SDTC Seed Fund Expands Investments and Celebrates a Year of Success

OTTAWA, ON, May 4th, 2021 – In partnership with accelerators across Canada, Sustainable Development Technology Canada is proud to announce funding for 21 leading cleantech companies across Canada. From coast to coast, these innovators are pushing boundaries to tackle climate change and make Net Zero a reality.

Today’s funding announcement also marks the first anniversary of SDTC’s Seed Fund program. In its first year alone, the Seed Fund has worked with 52 accelerators to support 75 small firms with big ideas for a more sustainable world. Through the Seed Fund, SDTC is able to reach a broader community of entrepreneurs across Canada, including women-led companies as well as those led by underrepresented groups.

The successful recipients of this latest round of funding highlight the breadth of innovation happening across the country, in every sector of our economy. From carbon capture and recycling technologies to designing low-energy brakes for aircrafts to developing sensors and AI to evaluate the health of beehives and increase pollen yields, these companies are bringing ground-breaking environmental solutions to Canadians.

“Despite the many challenges for businesses over the past year, cleantech entrepreneurs continue to forge ahead with innovative solutions for a more sustainable economy” said SDTC President and CEO Leah Lawrence. “I’m continuously inspired by the breakthrough technologies we see in applications to the Seed Fund. To the successful recipients of this round, we are proud to fund cleantech leaders like you, who are helping Canada transition to a Net Zero economy.”

“We congratulate all of the clean-tech visionaries across Canada who will get a flying start through the Seed Fund to turn their ideas into realities,” said the Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry. “These cutting-edge firms are helping to drive our economic recovery, leading the fight against climate change and creating well-paying jobs. Through these investments, our government is strengthening Canada’s position as a global leader in clean technology and helping to realize our shared vision of a cleaner, more resilient and sustainable future for all Canadians.”

Whether you’re looking to get your game changing idea off the ground, or take your business to the next level, SDTC is here to help. Learn more about our Seed Fund Program.

Companies approved for funding:

Below are 21 Canadian companies approved by SDTC for seed funding during the third round of the 2020/21 fiscal year. The accelerator partner that nominated each company is also listed.

• AirMatrix (Toronto, ON), supported by MaRS, provides a traffic management software platform for cities and enterprises to safely scale the usage of electric powered drones.
• Aeroflux Braking Systems (Toronto, ON), supported by UTEST, develops low energy, all-electric magnetic brakes for business, commuter, and commercial aircrafts.
• Arolytics (Halifax, NS), supported by CDL – Rockies, has developed a SaaS platform that optimizes energy sector emissions management. The software tracks, manages, and discloses greenhouse gas emissions.
• Avestec Technologies Inc. (Vancouver, BC), supported by Foresight, offers Intelligent Robotic Inspection (tethered flying robots) combined with AI which enables accurate and secure contact-based inspection for industrial assets.
• Avro Life Science (Waterloo, ON), supported by Velocity, provides drug delivery technology which enables the topical and transdermal delivery of emerging medicines for dermatology, neurology, immunology and more.
• BinBreeze (Victoria, BC), supported by Foresight, is an organic compost powder developed to eliminate the negative aspects of consumer food waste diversion including fruit fly infestations and odours.
• Cascadia Seaweed (Sidney, BC), supported by MaRS, cultivates premium seaweed at scale and partner with First Nations communities for economic participation.
• EnPowered (Kitchener, ON), supported by CDL – Toronto, is an Energy SaaS company whose APIs connect IoT assets with real-time electricity markets, cutting business costs and emissions automatically.
• EnviCore Inc. (Calgary, AB), supported Innovate Calgary, is focused on mining ore processability and tailings treatment.
• H2 Portable Power Corp. (Chilliwack, BC), supported by Alacrity Canada, is a fuel cell tech company creating a zero-waste portable generator.
• Hyperion Global Energy (Ottawa, ON), supported by Invest Ottawa, is a point source carbon capture and recycling technology. It captures and converts industrial waste CO2 emissions into high value mineral materials.
• Interius Farms (Saint-Laurent, QC), supported by Dobson (McGill University), is developing proprietary vertical farming technology that will make fresh local produce available to Canadians year-round by improving energy and capital efficiency.
• Nectar (Montreal, QC), supported by Esplanade, uses sensors and AI to evaluate the health of beehives and increase pollenization yield.
• Ora Graphene Audio Inc. (Montreal, ON), supported by Tandem Launch Ventures, designs and manufactures proprietary graphene membranes for use within audio products, consumer electronics, and can be used in water desalination.
• Prosaris Solutions (Hammonds Plains, NS), supported by Innovacorp, provides hardware and software solutions that help industries maintain operational efficiency and reduce emissions by detecting and quantifying gas leaks.
• Rainstick (Kelowna, BC), supported by Centre for Social Innovation, is a closed-loop shower, which filters, incrementally heats, and then reuses shower water avoiding water/energy waste.
• Rayleigh Solar Tech (Halifax, NS), supported by Innovacorp, focuses on the development and commercialization of perovskite solar cells.
• Ribbit (Toronto, ON), supported by Velocity, is a cargo airline that serves remote communities using autonomous aircraft.
• Seachange (Halifax, NS), supported by Verschuren Centre, created a biorefinery process and a pilot plant to simultaneously produce three high value chemicals from a single seaweed species.
• TROES Corp. (Markham, ON), supported by Energia Ventures, develops, designs, manufactures, and delivers cloud-based battery energy storage systems (BESS) and associated Microgrid control technologies.
• Verdi Expeditions Inc. (Vancouver, BC), supported by Entrepreneurship @UBC, develops intelligent swarms of irrigation valves that enable farmers to uniquely irrigate subsections of single crop rows, and eventually at the plant-by-plant level.

Learn more about these amazing Canadian cleantech trailblazers here.