Start-ups supported by the Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program (IEP) have established an impressive track record at McGill’s annual Dobson Cup competition. In the past three years, eight Faculty start-ups have finished among the top entries in the highly competitive event, including 2017 Dobson winners Myco-Rise, with the help of the donor-supported IEP.
Current Agricultural and Environmental Sciences student Louis-Philippe Dessureault and Marc Brettschneider, an employee at the Macdonald Campus Horticulture Research Centre, became friends while working at the Centre, when they discovered an unusual shared passion.
“We were both super enthusiastic about growing mushrooms,” says Brettschneider. “So we decided to combine our efforts, and from that point in spring 2016, everything came together quickly – that was the founding of Myco-Rise.”
The operation not only grows tasty oyster mushrooms using organic agricultural waste, but also generates a secondary product in compost, making it an eminently sustainable enterprise.
“We collect industrial and postconsumer waste to grow mushrooms,” Dessureault explained to the Dobson Chronicles. “Once that process is finished, we process our waste through a vermicomposting system, which allows us to reduce our carbon footprint and provides us with nutrient-rich fertilizer that we can sell.”
While Myco-Rise was already in existence before the Dobson Cup, the competition gave Dessureault and Brettschneider the opportunity to bring it to a higher level.
“We were thrilled to showcase the culmination of our mushroom R & D,” says Brettschneider. “The help we’ve received from many people, but especially from Eduardo Ganem-Cuenca, made everything possible. And winning the Dobson Cup really facilitated our expansion. The $11,000 first prize money meant we could afford equipment and increase our production system when we moved to our current space.”
The Dobson Cup success was quickly followed by another: In October 2017, Myco-Rise finished in the top three of Forces-Avenir’s environment category contenders. The team is also offering learning opportunities to students while easing its expansion costs.
Recently, Myco-Rise enlisted three Bioresource Engineering students to design a new sterilizer as part of their required third-year design project. The sterilizer was built for a fraction of the cost of purchasing one.
“Our model involves transforming waste into food, and there are areas of the world where waste is abundant but food is scarce,” says Brettschneider. “So we hope to find ways to help with technologies that use waste to cultivate or create food, and even provide added value through additional vitamins or minerals that people need.”
The Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Science’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program was launched in 2014 thanks to donor support to promote experiential learning for students. Support innovation and entrepreneurship initiatives like Myco-Rise through the Macdonald Campus Entrepreneurship Program.