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“Our mission is to reduce the food waste while adding value to the environment.”
George Yin, the founder and CEO of VCycene
George Yin, the founder and CEO of VCycene, sees his innovative cleantech company as his mission to tackle the major problem of food waste in Canada.
Previously working in the food processing industry, George witnessed the impact of excessive food waste first hand, and realized that the problem is much more urgent than he originally anticipated.
According to the National Zero Waste Council’s research on household food waste in Canada, almost 2.3 million tonnes of edible food is wasted each year, equating to 2.1 million cars on the road emitting harmful greenhouse gas. Costing Canadians in excess of $21 billion each year, there is no doubt that food waste has significant economic, social, and environmental impacts to Canada.
Canadians waste approximately $1,700 worth of food per household each year with much of which is still edible, due in part to factors such as over-purchasing, cosmetics standards as well as the lack of knowledge in food preservation and storage techniques. What’s worse, is that 50% of the leftovers could be avoided, through leftovers and untouched food that could have been consumed with better planning and storage.
With over 25 years of experience in product development and commercialization, a PhD in mechanical engineering, and a few successful startups under his belt, George quickly reacts to the billion-dollar global problem with a home appliance device designed to convert sticky, straight-to-landfill food waste into environmentally sustainable organic compost.
VCycene’s flagship product, Lila Composter, is a kitchen appliance that converts a wide variety of food waste into high quality, organic fertilizer. Catering to everyday customers who grow tired of discarding non recyclable food waste, VCycene’s Lila Composter addresses this pain point shared by a majority of households in Canada, while educating users about the common misconception of treating food waste as trash.
“What makes us different from our competitors is that we go one step further to turn the food waste into high quality fertilizer as a valuable resource through our proprietary, eco-friendly engineered process and system.” George noted.
Certified as a Class A in Canadian Compost Quality Guidelines, George prides himself on the superior quality of the organic compost created by Lila Composter. “This means you can use this compost without any restrictions. It's the highest standard organic fertilizer.”
As a participant in ventureLAB’s Hardware Catalyst Initiative program, VCycene has received significant support from ventureLAB in terms of product development, testing and access to resources. With this support, VCycene has been able to accelerate its product development process and bring its sustainable solutions closer to commercialization.
“We received a lot of support for our product development, and we have been able to save a lot of money through accessing the equipment in the Hardware Lab.”
By accelerating startups like VCycene, ventureLAB is helping to foster the development of innovative solutions that can address these concerns and make a positive impact on the world.
About Hardware Catalyst Initiative
ventureLAB’s Hardware Catalyst Initiative is Canada’s only lab and incubator for founders building hardware and semiconductor-focused products, enabling the creation of transformative technologies that will power our products of tomorrow. Funded in part by the Government of Canada, through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), the Hardware Catalyst helps tech companies accelerate their time to market in a sector that normally incurs lengthy entry and scale times, enabling Canadian hardware and semiconductor companies to grow and scale locally, and compete globally.
About ventureLAB
ventureLAB is a leading global founder community for hardware technology and enterprise software companies in Canada. Located at the heart of Ontario’s innovation corridor in York Region, ventureLAB is part of one of the biggest and most diverse tech communities in Canada. Our initiatives focused on raising capital, talent retention, commercializing technology and IP, and customer acquisition have enabled thousands of companies to create over 5,000 jobs and raise more than $340 million in investment capital. At ventureLAB, we grow globally competitive tech titans that build-to-scale in Canada, for global markets.
