How ElevateIP helped Terrawave safeguard a breakthrough technology that could prevent billions in agricultural losses.

In the world of agriculture, timing is everything. But after harvest, farmers often lose sight of one critical variable: what happens to their grain in storage. Without clear data, grain spoilage — a $3 billion-a-year problem across North America — continues to cost farmers dearly.
That’s the problem Terrawave is aiming to solve. Led by founder and CEO Mohammad Asefi, this Manitoba-based ag-tech startup is developing a real-time inventory and monitoring system that tracks grain condition and quantity across operations. It helps prevent spoilage, can track theft, and help prevent explosions caused by overheating.
And thanks to ElevateIP, Terrawave is securing its competitive edge before others catch up.
A Grain of Innovation
Terrawave’s story began in an unexpected place: a biomedical lab focused on breast cancer detection. Asefi’s background is in electromagnetic imaging. In healthcare, this means identifying the difference between healthy tissue and tumors. While working with a professor at the University of Manitoba, Asefi was introduced to a unique challenge: could this same technology be used to detect changes in grain quality?
It turned out, yes. Spoiled grain has different electromagnetic properties than healthy grain. Using these principles, Asefi began adapting the imaging technology he’d used for medicine into an agricultural application.
“It became very promising,” Asefi said. “We got good results in grain and carried on, starting a new startup with the technology that was eventually acquired by a multinational corporation.”
That company has since exited the grain storage space — opening the door for Asefi to reclaim and advance his original work, now under the Terrawave name.
“We’ve picked up where we left off,” he said. “We learned a lot of things this first time through. And now, we can continue on with this work.”
Why It Matters
Grain spoilage and loss aren't just theoretical — they’re major economic burdens. In Western Canada alone, farmers lose an estimated $500 million CAD annually from harvest and storage inefficiencies. Globally, around 20% of annual grain production goes to waste each year — equivalent to millions of acres of lost yield.
Canada’s grain sector produces nearly 46 million tonnes of wheat, oats, and barley annually, generating billions in value. Even small improvements in spoilage detection and inventory tracking, like those Terrawave is developing, can translate into hundreds of millions in savings and greater food system stability.
The technology also helps prevent grain theft, track harvest volumes, and give large operations insight into thousands of bins.
“When farmers are filling their bins, they want to know how much grain they've put in their bin in real time… A single farm can have 3,200 bins,” Asefi said. “It’s critical they know how much grain they have and where.”
From Lab to Field, with ElevateIP
Terrawave’s technology builds on years of university-led research, but bringing it to market comes with risk. The team is preparing to pilot their system on farms this season, and the IP behind their work is already attracting attention. That’s where ElevateIP comes in.
“We’re preparing to file for three patents on the grain storage side of things,” said Asefi. “At early stages, startups don’t have the funding to dedicate to IP maintenance. ElevateIP lets us protect our ideas and expand our portfolio — and do it faster than we could alone.”
The program isn’t new to Asefi — he first used it during his previous venture, TerraSense, focused on soil analysis. Now, with a pivot back to grain storage, ElevateIP is helping him accelerate development and stay ahead of competitors still relying on technology from the 1980s.
“We’re ahead right now,” Asefi said. “And this protection helps us stay that way.”
Next Steps: Growth, Protection, and Market Capture
Over the next one to three years, Terrawave is focused on scaling its team, securing market share, and expanding its IP portfolio. Product development is ongoing, with staged rollouts introducing inventory tracking now and advanced spoilage detection soon after. ElevateIP’s support will be essential as the company moves from prototype to deployment.
“It’s all about speed at the early stages in startups,” Asefi said. “And that speed is important at a low cost. It’s been great to work with North Forge and the ElevateIP program, it’s helped us move much faster, and the assistance has been very helpful.”