CTC #74 - Resilient coasts with MarineLabs, Carbonova spins CO2 into nanofibres, and QC phases out EV rebates

Hey there,

Welcome to another issue of Climate Tech Canada! We launched the trailer for the new Climate Cycle podcast earlier this week 👇

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts for in-depth conversations with some great founders we’ve covered in the past, from home energy to corporate emissions and more. Episode #1 drops next week!

This week in climate tech:

• Carbonova raises $6M to turn emissions into nanofibres

• Vancouver’s Lithium Americas lands a $2.2B loan from the U.S. DOE

• Quebec winds down EV subsidies

💰 Funding

🧪 Carbonova (Calgary, AB) raised $6M to develop its sustainable carbon nanofibers, led by Korea’s Kolon Industries. Carbonova has developed proprietary processes and catalysts that convert greenhouse gases like methane and CO2 into solid carbon nanomaterials. The process locks emissions into high-demand materials, with carbon nanofibers used in everything from batteries to construction materials to textiles. The funding will be used to build a commercial demonstration plant in Canada.

🌊 MarineLabs (Victoria, BC) closed $4.5M in seed funding for its real-time marine data solution. The round was led by BDC Capital and included Seaspan Shipyards. MarineLabs has developed hardware and software to provide real-time data on wind, waves, and weather to marine stakeholders. Their solution helps improve port operations and provides modelling for the design of climate-resilient coastal infrastructure. The funding will fuel product development and market reach.

🐟 Poseidon Ocean Systems secured $28M in Series B funding for their sustainable aquaculture solutions led by Ecosystem Integrity Fund. Poseidon manufactures systems for salmon farming operations, helping farmers mitigate environmental impacts and increase yields by reducing stress and illness. The environmental impacts of aquaculture are contentious, but proponents argue that an environmentally sustainable industry is key to relieving pressure on wild populations.

OTHER FUNDING

⛏️ Lithium Americas secured a massive $2.26B US loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to support the development of its lithium deposit in Nevada and build a new processing plant nearby.

🚌 Ballard Power Systems also received $40M US in grants from the U.S. DOE to support the build out of a fuel cell production gigafactory in Texas. Ballard develops hydrogen fuel cells used in commercial vehicles, trains, marine vessels and more.

🌱 Burcon NutraScience (Vancouver, BC) raised $4.3M in a private placement for its plant-based protein technology. Burcon will use the funds to accelerate commercial plans to meet growing customer demand and explore new routes to market for its technology.

💰 A handful of climate tech startups received investments from federal programs:

• Victory Advanced Technologies received a $400K investment to expand manufacturing for their high-efficiency electric motor system.

• CarboNet Nanotechnologies received $1.66M to commercialize and scale up their biodegradable water treatment that removes suspended solids from wastewater.

• QuantoTech Solutions received $750K to expand their vertical farming operations in Vancouver.

• Aurea Technologies received a $391K investment to expand production of their portable Shine Turbine, designed for off-grid use.

🐟 Profillet received funding from the Canadian Food Innovation Network for its plant-based fish fillet. The company is developing an alternative that mirrors the taste and texture of catfish using algal and plant proteins, and is currently a finalist in the XPrize - Feed the Next Billion competition.

🌊 PhyCo Technologies and BioLabMate received follow-on funding from the Ocean Startup Project’s Boost Fund. Both companies are developing seaweed-based plastics.

🗞️ In the news

☀️ Overblown: Turns out Alberta’s concerns about renewable energy projects have little basis in reality. A report from the province’s energy regulator found that renewables don’t pose a threat to farmland, requiring less than 1% of agricultural land to hit emissions targets. The report also debunked concerns about reclamation, pointing to renewables’ “well-understood and relatively contained reclamation risks”. In fact, the report found that the largest driver of lost agricultural land was pipelines, industrial sites and urban development.

💧 Hydrogen market takes shape: Canada and Germany signed a new agreement to support the emerging hydrogen trade between the two countries. The agreement is focused on creating more pricing certainty for market participants to accelerate dealmaking. More deals signed means the projects can move forward faster. The main projects to generate green hydrogen by World Energy GH2 in Newfoundland and EverWind Fuels in Nova Scotia are still in early stages.

⚡️ Goodbye, EV rebates: Quebec will start phasing out subsidies for electric vehicles next year, ending them completely in 2027. The province currently provides $7,000 for fully electric vehicles on top of the $5,000 federal rebate. The reason for the phase out? High program costs - about $400M in a year - with limited emissions reductions. The province’s latest budget with a $11B deficit was probably also a factor. It may be a busy year for EV sales as buyers get in while they can!

In other news:

• Canada’s in the top 10 of global methane emitters according to the IEA. Global methane emissions have stayed steady at record levels since 2019.

• An international court dismissed a $30M lawsuit filed by Koch Industries against the Ontario government for phasing out the province’s cap-and-trade program.

• Saskatchewan Research Council is exploring new ways of separating unrecovered rare earth materials from tailings, backed by $6M in federal funding.

• B.C. is preparing for another potential drought this summer, pledging more than $80M to support farmers.

• Nova Scotia’s Clean Energy Financing program for home upgrades got an additional $9.5M in funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) and the federal government.

• The Canadian Sustainability Standards Board’s draft disclosure rules recommend that companies disclose Scope 3 emissions, aligning Canada with the International Sustainability Standards Board (and not the U.S. SEC).

• The Canada Foundation for Innovation rolled out $515M in research funding, including projects working on coastal erosion in PEI and Dalhousie's new Canadian Battery Innovation Centre.

📣 What’s going on

🗓️ Climate Exchange: Regenerative Agriculture: Join us for an engaging conversation about regenerative agriculture and the challenges faced by Canadian farmers in adopting climate-friendly and resilient practices. March 21st, Ottawa.

🗓️ Climate Career Week: Hosted by Terra.do, Work on Climate, Climate Draft and others, Climate Career Week offers five days of online sessions to network and explore career opportunities in climate tech. March 25-29th, online.

🗓️ Climate Careers & Community: Montreal folks can pair the virtual content from Climate Career Week with this opportunity to connect with the local climate community in Montreal, hosted by Innovation Climat Montréal. March 27th, Montreal.

🗓️ Climate North: Renewable Runway: This Toronto meetup features local experts discussing sustainable materials and the actions you can take to own a greener closet. March 27th, Toronto.

💡THRIVE Climate Challenge: Hosted by THRIVE SVG Ventures and Alberta Innovates, this challenge offers a $100K investment for startups working on biofuels, on-farm energy and water stewardship. Apply by March 29th.

🎧 What we’re reading & listening to:

Flood risk mapping could help us, so why are we so opposed to it?

• An interesting look into the psychological challenges inherent in climate adaptation. Pairs well with: interviewing the people who spent $600K to stop their homes being washed into the sea, but still don’t believe in climate change.

How bio-based textiles can replace plastic in our clothing 

• I’ve been thinking a lot more about how ubiquitous plastic is in our clothing and the microplastics flooding our water. Just try finding running or workout gear that doesn’t use plastics. 

The History & Evolution of HardTech Investing

• A solid look at tech investing’s hardware origins and an emerging hardtech hypecycle. Pairs well with this piece from Chris Neumann.

📌 Jobs

Check out the job board for open climate tech roles in Canada with companies like CarbonHound, Blaise Transit, Svante and more!

➡️ Hiring? List your posting here.

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Justin