CTC #61 - Jouleia unlocks home retrofits plus a global pledge for methane

Hey there,

Welcome to another issue of Climate Tech Canada! We’re in the final stretch of 2023, and it’s officially “let’s circle back in the new year” season.

Before we get into this week’s issue, I’d love to get your input on how we can level up CTC in 2024. Grab a coffee (or maybe a hot chocolate) and let me know what you’d like to see in the year ahead 👇

This week in climate tech:

• Jouleia launches to accelerate home retrofits

• Ionomr raises Series A4 for hydrogen cell tech

• Canada launches new methane rules

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📌 Post or find a role on our job board.

Accelerating home retrofits with Jouleia

A few weeks back we dug into how sustainable building tech can help accelerate more affordable, lower-carbon housing. A few of you rightly noted how retrofitting our existing housing stock is just as critical. A new startup is aimed at unblocking the home retrofit process.

What happened: Jouleia launched last week, offering a platform for homeowners to plan home upgrades like heat pump installations, insulation, and more. Founded by Paul Sehr and Patrick Marshall, Jouleia is on a mission to make it fast & easy for Canadians to transform their homes into comfortable, healthy and energy efficient spaces. Sehr previously co-founded FinanceIt, a financing platform for home improvement, car and retail purchases. Marshall brings a background in operations, corpdev and growth from a range of industries.

How it works: Jouleia offers planning tools to homeowners including a free heat pump calculator to understand potential cost savings and a recommendation system for personalized home upgrades. The recommendation engine suggests the most impactful upgrades based on home location, age, and local rebates / grants.

Jouleia is also launching with a white-glove experience to homeowners in the GTA, delivering a personalized plan and referrals to vetted contractors.

The opportunity: Canada’s homes & buildings make up 18% of emissions, driven largely by space heating, electricity use for heat & cooling, and water heating. Greater energy efficiency could deliver up to 17% of Canada’s net-zero goals, and 40% globally.

More than 10 million buildings need to be retrofitted, but the annual completion rate is less than 1%. Meanwhile, governments have made billions of dollars in grants and loans available for retrofit projects that are running into bottlenecks with consumer financing, overwhelming decision-making, and finding the right contractors / auditors to execute. Jouleia is taking on this challenge to unlock affordability and comfort for home ownership while tackling these emissions.

💰 Funding

🧪 Ionomr Innovations (Vancouver, BC) raised $27M in a Series A-4 round for its hydrogen membranes led by NGIF Cleantech Ventures and Pallasite Ventures. Ionomr develops high-performance ion-exchange membranes for use in hydrogen production and fuel cell applications.

☀️ Solfium (Montreal, QC & Mexico City, MX) raised $4M in seed funding for their solar management platform. Solfium’s platform streamlines the adoption of solar energy for individual and corporate customers. Montreal’s Propulia Capital participated.

💨 Ionada (Calgary, AB) raised an undisclosed amount in the first close of their Series A round. Ionada develops carbon capture systems for industrial processes and the oil & gas sector. Energy infrastructure company Archrock led the round.

New funds

💰 Spring Impact Capital (Vancouver, BC) launched its new $20M impact VC fund with investments from Spring Activator and a number of foundations, family offices and individuals. The fund builds on Spring Activator’s work as an impact accelerator and incubator, and will tap into the group’s deaflow and broad network.

💰 Diagram Ventures (Montreal, QC) secured close to $50M for its new ClimateTech Fund, with a target of $60M. The fund will focus on early-stage digital climate solutions and is backed by investment firm Sagard, Investissement Québec and others.

🏦 Power Sustainable (Montreal, QC) secured $800M in a final close for its Power Sustainable Energy Infrastructure fund. The investment platform is focused on the development, financing and operations of renewable energy assets across North America.

