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Homegrown Innovation Challenge
The Homegrown Innovation Challenge launched by the Weston Family Foundation in February 2022, will award $33M in total over six years, and an innovation team making it to the end of the Challenge can receive grants totaling up to $8M and for the innovation team that progresses through the three phases of the Challenge and wins the final awards
The Challenge is made up of three distinct stages: Spark Phase; Shepherd Phase & Scaling Phase
| Phase | Description | Deadline |
| Spark Phase including Spark Awards | $50K to help bring together a team and develop a full proposal for the Shepherd Phase) | May 3, 2022 |
| Shepherd Phase | $1M to build out a small proof of concept. Applying to the Spark Phase is not a prerequisite to apply for the Shepherd Phase. | December 20, 2022 |
| Scaling Phase | The top four teams selected from the Shepherd Phase will be awarded up to $5 million each across three years to build and demonstrate their system at farm scale in Canada, providing the judging panel with evidence that it has produced berries out of season during the trial | September 2024 |
Eligibility Criteria:
Multi-stakeholder teams are encouraged to apply; the lead organization must be a CRA-qualified donee (QD), though non-QDs (including international and for-profit entities) can participate as part of a team. More info on eligibility criteria can be found here
Webinar:
You can register here for the upcoming informational webinar on April 13, 2022 at 1 pm ET. Materials from the previous webinar on March 9, 2022 can be found here.
Application submission:
Application forms will be completed via our SmartSimple online portal. The portal for Spark Awards is now live and can be accessed here.
For more information please check the Homegrown Innovation Challenge website or contact HGC staff at challenge@westonfoundation.ca