera uses a two-device system that includes a standard mass spectrometer, and its own exclusive technology called the Curio. Together, these devices extract and isolate harmful compounds to identify anomalies in food samples.

Terry Bates, the company’s founder and CEO, expressed a goal of eventually making this technology widely accessible.

“The users are not highly trained scientists. And they shouldn’t need to be. You should be able to test without a PhD. So, we probably compare to the incumbent technology now, in order of magnitude, cheaper at least,” Bates said.

The competition will close with a two-day summit in Rochester this November, where winners will be selected.

In the meantime, 12 News coverage will showcase one of the three Southern Tier finalists throughout the end of the week, leading to an in-depth feature on Monday.

To learn more about the Grow-NY competition, visit www.grow-ny.com.

Visit the Empire State Development website to learn more about the competition’s eighth round.