Crop-enhancement firm eyes potato prosperity

Of all the research labs in all the cities in all the world, Kinneret Shefer walks into St. Boniface Hospital’s.

The researcher and entrepreneur is the co-founder of GeneNeer Ltd., an agricultural biotechnology company from Israel. Earlier this year, the company established its North American operations at the Albrechtsen Research Centre in the central Winnipeg hospital.

“We moved to Canada because our technology developed, we are moving to implementation and we have some business agreements in negotiation,” said Shefer, who holds a PhD in genetic counselling from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

GeneNeer launched its Canadian operations in January. The company converted laboratory facilities at the research centre and had them operating within two weeks, allowing research activities to begin almost immediately.

Using its proprietary platforms, the company engages in genetically engineered crop enhancement using ribonucleic acid biology, artificial intelligence and molecular technologies to improve crop quality, resilience and sustainability.

The company advertises its platforms facilitate more accurate, faster, cheaper and safer gene editing. GeneNeer’s technologies can be used with most crops, but the company’s first focus is on the potato market.

“After doing a business investigation for a while, we decided that potatoes in North America is the crop that we need to lead,” Shefer said.

Potatoes are a staple food and the global market is valued at more than US$120 billion, she said. Plus, GeneNeer’s technologies enable and facilitate breeding in such hard-to-edit, vegetatively-propagated crops.

The startup has raised US$4 million since 2020 and counts among its investors Tall Grass Ventures, a Calgary-based firm specializing in agriculture technology startups. That made the Prairies a natural place to look when Tall Grass was helping GeneNeer establish a presence in North America.

Manitoba accounted for 17.3 per cent of Canada’s potato acreage in 2025, according to provincial data, making it the country’s second-largest producer.

Wilson Acton, managing partner at Tall Grass, said GeneNeer evaluated several international locations and Winnipeg emerged as the preferred choice due to its proximity to growers, processors and applied research institutions.

Tall Grass has a relationship with the Manitoba First Fund (a partnership between the province, Business Council of Manitoba and Manitoba Innovates), Acton added, which added to Winnipeg’s appeal.

GeneNeer’s first in-person visit to Winnipeg took place in July 2025, with a followup visit in October that focused on evaluating laboratory infrastructure and planning the company’s Canadian research presence.

“We leveraged our connections to show (GeneNeer) what is possible,” Acton said. “And through that journey, it became clear that Manitoba — and Winnipeg in particular — was the best place in North America to establish GeneNeer.”

Alberto Velasco-Acosta, vice-president international at Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism, is excited GeneNeer chose Manitoba’s capital. His organization supported the company’s visits during the selection process.

During GeneNeer’s first visit, Winnipeg Economic Development & Tourism connected the company with leaders from Manitoba’ agricultural and business ecosystem, including the province, University of Manitoba, Manitoba First Fund, Manitoba Innovates and EMILI, along with various industry associations and supporting organizations.

The Jewish Federation of Manitoba helped provide insight into living and doing business in the province.

“This was a community pitch, not just one company’s pitch,” Velasco-Acosta said of the efforts to bring GeneNeer to Winnipeg.

“We compete nationally and internationally for opportunities like this. We don’t have the deep pockets (other provinces have). One thing we do have that allows us to punch above our weight is a very strong community that shows up when we bring opportunities to them.”

GeneNeer has hired two full-time scientists for its Winnipeg operation and plans to bring on approximately eight more full-time employees by 2030.

Shefer started GeneNeer in 2016, after completing two post-doctoral fellowships because she had a desire to move out of academia. Her entrepreneurial journey was inspired in part by her father and grandfather, who operated their own real estate business.

“I didn’t want to go back to do another essay, another paper,” she said.

Modern potato production relies on a small number of commercial varieties grown worldwide, creating vulnerabilities related to disease outbreaks, climate stress and supply disruptions.

Shefer hopes by strengthening widely used varieties, GeneNeer can help stabilize production systems and contribute to long-term global food security.

“We want to make a difference,” she said. “We want to contribute.”

aaron.epp@freepress.mb.ca