Zamir Khan, Partner at RHA Ventures, shares his story of how he nearly gave up, the pandemic surge that changed everything and the emotional ride that led to a life-changing exit.
AgRobotics Ontario Challenge: Innovate Agriculture with Robotics
AgRobotics Ontario Challenge: A Quick Overview
The AgRobotics Ontario Challenge pairs Ontario high school teams with local farms to solve real agricultural problems using robotics. Launched by Innovation Farms Ontario (powered by FCC AgExpert), Western Fair District and OCTE, finalists showcase their prototypes at the London Farm Show in early March—Eastern Canada’s largest indoor farm expo.
Key Details
Who’s Involved: Teams of 4–6 students from any Ontario high school Technological Education or SHSM program.
Timeline:
Launch & Registration: Week of Sept 24, 2025
Community Partner Proposals: Due late November
Six Teams Selected: Early December
Build Phase: December–February
Showcase: London Farm Show, early March 2026
What You Need:
A co-developed problem statement with a local farm partner
CAD schematics and a working robot prototype
A short demo (video or live) explaining how your solution tackles the challenge
Support Provided: Robotics kits from Studica, mentorship from AgTech experts, plus technical workshops and judging guides.
Ready to innovate? Visit www.innovationfarmson.ca/student-competition
Bushels & Bytes Ep 3 Joe Dales
In the Bushels & Bytes podcast, Shaun Haney has a conversation with agtech expert and investor, Joe Dales.
Ag Policy Exchange: Is the future of Canadian Agriculture Digital?
Joe Dales from RHA Ventures speaks on a panel for the Canadian Agri-Food Policy Institute on the future of Canadian Agriculture is Digital and what it will take for Canada to take a leap forward and become a leader in digital agriculture.
RHA Ventures Invests in Materia Bioworks Inc., Revolutionizing Sustainable Product Development
RHA Ventures Inc., is proud to announce a strategic investment in Materia Bioworks Inc., a Canadian startup who is transforming how brands and manufacturers develop and launch sustainable products. Their machine learning platform, MAPS (Materials Application Prediction System), accelerates R&D by helping companies replace petroleum-based plastics with high-performance sustainable material, faster, cheaper, and smarter.
RHA Ventures Inc. Invests in Jing Jing Nutrifood, Innovation in Nutritional Wellness.
RHA Ventures Inc. (www.rha.ventures), an investmentfirm committed to supporting early stage innovative companies, is proud to announce its latest investment in Jing Jing Nutrifood (www.jingnutrifood.com), a Canadian-based leader in traditional plant-based nutrition and functional food products.
The Popular Pig Podcast - Digitizing Biosecurity to Prevent Disease Outbreaks | Rob Hannam
Rob Hannam, CEO of Farm Health Guardian, appeared on the Popular Pig Podcast to talk about how Farm Heath Guardian is revolutionizing biosecurity in the swine and poultry sectors through digital solutions. The Farm Heath Guardian technology helps reduce the spread of diseases like PRRS and PED by improving biosecurity compliance; by identifying common failures such as truck washes and dedicated equipment breaches, and providing real-time breach alerts. Tracking the data helps expose hidden risks, ultimately saving time, reducing production costs, enhancing farm sustainability and fostering better compliance and behavioral changes on farms
Monarch Electric Tractor Makes Its Debut at Ontario Farm Shows
Exploring Innovation at the Polaris Pitch Competition & Showcase
The Polaris Pitch Competition & Showcase, organized by TechAlliance of Southwestern Ontario, is an exciting event that highlights innovation within the Canadian tech ecosystem. On March 19, 2025, at the London Music Hall, this event will feature eight innovative ventures competing for a prize package of up to $65,000 in funding and $7,500 in services.
The competition is open to a wide range of tech sectors, including agri-tech, medtech, AI, cybersecurity, fintech, gaming, clean growth, and zero-emission vehicles. This diversity ensures a rich showcase of cutting-edge ideas and solutions.
