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SDTC Supports Innovation from Coast to Coast

  • 2022/09/27
  • Media Coverage

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Today, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) announced an investment of $18.7 million in six innovative Canadian companies working in sectors ranging from agriculture to aquaculture, to waste management and clean energy solutions.  

As the largest funder of sustainable small and medium-sized businesses in Canada, SDTC helps entrepreneurs attempting to do extraordinary things. To be truly transformational, these innovative ideas need to be deployed — not just once, but many times.  

SDTC funding marks the beginning of our relationship with a company -one that continues as they grow and scale their business. Four of today’s funding recipients are returning to SDTC for a subsequent project– a testament to how entrepreneurs value SDTC’s support as they grow.   

The following companies will receive funding from SDTC: 

  • Vancouver-based Anaconda Systems Ltd. creates affordable, rapid, local organic waste infrastructure to help municipalities to process more organic waste in city centers instead of sending it to landfills. This start-up company has been approved for $2 million. 
  • Cascadia Seaweed, based in Sidney, British Columbia, is the only vertically integrated seaweed company, combining cultivation expertise, First Nations partnerships and progressive brand development. This seed funding graduate has been approved for $4.3 million in start-up funding to further develop their seaweed-based agriculture feed supplement that can reduce livestock methane emissions, improve animal health, diversify feed supply, and therefore reduce pressures on precious arable land. 
  • Clear Blue Technologies, based in Toronto, Ontario, is developing smart compact solar power solutions for off-grid telecom applications, which are expected to reduce energy costs by 40%. This woman-led company has been approved for $5 million in start-up funding. 
  • Toronto’s Peak Power Inc. is returning to SDTC’s portfolio with a project to develop their distributed energy resource aggregation (“DERA”) platform to enable batteries, commercial buildings, and electric vehicles to become grid interactive. Peak Power will receive $5 million in scale-up funding. 
  • RainStick Shower, a seed funding graduate located in Kelowna, British Columbia, has developed a shower water system that captures, circulates, and cleans the water, reducing energy costs and water use. This woman-led company has been approved for $1.8 million in start-up funding. 
  • Reazent, is a sustainable agriculture company that aims to replace synthetic agrochemicals with more economically viable, sustainable, and safer solutions that will help growers increase their yields and grow healthier crops. This Halifax-based company is a seed funding graduate and has been approved for $600,000. 

Today’s announcement was made ahead of SDTC’s 2022 Annual Public Meeting, which focused on how Canada can build and strengthen local ecosystems that are outside of major urban centres. The event featured remarks from keynote speaker Zita Cobb, co-founder and CEO of the Shorefast Foundation -a registered Canadian charity that employs business-minded means to achieve social ends- and founder and Innkeeper of the Fogo Island Inn. Ms. Cobb shared her experience in building a rural ecosystem and the benefits it has brought to the local community beyond job creation.   

As part of the conversation, the event also featured a panel of entrepreneurs and local accelerators from smaller Canadian centres, who provided the audience of entrepreneurs with practical advice on how and what they can do within their own communities to better connect, learn from each other, and take their business to the next level.   

SDTC recognizes that innovation is happening everywhere including right here -in our communities large and small. This recognition that the next great idea can come from our own backyards is our North Star, driving us to find, fund and foster those ideas and bring them to market. 

Quotes:  

“Canadians are committed to solving the climate crisis, and Canadian companies are seizing the opportunity that comes with developing sustainable solutions. These exciting breakthroughs are driven by world-class Canadian entrepreneurs leading the way in science, technology, and innovation.”

– The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry 

“Canada’s entrepreneurs have the ideas that will help solve some of our planet’s most pressing environmental problems, but they cannot do it alone. With our support and funding at all stages of development, we are helping companies reach commercialization faster so that they can tap into the strong global demand for sustainable solutions across every sector of the economy.”  

– Leah Lawrence, President, and CEO of SDTC  

Media Relations  

For more information or an interview with one of the companies in this round, contact Sustainable Development Technology Canada at: media@sdtc.ca  

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