Dr. Jianhua Zhu, CEO of BioNeutra started his company because he saw a need he could address and make a business of it.

“The Alberta government was promoting diversification of industry and talking about healthcare issues as the baby boomers get older,” says Dr. Zhu. “With so many cereal crops in Alberta, I just thought, why not combine it all?”

With his business concept in mind, he gathered ideas from scientists, the government, and the University of Alberta’s Functional Food Centre. Working with a team of researchers with biotechnology backgrounds
they developed VitaSugar IMO.

An organic and natural product, VitaSugar IMO is made from Alberta’s cereal crops including wheat, barley, oat, corn, and potatoes. The fibre from this product is soluble and helps reduce cholesterols and blood fat.

With the product in hand, Dr. Zhu set forth on his next challenge – expansion. VitaSugar IMO was already being marketed as an alternative sweetener in the United States when Dr. Zhu approached TEC Edmonton.

Dr. Randy Yatscoff, TEC Edmonton’s EIR, supported by AHFMR, began working with Dr. Zhu to move his vision of expansion into a reality. He saw the potential that BioNeutra had to be highly successful globally and Randy knew what the company would need to do to get there. BioNeutra became a TEC Edmonton Portfolio Company, receiving TEC Edmonton’s maximum attention and help.

”When a company shows potential the way Dr Zhu’s does, it is really rewarding to set it on the right track and facilitate growth,” Randy says. He helped Dr. Zhu change his marketing strategy to open up his consumer target and market the novelty of his product.

“There are plenty of alternative sweeteners out there. But our product is the only sweetener that is also a fibre and a prebiotic,” says Dr. Zhu.

TEC Edmonton helped shape BioNeutra’s business plan and company structure. Next Randy plans to help Dr. Zhu with a marketing strategy so that BioNeutra can attract investment capital.

“I am grateful for TEC Edmonton, especially Randy who has helped BioNeutra a lot. Because of his experience as professor and executive, he knows where we are coming from and he is helping our company prosper,” Dr. Zhu said.