Canada's Natural Products Canada backs chia-based fat replacer with $249K grant
What's the deal? Sustainable Bioproducts Innovations (SBI), a New Westminster-based developer of a plant-based fat replacer, has received a US$256.6K (roughly $249,000) grant from Natural Products CanadaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The money, awarded under the group's Proof of Concept program, will fund production scale-up and validation of SBI's chia-mucilage ingredient for commercial food use.
What's the endgame? SBI is scaling 0Fat, an allergen-free fat-replacement platform made from chia-derived mucilage and food-grade dietary fibres. The company says it can replace a large share of fats and oils across sauces, spreads, dairy analogues, and baked goods without compromising taste or texture. The project's total budget is US$641.5K.
Why now? SBI has tested more than 50 food and beverage applications and secured Health Canada approval, with a commercial-scale production trial planned for later this year. The grant helps bridge the gap between validation and market.
By the numbers: The grant is modest even by early-stage standards — its size places it near the middle of the pack for disclosed rounds. For SBI, the significance is practical rather than a major financing signal: commercial uptake remains to be demonstrated.
The bigger package: SBI's award is part of a US$745.3K investment from Natural Products Canada across five early-stage bioeconomy companies, including meal-replacement maker Novagevity and Catalera Biosolutions. The funding, backed by the Government of Canada's Strategic Response Fund, will enable US$1.87M in total project activity across three provinces.
The signal: The grant reflects a federal push to move Canadian food and bio-based technologies toward commercialization. "They now find themselves at the exact moment NPC is built to support: scaling up, running the trials that customers and investors expect, and getting Canadian-made solutions onto shelves," said Shelley King, founder and chief executive officer of Natural Products Canada. For SBI, the next proof point is whether manufacturers' interest in healthier, plant-based ingredients translates into orders.
Read more: finsmes.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
