HORTINOVA INC.

What HORTINOVA INC. does

Hortinova Inc. is a privately held Canadian seed company headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, that imports and distributes hybrid F1 vegetable and herb seed varieties sourced from international breeding partners. The company operates a dual-track commercial model: its Hortinova Pro line targets professional and semi-professional greenhouse and open-field growers with high-performance varieties including ToBRFV-resistant tomatoes, specialty peppers, cucumbers, rootstock, heirloom and cherry tomato lines, and the Solynta-developed SUNBITE F1 hybrid true potato seed; its Hortinova Hobby line targets the home gardener segment with the Patio Collection of compact container-friendly varieties (BALCONY, MAGNUSA 100, HALLOWEEN GOLD, GALAXY TRICOLOR, ALPINE strawberry, and others) plus a broader gardening catalog covering beets, brassicas, cucurbits, lettuce, peppers, herbs, and seasonal vegetables. Core seed genetics are not in-house bred but are licensed or sourced through international breeder partnerships, with Solynta (Netherlands) for true potato seed representing the most strategically meaningful technology collaboration.

The company generates revenue through three streams: direct-to-consumer sales via its e-commerce platform shop.hortinova.ca (individual seed packets starting at $5.00 CAD, free Canada-wide shipping on orders over $60, processed within 1-3 business days); direct B2B sales to professional growers through dedicated Hortinova Pro SKUs; and wholesale/distributor partnerships with retail garden centers, supported by a separate Distributor & Reseller program offering Coroplast and cardboard POS displays and bulk inventory liquidation. The distribution footprint comprises seven named retail partners concentrated in the greater Montreal/Laval/Quebec City corridor (Centre Horticole Bastien in Terrebonne, Jardin 2M in Saint-Eustache, Centre De Jardin Brossard, Centre de Jardin Floréal in Laval, Les Serres FJC Lavoie in Laval, Jardins Zeillinger in Laval, and Lessard Centre Jardin in Nantes), with marketing reach limited to organic social channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) and an email newsletter, and no disclosed performance marketing or paid acquisition.

Hortinova is a small, founder-controlled private company with no public financials, no disclosed funding rounds, no headcount data, and no management team disclosed in the source material. Operational evidence — an active bilingual English/French e-commerce site, seven named retail partners, a recent platform relaunch branded the "new Hortinova Experience," and product launches including SUNBITE F1 — indicates ongoing operations and incremental product expansion, but the absence of financial disclosures, hiring signals, or M&A activity limits visibility into scale, unit economics, and growth cadence.

Name

HORTINOVA INC.

Legal name

HORTINOVA Inc.

Website

https://shop.hortinova.ca

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Hortinova is a Montreal-based Canadian seed supplier that distributes hybrid F1 vegetable and herb varieties to professional growers via the Hortinova Pro line and home gardeners via Hortinova Hobby and the Patio Collection, through e-commerce and Quebec garden center partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Agricultural Seed Distribution

NAICS

Nursery, Garden Center, and Farm Supply Retailers (44424), Lawn and Garden Equipment and Supplies Retailers (4442)

SIC

Wholesale-Farm Product Raw Materials (5150), Retail-Building Materials, Hardware, Garden Supply (5200)

akta.pro primary industry

Vegetable Seeds (Open-Pollinated & Hybrid) (AFABAFAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Turf & Ornamental Seeds (Lawn, Golf, Landscaping) (AFABAFAG), Hybrid Seed Production (AFAGAIAD), Nursery Stock & Propagule Production (Cuttings, Rootstocks, Grafts) (AFAGAIAO)

Keywords

• Agricultural seed distribution
• Hybrid vegetable seeds
• Greenhouse seed varieties
• Open field seed varieties
• Home gardening seeds

Headquarters

HQ city

Montreal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Seed Product Sales (B2C): Direct-to-consumer sales of vegetable seeds through e-commerce platform, targeting home gardeners with individual seed packets and products ranging from $5.00 and up.
2. Seed Product Sales (B2B): Wholesale and bulk seed sales to professional growers, greenhouse operators, and distributors across Canada, with dedicated professional product lines.
3. Distributor & Reseller Partnerships: Point-of-sale displays and bulk seed offerings for garden centers and retail distributors across Canada.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels10 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Hortinova imports and distributes vegetable, herb, and true potato seeds sourced through international breeding and seed-producing partnerships. It sells professional-grade seeds for greenhouse and open-field growers through Hortinova Pro and seeds for home cultivation through Hortinova Hobby, using online, retail, professional, and reseller channels.

Product overview

Hortinova is a Canadian vegetable seed supplier serving both professional growers and home gardeners. The company offers two main product lines: (1) Professional Seeds comprising Greenhouse Pro varieties (tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, eggplants) and Open Field Pro varieties (zucchini, melons, watermelons), and (2) a Home Garden line including Gardening Seeds and the Patio Collection. The company has also partnered with Solynta to distribute SUNBITE F1 hybrid true potato seeds. Professional offerings include specialty tomatoes (heirloom, cherry, cocktail, grape, beefsteak, plum, pink, TOV, ToBRFV-resistant), sweet peppers, cucumbers, eggplants, rootstock, and root vegetables. Home garden offerings feature a wide range of vegetable seeds, compact patio varieties requiring minimal maintenance, culinary herbs, and strawberry seeds. The Patio Collection offers compact, easy-to-grow varieties perfect for pots and small spaces.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Hortinova Pro: High-performance vegetable seed varieties for professional and semi-professional growers, including greenhouse and open field production segments.
• Hortinova Hobby

