New School Foods ramps up plant-based seafood

TECH

New School Foods gets ready to bring plant-based salmon to restaurants

What happened: Toronto’s New School Foods secured $8 million in seed extension funding for its plant-based seafood tech. The round was led by Good Startup with participation from NewTree Capital, Hatch, and new investor Inter IKEA (yes, that IKEA).

The tech: New School Foods is developing a method of producing plant-based, whole-cut seafood that looks and cooks like regular seafood. 

To do this, New School Foods uses a proprietary process that turns biopolymers into a scaffold structure that creates the texture of meat. They then use precision freezing to align molecules into a specific configuration that recreates the muscle fibres and tissue found in conventional seafood.

Why it matters: Overfishing, habitat destruction, and interactions with farmed salmon are stressing ocean ecosystems and food security. Plant-based alternatives can ease this pressure, but the culinary experience of current options often fails to meet consumer expectations.

The market for plant-based alternatives is also growing. 40% of Canadians are trying to incorporate more plant-based foods into their diet, and plant-based seafood is expected to be a multi-billion dollar market by 2030. 

What's next: New School Foods plans to launch in Canada and the U.S. and recently opened a pilot production facility in Toronto. The company will target the restaurant industry first, where it says the majority of seafood is purchased.

SPONSORED BY GREEN ECONOMY LAW

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This week’s issue is sponsored by Green Economy Law, a boutique Toronto-based law firm providing general and specialized legal services for startups and non-profit organizations in climate tech and other green economy sectors.

Sign up for their monthly newsletter to keep up with developments in Canadian climate and environmental law.

Green Economy Law offers legal services for every step of your journey:

• Flat fee incorporation and minute book assembly

• B Corp certification

• Contracts

• IP protection

• Employment

• Green grants and incentives assistance

• Securities law (investments)

For the month of September, Green Economy Law is offering $100 off all incorporation and minute book assembly packages.

Book a free 15 minute consultation here to learn more.

CLIMATE CAPITAL

🏭️ ChopValue, based in Vancouver, secured $4 million in funding from provincial investment fund InBC. ChopValue offers distributed microfactories that convert “urban waste” like used chopsticks into valuable wood products. The funding builds on $15 million in growth financing earlier this year and will be used for key hires. 

♻️ Toronto-based Suppli closed an undisclosed amount of seed funding from BDC Capital Thrive Lab and CanadaInnovates.org for their circular supply chain solution. Suppli offers a platform for reusable packaging in food service, managing the return, collection and cleaning of containers.

MILESTONES & PRODUCT

🔋 AlumaPower won a top spot in the U.S. Army’s xTechInternational competition.

☀️ Solar manufacturer Canadian Solar is integrating solar recycling at the time of purchase through a new partnership with U.S. solar recycling company Solarcycle.

🥵 EnWave Energy, a district energy company, expanded its Deep Lake Water Cooling system in Toronto, adding cooling capacity for 40 new buildings.

💧 Nu:ionic Technologies will team up with HybriGenix to build a demonstration plant to produce low-carbon hydrogen for use in gas turbines.

🔌 Australian EV charging company Jolt is entering Canada with its freemium charging solution that allows free charging with ads.

NEWS

Canada’s banks lag on renewables

Canada’s financial institutions aren’t investing enough in renewable energy to meet net zero emissions, according to a new report from Investors for Paris Compliance.

From 2016 to 2024, just three institutions directed 71% or more of power sector capital into renewables. That’s how much electricity generation needs to be net zero by 2030 according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The devil in the details: More institutions are creating robust engagement policies, i.e. how they work with power utilities in their net zero journeys, but many are failing to make the leap from commitment on paper to action in practice.

One major gap is that no institution has plans that align with phasing-out unabated gas-fired power, and many continue to enable financing for coal, one of the worst emitters.

Why it matters: The findings highlight a giant gap between Canadian financial institutions' commitments to net-zero goals and their actual investment practices. The IEA says we need to reach net zero grids and transition electricity generation off from fossil fuels by 2035. This requires decarbonizing existing power and expanding zero-emissions electricity to meet growing demand, both of which hinge on the financial sector for financing.

The bottom line: While some institutions are taking steps towards renewable energy investment, the overall progress falls short of where we need to be. Canada needs stronger voluntary guidelines or to ramp up regulations to shift the momentum.

IN THE NEWS

🧑‍⚖️ No conflict: B.C.’s Advanced Research and Commercialization program has been cleared of conflict of interest allegations by the province’s Auditor General. The original complaint alleged that the accounting firm administering the program both offered grant-writing services and was in charge of approving grants. It’s a win for the province’s climate tech sector which could have faced a funding slow-down on top of SDTC’s issues earlier this year.

☀️ Balancing energy and farmland: Ontario announced it will restrict ground-mounted solar on prime agricultural land as part of a 5,000 MW “technology agnostic” energy procurement. The province included a number of other protections for agricultural land, including requiring support from municipalities for new projects.

⛽️ Fighting pipelines: Community groups and a First Nation are challenging the BC Energy Regulator in court over the approval process for the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission pipeline. Opposition to the pipeline is growing, particularly from nearby Indigenous communities.

💰️ Expanding climate finance: Canada and Switzerland are proposing new thresholds for which countries should be paying for climate finance. The proposals would expand countries classified as “industrialized” in 1992, and could expand obligations to China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea and others.

🏭️ A tale of two factories: Volkswagen’s battery gigafactory in Ontario is “fully on track” to start production in 2027, while Northvolt announced that it’s Montreal gigafactory would be delayed up to 18 months.

BIG PICTURE

South Korea makes a bold, $863 million bet on fusion

Climate tech. So hot right now

Could plastic-eating bacteria be used to produce food?

The Netherlands is trying to hit it’s emissions goals by shutting livestock farms

Why we’re in the messy-middle of the EV revolution

Microsoft plans to buy power from distributed solar on public buildings to hit its climate goals

Clean energy jobs are growing twice as fast as all other jobs in the U.S.

EVs reach 94% of new car sales in Norway

VCMI launches Scope 3 consultations while SBTi rolls out emissions guidance for buildings (h/t Lucy Hargreaves)

COMMUNITY

🚀 Ocean Startup Challenge: The Ocean Startup Project is looking for diverse innovators and entrepreneurs working to build sustainable, ocean-focused solutions with up to $25k in awards for winning teams. Apply by September 15th.

🗓️ Architecting a Sustainable Future: AWS Startups is hosting this climate tech fireside chat and mixer, featuring speakers from BrainBox AI, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Cycle Momentum, and more. September 19th, Montreal

➡️ Discover more climate events.

💻️ Cyclic Materials is hiring a VP Supply Chain & Procurement to drive sourcing, procurement, and enhance the company’s market presence.

➡️ Find more open roles.