Editorial - 20-10

Whoever said that high-tech success is equal parts serendipity and business acumen could easily have been talking about Performance Plants (see page 3). The Kingston-based ag-biotech company has built a strong business case around a discovery that was stumbled upon by sheer happenstance. When a graduate student forgot to water his research plants, he returned to his lab to discover that the control plants had died while the mutant strain was still alive.

That led to a breakthrough gene discovery and the formation of a company that is creating a range of crop strains able to withstand the stress of drought and extreme heat. That may have been the end of it if its founder, Dr David Dennis, had not received a piece of unsolicited advice about listening to the customer. In this case the suggestion that he talk to farmers to find out what challenges they were facing.

Performance Plants is a textbook example of how a university spinoff can succeed when all the players in the innovation process are working towards a common and achievable goal. PARTEQ Innovations started the ball rolling by validating the technology and business plan and helping to secure initial funding. An NSERC Industrial Research Chair has assisted in enhancing the initial discovery. Venture capital has stepped up to the plate and shown surprising patience. And large companies have partnered with the resilient start-up, sharing development and regulatory costs.

By matching excellent research with the needs of customers, high-tech start-ups greatly enhance their chances of achieving global market success.