Fresh acquisition

TECH

Growcer expands with Freight Farms acquisition

What happened: Growcer, an Ottawa-based vertical farming startup, is acquiring the assets of US competitor Freight Farms, which went bankrupt earlier this year. The deal, expected to close later this month, includes Freight Farms’ inventory, software, IP, and customer subscriptions.

The tech: Growcer builds modular farms that allow communities to grow fresh produce year-round. Its core product is a vertical farm housed in a shipping container. Inputs like water, electricity, and growing substrates feed a hydroponic system inside a climate-controlled shipping container. The result is a highly localized food supply that’s independent of season, distance, or traditional farmland.

Freight Farms operated on a similar model, with units deployed at over 500 sites around the world.

Why it matters: Climate change, supply chain shocks, and geopolitical instability are disrupting how and where food can be grown.

Vertical farming is more resistant to a changing climate, allowing growers to control conditions and inputs, and can reduce the environmental footprint associated with growing food.

Companies like Growcer are increasingly finding a fit focusing on food security for remote and under-served communities, where supply chains are long, costly, and fresh produce is limited.

The context: Vertical farming has gone through major growing pains in recent years. After a surge of activity - and almost $4 billion in VC funding - big players like Bowery and Plenty (backed by Jeff Bezos) have scaled back or shut down entirely.

The industry is starting to recover, with a new generation focused on operational efficiency, crop selection and finding viable markets.

Growcer is in the latter camp and bootstrapped most of its growth, only raising a $3 million Series A last year. Freight Farms, by contrast, raised more than US $45 million.

What’s next: Growcer plans to close the deal by the end of July and offer ongoing support to Freight Farms’ customers. It also plans to implement cost recovery measures to ensure long-term sustainability.

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CLIMATE CAPITAL

💰️ Climate tech startups cleaned up at Startupfest in Montreal, including:

• Tydra Laboratories (transforming waste crustacean shells into valuable materials),

• Serenity Power (solid oxide fuel cells to replace diesel generators),

• Aruna Revolution (compostable menstrual pads),

• Tree Track (reforestation seed pods), and

• HyC Light (converting natural gas to hydrogen with solar energy)

💨 CarbonRun, Deep Sky, and Terrafixing received funding from Terraset, a philanthropic backer of climate solutions, for permanent carbon removal projects.

🚌 Electric bus maker Lion Electric sold for $6 million, a price tag that reflects the value of company’s inventory for parts - and scepticism from potential buyers around post-sale service and maintenance.

IN THE FIELD

🌊 pHathom Technologies was selected by Frontier in its latest round of carbon removal pre-purchase round. pHathom uses bioenergy with carbon capture and storage to capture carbon from coastal bioenergy plants.

🔌 EV charging company FLO will close one of its manufacturing plants in Quebec and lay off 80 workers, part of downsizing efforts related to trade tensions and policy uncertainty.

🔋 HPQ Silicon will start producing high-performance battery cells in North America in Q3 this year.

🔌 Richmond Centre shopping mall unveiled 1,212 smart EV chargers, one of the largest deployments in North America, powered by Elocity Technologies’ chargers.

🚚 Electrovaya will supply Australian electric truck maker Janus Electric with its Infinity high voltage batteries for Class 8 trucks in Australia and the US.

⚡️ Energy Plug Technologies will expand into the US energy storage market in partnership with energy venture firm GGV.

♻️ Northstar Clean Technologies produced its first liquid asphalt at its Calgary facility, where it repurposes used asphalt roof shingles.

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NEWS

📡 Signals & Currents

☑️ Carney govt hints at major project list - Canada’s list of “nation building” projects that could by-pass environmental reviews could include projects on critical minerals, next-gen nuclear, and oil pipelines. [FP]

🤝 Ontario and Alberta team up on energy - The provinces agreed to advance oil pipelines, small modular reactors, and pressure the feds to repeal environmental regulations. [Ontario]

• Alberta also announced public consultations on adding nuclear to the province’s energy mix to meet data centre energy demands and power oilsands operations

🪖 Critical minerals take off with govt backing - The US Department of Defense invested $400M in a rare earths miner and committed to buying at above market rates to secure critical supply chains. [FP]

☀️ Solar surges in Europe - Solar became the EU's top electricity source in June, surpassing nuclear and wind, while coal hit an all-time low. [Reuters]

🏗️ China deploys - China continues to lead the global charge on renewable energy, adding with 1.3 TW of projects in the pipeline and more than 50% of all offshore wind projects globally. [Global Energy Monitor]

COMMUNITY

🗓️ Securing Canada’s Food Future: ​Join us for an in-depth conversation with Growcer, exploring the future of Canada’s food system. July 17th, Ottawa.

➡️ Discover more climate events.

🧑🏻‍💻 New School Foods is hiring an Executive Assistant to accelerate the transition to a kinder, healthier, alt-protein-first food system.

➡️ Find more open roles.