Beyond the prizes, the Polaris Pitch Competition offers participants the opportunity to receive personalized mentorship and gain exposure to potential investors and industry leaders. This platform is designed to help innovators turn their ideas into reality and make a significant impact on the tech landscape.
Applications to pitch are open until January 27, 2025. This event is a valuable opportunity for those with groundbreaking ideas to gain recognition and support within the tech community.
Joe Dales Joins Board of Directors of the Canadian Agri-Food Automation & Intelligence Network.
The Canadian Agri-Food Automation & Intelligence Network (CAAIN) has appointed Joe Dales to its Board of Directors. The non-profit company, which was awarded $49.5 million in 2019 by the Government of Canada to fund Canadian agtech projects, cited his distinguished career in agriculture, food innovation, and entrepreneurship, as motivation for adding Mr. Dales to its leadership team.
Revolutionizing Asparagus Harvesting: A3H Harvester Showcased at the Great Lakes Expo
The future of asparagus harvesting is here. HarvestCorp Technologies is excited to announce that the A3H Asparagus Harvester, the next generation in agricultural robotics, will be showcased at the Great Lakes Fruit, Vegetable & Farm Market Expo from December 10–12, 2024, in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Visitors can experience this groundbreaking innovation at booths 1158 and 1059.
New Agricultural Robotics Centre to Be Established at The Grove at Western Fair.
The Grove at Western Fair is set to become home to the Agricultural Robotics Research and Training Centre, (ARTC), a groundbreaking initiative designed to advance agricultural robotics and automation through a unique partnership. The new ARTC will be the physical ecosystem hub of cutting-edge agricultural
RHA Ventures Invests in UniSeeds Inc., Growing the Hemp Industry.
RHA Ventures is pleased to announce a strategic investment in UniSeeds Inc., an innovative company that develops and distributes high quality industrial hemp seed. This investment marks a significant milestone in the mission to grow the industrial hemp sector, bringing new cutting-edge opportunities to farmers and hemp processors across North American and international markets.
BioFerScience Wins Innovation Award for Livestock at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show.
BioFerScience Inc., a leading provider of innovative animal health solutions for the livestock industry, is proud to announce that it has been awarded the Innovation Award for Livestock at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show 2024. This recognition highlights BioFerScience’s commitment to developing cutting-edge advancements for livestock producers.
Western Fair Association Receives Funding To Support The Adoption Of New Technology For Ontario Producers
June Update from RHA Ventures
RHA Ventures Announces Investment in Real Life Robotics
In the face of rising costs for domestic businesses in Canada and competition from abroad, RHA Ventures, an Ontario-based venture capital firm specializing in cutting-edge technologies, announced today its investment in Real Life Robotics, a Waterloo-based company designing real robots for real businesses. This investment marks a significant milestone in the development of Real Life Robotics and underscores RHA Ventures' commitment to supporting true, tried, and tested founders and Ontario’s growing startup ecosystem despite an overall decrease in entrepreneurship across the rest of Canada.
OCI and RHA Ventures Sign MOU to Boost Support for Ontario Start-ups
Today, at the DiscoveryX Conference, the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI) and RHA Ventures Inc. (RHA) announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at enhancing support for start-ups and entrepreneurs across Ontario. This collaboration seeks to leverage the strengths of both organizations to foster innovation, economic development, and job creation in the region.
RHA Ventures Commits Investment in Harvest Corp Technologies, Accelerating Agricultural Harvesting Robotics.
London,ON April 15, 2024 – RHA Ventures Inc, a leading venture capital firm specializing in agri-food and technology enabled innovations, proudly announces its investment in Harvest Corp Technologies, a pioneer in agricultural harvest robotics. This strategic partnership marks a significant milestone in advancing harvest automation and reducing manual labor in the horticulture sector.
RHA Ventures Announces Strategic Investment in BioFerScience Inc.
RHA Ventures is pleased to announce its latest investment in BioFerScience Inc., an innovative animal health company. RHA Ventures, known for its “founders for founders” approach, has been actively investing in early-stage, innovative companies in the agriculture, food and technology sectors. This new investment aligns with RHA’s commitment to supporting early stage companies.