Viridian BotanicalsViridian Botanicals
My Story · Ranveer Singh Gill

A plant
life cycle.

Seed. Germination. Sprouting. Growing. Flowering. Still growing. The story of Viridian Botanicals, told the way it actually happened.

01SeedThe Idea

It started with a question. Why does a city like Winnipeg not grow its own food? That question became a grant application. That application became a phone call from a cabinet minister. That phone call became this.

02SeedThe First Page
Handwritten notebook page with the 30% pledge to Food Matters Manitoba, the Viridian Botanicals logo sketch marked '2nd iteration', the tagline 'better for all,' and 'CEO Ranveer S. Gill.'
Before the website. Before the grant. Before the business cards. The name, the pledge, and the tagline written by hand. This is where it started.
03GerminationFirst Actions

Research. Cold outreach. Problem interviews with Winnipeg's top restaurants. A giving pledge written and committed to before a single dollar was made. The roots go down before anything shows above ground.

04GerminationThe First Message
Instagram direct message from Ranveer Gill introducing his research on how Winnipeg restaurants source specialty ingredients and asking for 20 minutes of time.
The first message. Sent cold to a stranger before anything existed. No website. No business cards. No proof of anything except the question.
05SproutingNorth Forge Ramp Up
North Forge pitch room screen reading 'Are you ready to pitch the next multi-million dollar idea?'
Manitoba's largest accelerated startup competition. I was 14. I was the youngest in the room. I stayed anyway.
06GrowingThe Site
The Forks at dusk with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights, the river, and bridge cables in frame.
The Forks. Winnipeg. Treaty One Land. Four million visitors a year. This is where it gets built.
07GrowingThe Network
LinkedIn activity screenshot showing 1,005 followers and Ranveer Gill listed as Founder and CEO at Viridian Botanicals.
1,005 followers. Founder and CEO at 14. The network is real.
08GrowingThe Market
Screenshot of a job request from a university student.
A university student, twice my age, asked to work with me. I had not advertised anything. The project found him.
09FloweringThe Brand
Viridian Botanicals business card laying on grass.
Designed from scratch. Printed and in hand. May 15, 2026. The brand is real.
10FloweringThe Art
Original artworks by Ranveer Gill pinned to a cinder block wall under selective lighting.
Original works by Ranveer Gill. The collection represents the maximum level of Ranveer Gill's creative expression. The intentional simplicity is the point. The selective photography is a whole point within itself.
11Still GrowingWhat Comes Next
University of Winnipeg Collegiate acceptance envelope resting on a desk with an economics book and a philosophy book visible underneath.
University of Winnipeg Collegiate. Academic Year 2026/2027. The books were already there before the letter arrived.
12Still GrowingThe Award
?

Meadows West Experience Award. June 19, 2026. To be determined.

In My Own Words

Full biography.

I am Ranveer Singh Gill. I am 14 years old. I am the founder of Viridian Botanicals and I am building something that has never existed in Manitoba before.

It started with a question that bothered me. Why does a city like Winnipeg, sitting on some of the most fertile land on earth, not grow its own specialty food? Not a school project question. A real one. The kind that does not let you sleep until you do something about it.

So I did something about it.

I conducted problem interviews with five of Winnipeg's top independent restaurants. I submitted a Letter of Intent to the SCAP Research and Innovation Fund. I received a formal reply from the A/Assistant Deputy Minister of Manitoba Agriculture, copied to Premier Kinew, Minister Kostyshyn, and the Deputy Minister. Minister Jamie Moses called me personally. I built a published website and a live customer research tool from scratch. I joined North Forge, Manitoba's largest startup accelerator, and walked into rooms full of experienced professionals at 14 years old with the full intention of belonging there.

I also reached beyond the rooms I was formally invited into. In entrepreneurship and technology communities I was not officially part of, I showed up anyway. I connected, contributed, and helped regardless of what was being asked. That is how you build something real before anyone gives you permission to.

The project has a giving pledge built into its foundation: 30% of all proceeds go to Food Matters Manitoba in perpetuity, supporting Indigenous food sovereignty across Manitoba. That commitment was made before the business made a single dollar. It was not added later for optics. It is the point.

I also make art. The pieces on this page were created by me. They are intentionally simple. That is a deliberate choice, not a limitation.

None of this is finished. The pavilion is not built. The spirulina is not growing. The biggest conversations are still ahead. But I am 14, and I have already spoken to ministers, submitted grants, built a brand, grown a network past 1,000 connections, and proposed a community structure on the most visited site in Winnipeg.

There is a second company in development. There is a competition to enter. There is a school to start. There is a city to feed.

Viridian Botanicals exists because I refused to wait until I was older to start.

Better for all.

Better
for all.

That is not a business statement. It is a personal one.