Climate Tech Canada #15

Hi there,

Welcome to another issue of Climate Tech Canada, and a special welcome to the new subscribers who have joined us since our last issue! It’s a shorter issue this week, but no shortage of exciting moves for climate companies. We’ve got a huge new sustainability fund from Brookfield, investments in solar energy, and lots of growth in EV infrastructure. Let’s get into it!

Funding

Brookfield Asset Management (Toronto, ON) raised a monumental $15B impact fund, focused on investments that reduce emissions, energy consumption, and generally support a low-carbon economy.

Vision Green (Welland, ON) secured $7M in an oversubscribed seed round to expand its vertical farming operations and distribution. The company’s vertical farms can produce vegetables with a lower carbon footprint and closer to where it will be consumed, reducing both costs and emissions from transportation. 

Clear Blue Technologies (Toronto, ON) received a $4M investment from the federal government through FedDev Ontario. Clear Blue provides smart, off-grid solar and hybrid energy solutions used for powering and monitoring devices like streetlights, home appliances, and more. The funding will be used to ramp up production and sales capacity and support the commercialization of its new “Pico-Grid” technology.

Solar Panda (Toronto, ON) closed an $8M Series A round to expand its product offerings and operations in Kenya, while setting up for further expansion in Africa. Solar Panda offers pay-as-you go solar systems in Kenya, and recently celebrated bringing solar power to over 1M people in Kenya. 

7 Generation Capital (Vancouver, BC) secured $8M in Series A funding led by Fonds de solidarite and Siemens. 7 Generation provides end-to-end services for fleet operators to transition their vehicles to EVs, and will use the fresh funding to drive the deployment of it’s electric trucks and buses and develop its own software. 

Growth & Milestones

BC’s Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy announced eight recipients of project funding in its first call for submissions. The recipients include Moment Energy, Ekona Power, Hydra Energy and others. 

Canada is getting a new EV charging network. Electric infrastructure company Baseload Power is partnering with FLO to launch its new network, Aura. The network will be available in Quebec and Ontario with plans to expand across the country.

Quebec’s EV industry association, Propulsion Québec, announced three new programs to expand EV infrastructure, fleet conversion, and cybersecurity backed by an $8M investment from the federal and provincial governments.

Lafarge is converting its cement plant in Bath, Ontario to produce its OneCem product, a lower-carbon limestone cement. 

Langley, BC-based Sepro won the Mining Association of British Columbia’s Mining Innovation Challenge. The company developed technology that reduces the waste water from transporting mining tailings, and will reduce overall water use.

Here & There

• Looking for a change? The Carbon Curve has compiled 22 carbon removal companies hiring for over 200 roles

• Electric battery-powered heavy machinery is the key to accessing deep nickel deposits in Sudbury

• Imagining different futures - what would the world look like without flying?

In the news

Canada signed a pact with the US and other countries to secure access to critical minerals like lithium and nickel. The “Minerals Security Partnership” pact aims to increase investment in the sector, boosting supply chains close to home and limiting China’s dominant position in the sector.

The federal government launched “Buyers for Climate Action”, a collaboration across federal, provincial and municipal governments to advance sustainable procurement practices across Canada.

Federal fuel standard regulations have been pushed back to 2023, while the government is encouraging the oil and gas industry to start investing in cleaner solutions. The new standards will require emissions intensity to drop by 3.5% in 2023, and 15% by 2030. 

Saint John, NB will launch an on-demand, electric transit service this September. The move is part of the city’s goal to have an entirely carbon-neutral fleet by 2040. 

Opportunities

💡 Alberta Innovates has opened applications for its new Agri-Food and Bioindustrial Innovation program. The program is seeking projects that improve productivity and lower carbon emissions of the agriculture and forestry sector. Applications are open on a continuous basis. 

💡 Applications are now open for the third Circulate CoLab Challenge, hosted by the Circular Opportunity Innovation Launchpad (COIL). The challenge is seeking projects using circular supply chain models with the potential to transform an industry. Applications are due September 9th.

📅 Foresight Canada is hosting a demo day on July 26 for the graduates of its agriNEXT accelerator. Join to hear pitches from ag-tech founders on upcycled fertilizer, fermentation systems, satellite monitoring and more. Register here.

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Justin