The $15m Cliff:  Keeping Canadian Agri-Food Startups Scaling at Home
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The $15m Cliff: Keeping Canadian Agri-Food Startups Scaling at Home

28:35 Feb 10, 2026
About this episode
Canada is exporting too much of its agri-food upside—IP, talent, and value-add—because growth-stage financing doesn’t fit the sector. From Ottawa, John Stackhouse speaks with RBC’s Lisa Ashton to unpack Seeding Scale—RBC’s new report on Canada’s agri-food growth-capital gap. Joined by Vive Crop CEO Darren Anderson and Emmertech Managing Partner Kyle Scott, they break down why agri-food is “different money,” why companies hit a wall around the $15M mark, and the first moves to keep more Canadian innovation scaling at home.Seeding Scale Report:https://www.rbc.com/en/thought-leadership/the-growth-project/seeding-scale-addressing-canadas-agri-food-growth-capital-gap-2/RBC Thought Leadershipwww.rbc.com/thoughtleadership Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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