Calgary-based Cellar Insights has landed a $500,000 investment from SVG Ventures | THRIVE to scale up its AI-powered potato storage monitoring system. The technology helps growers and storage operators catch spoilage problems early, before they spread through an entire storage pile and destroy crop value.

The company's monitoring system tracks the usual suspects—temperature, humidity, CO₂—but also watches for rot-risk signals including rot gas. When something's off, it sends alerts so operators can step in before rot, shrinkage, and poor fry colour take over. That matters because storage losses in the potato sector typically hit 5 per cent or more, and trying to monitor everything manually across months of storage just doesn't work.

Cellar Insights was co-founded by Ross Culberson, a sixth-generation potato grower who built the platform around problems he knew firsthand. The company first connected with SVG Ventures through an Alberta accelerator program run with Alberta Innovates. John Cassidy, managing director Canada at SVG Ventures | THRIVE, says they stayed in touch as Cellar Insights proved out its technology and started expanding beyond Alberta.

One big milestone came through a deployment at Farm Credit Canada's Innovation Farm Network potato site in MacGregor, Manitoba. The commercial-scale operation gave Cellar Insights real-world validation under different regional conditions.

CEO Terry Sydoryk says testing in New Brunswick, Alberta, and Manitoba helped prove the model works. Now the company has active deployments in Prince Edward Island and is building relationships in Idaho and Washington. "Storage is where crop value is protected or lost," he said. "Our system delivers early warnings and clear insights so operators can act sooner to reduce shrink and spoilage risk."

The investment will help Cellar Insights scale across North America. The company has also tapped into SVG Ventures' global network, including participating in the Canada-Ireland Bridge delegation to explore international markets.

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