Government of Canada collaborates with investment fund backed by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and more to bankroll Canadian clean energy tech companies
Minister Seamus O’Regan met with the ten Breakthrough Canada award winners at GLOBE 2020. Source: Natural Resources Canada
Government of Canada collaborates with investment fund backed by Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and more to bankroll Canadian clean energy tech companies
In a new private-public partnership, Natural Resources Canada and Breakthrough Energy have announced they will award funding to ten Canadian companies dedicated to developing clean energy technology.
The Breakthrough Energy Solutions initiative will award up to $3 million to each winning company. The winners will also be eligible for additional private investments from Breakthrough Energy, the Business Development Bank of Canada and others.
“It’s great to see the value that our partnership with NRCan is creating as we reach this exciting milestone in the Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada initiative”
Eric Toone, Executive Managing Director, Breakthrough Energy Ventures
Of the ten companies to receive funding, two are innovators in the electric vehicle sector. Havelaar, based out of Toronto, is developing technology which would allow EVs to charge up to six times faster than is currently possible. G-Batteries, from Ottawa, is working to create ultra-fast lithium ion batteries for use in EVs.
Other companies set to benefit from the award include e-Zn Inc, developers of technology to store energy from renewable electricity sources, and Ekona Power Inc., who are developing a process to use methane from feedstock to produce clean hydrogen and electrical power. See below for the full list of winners.
Private money, global results
Breakthrough Energy is a private investment fund founded in 2015 with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by “by supporting cutting-edge research and development; investing in companies that turn game-changing technologies into scalable and transformative solutions; and advocating for policies that speed innovation from lab to market.”
Its members include Bill Gates, who has personally contributed $2 billion to the fund, as well as Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, George Soros and Michael Bloomberg. Natural Resources Canada’s partnership with Breakthrough was announced at CEM10/MI-4 last May as a new stream of its Energy Innovation Program, with an initial investment of $40 million available.
“It’s great to see the value that our partnership with NRCan is creating as we reach this exciting milestone in the Breakthrough Energy Solutions Canada initiative,” says Eric Toone, Executive Managing Director, Breakthrough Energy Ventures.
“We’re excited to witness the ultimate results and impact these breakthrough technologies will have on climate change and look forward to following them on their journey toward prosperity.”
The full list of winners
- Havelaar Canada from Toronto, Ontario – to develop a technology that will increase electric vehicle charging speeds by up to six times.
- Intelligent City Inc. from Vancouver, British Columbia – to develop a combination of innovative technologies to build carbon neutral and net-zero energy-efficient family housing.
- G-Batteries from Ottawa, Ontario – to create ultra–fast charging lithium-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles.
- Ekona Power Inc. from Vancouver, British Columbia – to use methane from feedstock to produce clean hydrogen and electrical power.
- CarbonCure Technologies Inc. from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia – to implement carbon capture solutions in the cement sector by storing carbon dioxide and recycling reclaimed waste from concrete products.
- BIOME from Toronto, Ontario – to improve wind energy production at an existing wind farm.
- e-Zn Inc. from Toronto, Ontario – to create a low-cost technology to store energy from renewable electricity sources, such as wind and solar.
- Smarter Alloys Inc. from Waterloo, Ontario – to use heat engine technology to generate inexpensive, emissions-free electricity.
- CERT Systems Inc. from Toronto, Ontario – to convert carbon dioxide into conventional chemical feedstocks and fuels to support the decarbonization of the chemical manufacturing, transportation and energy industries
- Evercloak Inc. from Waterloo, Ontario – to develop a dehumidification technology for air conditioners that will cut greenhouse gas emissions and reduce the energy use of cooling systems by over 50 percent.