Products and services

• Professional Seeds (Greenhouse Pro) High-performance seed varieties for professional greenhouse vegetable production, featuring outstanding flavors, reliable yields, enhanced disease resistance including ToBRFV-resistant tomatoes, and innovative varieties with improved genetics.
• Open Field Pro Seeds Vegetable seed varieties for professional open-field growing, offering proven qualities for producing attractive, nutritious products with added value and increased grower profitability.
• Patio Collection A collection of compact edible plant varieties developed for container and patio growing, requiring no pinching or pruning and needing only a simple support stick. It serves professional and home growers and includes compact tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, melons, cauliflower, peas, broccoli, strawberries, and ornamental alliums.
• Gardening Seeds A broad selection of vegetable seeds for home gardeners, including tomatoes, cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, beets, peppers, melons, squash, pumpkins, herbs, and other crops, with hybrid and open-pollinated varieties.
• SUNBITE F1 Hybrid True Potato Seed A hybrid true potato seed variety with late-blight resistance, developed with Solynta, that enables Canadian gardeners to grow disease-resistant potatoes directly from seed.
• Heirloom Tomato Seeds Heirloom tomato seed varieties for greenhouse and field production, including NOVA 2016 (Brown Marmande), NOVA 2017, PALOMA F1, and other heritage varieties.
• Cherry Tomato Seeds Cherry tomato seed varieties including RED BAMBY F1, BLACK BAMBY F1, HARZFEUER F1, and other hybrid and open-pollinated varieties.
• ToBRFV Resistant Tomato Seeds Tomato varieties bred for resistance to Tomato Brown Rugose Fruit Virus (ToBRFV), addressing a disease challenge in greenhouse tomato production.
• Rootstock Seeds Professional rootstock varieties for greenhouse vegetable production, providing improved vigor, disease resistance, and yield optimization.
• Fine Herb Seeds Culinary herb seeds including GENOVESE and RED RUBIN basil, chives, coriander or cilantro, dill, oregano, parsley, sage, thyme, and wild rocket.
• Point-of-Sale Displays Retail display solutions for distributors and resellers, including Coroplast and cardboard floor displays for point-of-sale merchandising.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 50% of Canadian households grow their own vegetables at home - large addressable market
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• SolyntacoreTechnology or IntegrationSolynta, a global leader in true potato seed (TPS) breeding, partnered with Hortinova to bring hybrid TPS innovations to Canadian gardeners. The partnership launched SUNBITE F1, an innovative baby potato variety combining late-blight resistance with seed planting convenience. Hortinova distributes these hybrid true potato seeds through their established Canadian distribution network including retail garden centers and online platforms.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• West Coast Seeds: West Coast Seeds is a Canadian retailer/distributor of vegetable, herb, and flower seeds targeting home gardeners and small-scale growers. Comparable to Hortinova on geography, B2C orientation, and DTC e-commerce channel.
• Veseys Seeds: Veseys Seeds is a Canadian seed company selling vegetable, herb, and flower seeds via catalog and e-commerce to home gardeners and small commercial growers. Comparable to Hortinova in North American DTC seed distribution and product mix.
• Ontario Seed Company (OSC Seeds): OSC Seeds is one of Canada's oldest seed retailers, distributing vegetable, herb, and flower seeds to home gardeners and small growers via e-commerce and mail order. Comparable to Hortinova in Canadian geography, DTC sales, and broad vegetable seed catalog.
• Stokes Seeds: Stokes Seeds is a long-established Canadian seed supplier serving both professional growers and home gardeners with vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. Highly comparable to Hortinova in market (Canada), customer base (pro + hobby), and product breadth.
• Johnny's Selected Seeds: Johnny's Selected Seeds is a US-based employee-owned seed company selling vegetable, herb, and flower seeds to both commercial growers and home gardeners via DTC. Comparable to Hortinova on dual pro/hobby positioning, curated catalog, and breeder partnerships.
• Burpee: Burpee is a heritage North American vegetable and flower seed brand selling to home gardeners via DTC. Comparable to Hortinova Hobby in product mix, hobbyist target segment, and DTC e-commerce model.

Broad incumbents

• Enza Zaden: Enza Zaden is a global vegetable breeding company supplying hybrid F1 varieties to professional greenhouse and open-field growers worldwide. Comparable as a potential upstream breeding partner/supplier and as a broader incumbent in the same vegetable seed category.
• Rijk Zwaan: Rijk Zwaan is a Dutch family-owned vegetable seed breeder serving professional greenhouse and field growers globally. Comparable as a large incumbent in the hybrid vegetable seed category in which Hortinova Pro competes.
• Syngenta Vegetable Seeds: Syngenta supplies hybrid vegetable seeds globally to professional growers with deep R&D and disease-resistance programs. Comparable broad incumbent competing for the same professional grower customers as Hortinova Pro.
• Seminis (Bayer Crop Science): Seminis, a Bayer brand, is one of the world's largest vegetable seed companies serving commercial growers with hybrid varieties including ToBRFV-resistant tomatoes. Directly competes with Hortinova Pro in greenhouse/open-field professional segments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/hortinova.ca
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hortinova-seeds
• Instagraminstagram.com/hortinova.seeds

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HORTINOVA INC.