CTC #24 - Funding for natural fibres and drone tree planting, Canada starts to respond to the IRA, and new investments in nuclear

October 14-27

Oct 27, 2022

Hi there,

Welcome to another issue of Climate Tech Canada! This week we have funding for natural fibres and drone reforestation, large orders for electric trucks and lithium, as well as two new funds with climate tech in their portfolio.

In the news, Canada is working on a response to the Inflation Reduction Act, Ontario courts battery manufacturers in Europe, and promising signs for nuclear from Brookfield and Canada Investment Bank.

Let’s get into it!

Funding and growth

Bast Fibre Technologies (Victoria, BC) secured an undisclosed amount of funding from Finnish investor Ahlström Capital to expand its manufacturing capacity in the US and EU. Bast produces natural fibres from hemp, cotton and flax that can replace synthetic and plastic-based materials.

Miovision (Kitchener, ON) acquired Pittsburgh-based Rapid Flow Technologies. Miovision’s technology uses computer vision, AI, and analytics to help cities reduce congestion and emissions. Rapid Flow offers an adaptive traffic signal control system that optimizes signal timing.

Milestones & Growth

Toronto’s Flash Forest received $1.33M from Natural Resources Canada for reforestation efforts in areas affected by wildfires. Flash Forest uses drones, advanced seed pods and AI to plant trees faster, in more challenging areas, and with more data than traditional reforestation.
Mercedes-Benz signed a $2B supply agreement with Rock Tech Lithium. Based in Canada and Germany, Rock Tech Lithium produces lithium hydroxide for EV batters, and aims to become a closed-loop provider by recycling lithium.
Vicinity Motors secured a $100M USD order for its new medium-duty electric trucks, with retailers seeing “intense customer demand” for commercial EVs.
Quebec-based FLO was selected by Imperial Oil to roll out a new charging network at Esso and Mobil gas stations.
Calgary-based Exro Technologies won the “Innovation of the Year” award at the AutoTech Breakthrough Awards. Exro won for their Coil Driver technology which can increase performance and reduce costs for electric motors, making them more competitive with traditional motors.
Letenda’s electric buses are officially roadworthy, having secured safety certification from Transport Canada.
Two new funds are coming together from Canada’s telecom giants. TELUS Ventures is the lead investor for the Emend Vision Fund I which will invest in early-stage climate tech companies that have the potential for global scale. Meanwhile, Bell launched Bell Ventures which will focus on a variety of industries including climate tech.

What’s going on

📅 The Sustainable Business Expo is coming to Hamilton, Ontario on November 3rd. This year’s conference will focus on net-zero emissions across buildings, energy and transportation.

📅 Foresight Canada is hosting two reverse pitch events in November, with Ag-Tech on the 15th and Water on the 16th. The reverse pitches are an opportunity to deep dive into industry problems, with industry solution-seekers presenting on real-world challenges.

💡 Angels for Climate Solutions is accepting applications for both startups and angel investors for its upcoming cohort. Applications close on Nov 28th and Dec 16th respectively. The program aims to connect BC startups with angel investors across the country.

In the news

Canada is working on a response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act to make sure Canada doesn’t miss out on investments in carbon capture and clean energy. In particular, oil & gas companies are looking to the feds to provide more support for carbon capture. The April budget included tax incentives for CCS projects, but would cover 35-50% of costs while the incentives in the IRA cover close to 85%.

Members of the parliamentary environment committee have also agreed that the government should be doing more to support the development of clean tech in Canada. Notable hurdles identified by the committee include: Companies need to go outside Canada to find funding; Long-term funding is needed to bring projects to maturity; and more support for commercialization and growth.

Deputy PM Chrystia Freeland suggested that Canada will fast-track energy and mining projects that are critical to democratic allies, part of a strategy known as “friendshoring”.

Ontario is in talks with multiple battery makers after trade visits to Germany and Austria to promote the province as a home for EV battery supply chains.

With a new premier in place, Alberta plans to replace the federal carbon tax with one of its own. This would allow the province to allocate the funds generated by the tax based on its own priorities instead of being managed by the federal government.

Alberta also released its plan to adopt extended producer responsibility regulations, shifting the cost of recycling from municipalities to producers. The regulations will cover product packaging, single-use products, batteries and more.

Brookfield Renewables (Toronto) and Cameco (Saskatoon) partnered up to buy Westinghouse Electric, which services about half of the world’s nuclear reactors. Brookfield has a large renewable energy portfolio while Cameco is one of the world’s largest uranium providers.

Elsewhere on the nuclear front, OPG secured $970M in funding from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to build Canada’s first small modular reactor (SMR) in Darlington, ON

RBC is under investigation by the Competition Bureau of Canada for allegedly deceptive ads about the bank’s climate action. In a similar case in the UK, HSBC was banned from running ads with misleading climate claims.