Funding supports growth of remote technology reducing post-harvest potato losses
A global agri food innovation and investment firm, SVG Ventures, has announced a $500,000-investment in Calgary based Cellar Insights through its Pioneer Fund. The investment will support the company’s continued growth and commercialization of smart remote potato storage monitoring technology.
Cellar Insights focuses on helping potato growers, processors, and storage operators reduce post-harvest losses and protect crop value. Storage is a critical stage for potatoes where quality can be protected or lost. Losses during storage are often estimated at five percent or more, making early detection of problems very important.
“We first met the Cellar Insights team through our accelerator in Alberta, delivered in partnership with Alberta Innovates’ Scaleup Gap Program, and that engagement gave us an early window into both the problem they were solving and how the company was executing,” said John Cassidy, Managing Director Canada, SVG Ventures | THRIVE. “We stayed closely connected as they validated the technology, expanded deployments, and built momentum beyond Alberta. That continued progress is what ultimately led us to invest through the Pioneer Fund.”
The company’s growth journey was accelerated through an accelerator program in Alberta delivered by SVG Ventures in partnership with Alberta Innovates and its Scaleup Gap Program. This early engagement helped Cellar Insights validate its technology to expand field deployments and build strong commercial momentum. Continued progress through real world uses later led to the investment from the Pioneer Fund.
Cellar Insights offers a Smart Storage Monitoring System that tracks key conditions inside potato storage facilities. These include temperature humidity and carbon dioxide levels. The system also detects early signs of rot risk, including rot-related gases. By providing alerts of trends and clear decision support, the technology allows operators to act early before problems spread across an entire storage pile.
A major milestone for the company was deployment at an Innovation Farm Network site supported by Farm Credit Canada in MacGregor Manitoba. This commercial scale potato site provided strong validation under real storage conditions and marked the first potato operation included in the national network.
“Our mandate at Alberta Innovates is to help Alberta companies overcome the most challenging part of the innovation journey – the commercialization gap and the transition to scale,” said Dr. Mike Mahon, President and CEO of Alberta Innovates. “Cellar Insights is a textbook example of how grower‑driven innovation, when paired with the right commercialization supports and global partners like SVG Ventures, can move from pilot to investment and market traction. Seeing this company attract follow‑on capital and deploy in places like Manitoba demonstrates the impact of a clear pathway from innovation to adoption.”
Cellar Insights was co-founded by a sixth-generation potato grower ensuring the technology is built around real farm needs. With proven results in multiple Canadian regions and growing interest in the United States the company is now expanding its reach across North America and exploring international opportunities through global innovation networks.
This investment highlights how grower driven innovation combined with strong commercialization support can move from pilot testing to market adoption and long-term impact in agriculture.
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