“Food, fibre and agritech is a really critical part of the Canterbury economy – 20 per cent of GDP for Greater Christchurch annually is produced by the food, fibre and agritech sectors. A Challenge like this helps feed the expertise and wealth of knowledge that we already have within Canterbury by drawing out other businesses who can leverage the technologies and opportunities,” said Norris.
The Challenge will be delivered by the University of Canterbury’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and BLinc Innovation, based at Lincoln University, which will provide applicants with unrivalled access to scientific and industry talent. 
Entries are encouraged from the private and tertiary sectors as well as Crown Research Institutes. The Enterprise Stream seeks entries from individuals, founders, start-ups, students, SMEs and large businesses while the Research Stream is an opportunity for scientists and researchers to translate their science into reality with partnerships and knowledge from the commercial world.
The submission deadline is 29 January 2021 with finalists announced on 19 February 2021. From there finalists will embark on an intensive, eight-week accelerator programme to support teams through a market validation process that will rigorously test their idea.
The top finalists emerging from the accelerator programme will present to a panel of experts at the final Pitch Day and awards ceremony which will take place on 11 May.
Applications forms and full details can be found at www.ffachallenge.co.nz.