🏦 Brookfield Asset Management (Toronto, ON) launched the Catalytic Transition Fund with $1B committed capital from ALTÉRRA. The fund will focus on deploying capital in emerging and developing markets. ALTÉRRA is a new, $30B fund backed by the UAE for climate projects and risk mitigation. ALTÉRRA also committed $2B for Brookfield’s Global Transition Fund II.

🏅 Milestones & growth

💨 Arca partners with mining giant BHP to pilot its carbon removal technology at a nickel mine in Australia. Arca will test its automated rovers that speed up carbon mineralization and verify the amount of carbon captured.

💨 Deep Sky will deploy UK-based Airhive's direct-air-capture technology at their Quebec pilot facility. Airhive uses gasses to make carbon-absorbing rock behave like a fluid, increasing the rate of CO2 uptake.

⚛️ ARC Clean Technology is teaming up with NB Power and Korean energy developer KHNP to explore deploying ARC's small modular reactor technology globally.

🧠 Vancouver’s Copperleaf will partner with Siemens Smart Infrastructure, using Copperleaf’s enterprise decision analytics software to help utilities optimize existing assets and plan for the energy transition.

🥡 Reusables.com launched its new Tap to Reuse and Smart Return Bin technology with Compass Group Canada. The new product allows customers to easily borrow and return containers, reducing friction in the returns process.

📊 Carbon RX will sell First Nations-originated carbon credits to advertising tech company FrontRunner to offset the carbon footprint of digital ad campaigns.

🔋 RecycLiCo completed a successful pilot to recycle Nanoramic's lithium-ion batteries and reported more efficient separation and fewer chemical additives.

🗞️ In the news

💨 Plugging leaks: Canada introduced new methane regs this week, aimed at cutting the high-impact greenhouse gas by 75%. The new rules include eliminating venting or routine flaring and performance standards for leak detection. The feds also pledged $30M for an emissions tracking research centre. Also tackling methane are the US and China, and a group of oil & gas producers representing 40% of global production that includes the likes of BP and Shell.

• Other notable COP agreements this week include pledges to triple renewable and nuclear energy generation, and a $429M commitment to the climate Loss & Damage Fund. Canada signed on to all three.

🏙️ Higher standards: Quebec introduced a bill that would establish Canada’s first provincial building performance standard. The rules would assign performance ratings to buildings (similar to NYC and Vancouver) and standards that need to be met. The bill would also require energy distributors to offer digital platforms with data on energy use to building owners, including the type of energy and timing.

Building performance standards can help surface information that drives green premiums for more efficient buildings, encouraging owners to invest in energy upgrades and optimization.

🚫 No batteries in my backyard: Battery storage projects in rural Ottawa are encountering opposition from local stakeholders and council. Opponents say that consultation was insufficient amid concerns about batteries catching fire. Ontario’s Independent Electricity System Operator has the final say, but council support can help applications succeed.

Battery storage is new tech for many communities, who tend to have concerns about aesthetics (facilities are “too large” or look “industrial”), concerns about lithium batteries catching fire, and competing land uses. Owning the consultation phase and changing public narratives will be key for project developers.

📣 What’s going on

💡 Green Shipping Corridor Program: Transport Canada is accepting applications for projects to decarbonize ports and accelerate zero-emission marine vessels.

📅 PNW Vancouver Climate Happy Hour: Following up from PWN Climate Week, join this event to meet more climate-minded folks around Vancouver. Dec 7, Vancouver.

📅 Toronto Climate Series: Finance Your Sustainable Life: Dive into the world of climate finance hosted by MCJ Toronto. Dec 12, Toronto.

📅 CICE 2024 University Call for Innovation: Join this Q&A session for CICE’s new program to support emerging ventures from recent university grads. Dec 12, online.

📅 Climate Connections: Build Edition: This event features “reverse pitches” from industry experts presenting real-world challenges and opportunities in the built environment. Dec 13, online.

📌 Jobs

Featured postings from some of Canada’s most innovative companies. Featuring new roles in Data, Software Development, Partnerships, Customer Support and more.

➡️ Hiring? List your posting here.

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Justin