EARTH TECH:
MEET OUR
2020 COHORT

Meet the 2020 Earth Tech cohort of 16 for-profit and nonprofit cleantech ventures working on technology solutions to climate and water challenges. 

The 2020 cohort of Earth Tech – with 9 climate ventures and 7 water ventures – represented a range of software and hardware solutions, and a variety of academic backgrounds and technical specialties. 65% of the cohort had women or BIPOC founders. 

We helped our 2020 Earth Tech cohort of ventures advance their technologies and businesses, deepen their entrepreneurial competencies, and navigate the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. They raised investments, secured grants, and won pitch competitions and awards. 

100% of participants reported gaining useful knowledge, training and connections, and they rated the accelerator overall as “exceptional”.

Apply Now

Apply now for early intake! Please note applications are now being managed through Foresight Canada in partnership with SI Canada

Impact

Over six months, the 2020 cohort of early-stage ventures achieved:

$4M
earned and raised,
a 115% increase
76
jobs supported,
a 31% increase
116
partnerships established
The founders of the sixteen cleantech ventures in Earth Tech as well as Earth Tech staff posing for a group photo.
“Earth Tech was very supportive and brought in a wide array of experts to help with different aspects of building a successful startup. We found the program very helpful as we took our first steps, and we were happy to meet lots of other entrepreneurs working towards a brighter, sustainable future.”
Alex Ip, CERT

Ventures

Alumni

Biopolynet Inc.

Mostafa Aghaei , Arian Shahnazari
With our patented BioNanoCoil, a biopolymeric technology, we tune the rheology of water in the conventional industries to boost their circular economy and significantly decrease their wastewater streams.
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
CANN Forecast Team
Alumni

CANN forecast

Nicholas St. Gelais
CANN Forecast develops smart decision tools for the proactive management of urban waters.
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
CERT Team
Alumni

CERT

Alex Ip, Christine Gabardo
CERT is a carbontech company that converts CO2 into chemical fuels and feedstocks using water and electricity.
SDG 7: Affordable & Clean Energy
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 13: Climate Action
Alumni

Clean Nature

Patricia Gomez
Clean Nature developed and proposes guiA, an innovative and effective smart decision-making tool to prepare, intervene and adapt road-salt spreading more efficiently while reducing costs and environmental impacts.
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
Dunya Habitats team at the CSI Climate Ventures space
Alumni

Dunya Habitats

Sugeevan Shanmuganathan
Dunya Habitats is an agritech startup, based in Canada, that delivers year-round sustainable farming solutions to optimize crop production in any climate condition, with the use of hydroponics and data analytics.
SDG 2: Zero Hunger
SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
Alumni

EAIGLE

Amir Hoss
EAIGLE is an Intelligent Video Analytics Platform based on machine learning and artificial intelligence for freshwater monitoring, automation and control, and sustainable operation in aquatics through real-time occupancy monitoring.
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 13: Climate Action
Alumni

Flash Forest

Bryce Jones, Cameron Jones
Flash Forest is a Canadian drone reforestation company that modifies drones to fire rapidly germinating tree seeds into the earth.
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 13: Climate Action
SDG 15: Life On Land
Andrew Lee and Jim Ilkay, Co-founders of Innovia GEO Corp
Venture

Innovia GEO Corp

Andrew Lee
Innovia GEO Corp. provides innovative and cost effective geothermal heating and cooling solutions to owners, developers, and other stakeholders involved in the design, construction, and operation of buildings and homes.
SDG 7: Affordable & Clean Energy
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
Connor Tidd and Kevin Jakiela, founders of Just Vertical
Alumni

Just Vertical

Kevin Jakiela, Conner Tidd
Furnish your home with the AEVA, a modern indoor hydroponic garden system that's sleek, sustainable and gives the gift of fresh food all year round.
SDG 2: Zero Hunger
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 13: Climate Action
Alumni

Project Neutral

Jake Miller
Project Neutral helps Canadians discover their household carbon footprint quickly and easily using our online calculator. We aim to accompany each user in their journey to a low carbon lifestyle.
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
SDG 13: Climate Action
Alumni

RainStick Shower

Alisha McFetridge
RainStick Shower is a recirculating shower that saves 80% water and 80% energy but feels like a high-pressure shower. Water at the end of your shower is safe enough to drink.
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 14: Life Below Water
Alumni

SENTRY

Patrick Kiely
SENTRY is a unique bio-electrode sensor platform that provides real-time microbial performance and water quality monitoring for wastewater and water treatment facilities.
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
Alumni

Solar Wind Reliance Initiatives (SWRI)

Matthew Armstrong, Ross Armstrong
With SWRI, remote customers have clean energy all day and night in every season. SWRI provides affordable 100% renewable energy devices for 75% less battery storage cost.
SDG 7: Affordable & Clean Energy
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 13: Climate Action
Close shot of Jane Ji.
Alumni

Springbay Studio Ltd.

Jane Ji
As the only Canadian educational game developer dedicated solely to environmental science, our mission is to build an eco-focused mindset for the next generation by reducing eco-footprint in life.
SDG 13: Climate Action
SDG 14: Life Below Water
SDG 15: Life On Land
Kaymar and Amir, Founders of Volta Technique
Alumni

Volta Technique

Amir Pahlevanpour, Kamyar Rouindej
Volta utilizes its proprietary compressed air energy storage (CAES) to reliably store electricity at low, off-peak costs and regenerate it during peak periods at a large scale.
SDG 7: Affordable & Clean Energy
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
Alumni

Water Rangers

Kat Kavanagh
Water Rangers builds tools to empower anyone to learn about, test and act to protect freshwater. Through an open-data platform and simple water testkits, we are transforming water stewardship.
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 13: Climate Action
SDG 14: Life Below Water

Stories

Kat Kavanagh, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Water Rangers, teaching someone how to use the test kit

Water Rangers: Empowering Citizen Scientists to Care for Our Waterways

Without the data to show us where there might be problems, how can we care for our precious freshwater resources?

Read More
Project Neutral's app interface: daily transportation emissions

Project Neutral: Confronting Climate Change By Making Carbon Visible

A world where carbon emissions are made visible to all people is a world where we can make the right decisions.

Read More
Flash Forest drone flying above team

Flash Forest: Revolutionizing Reforestation with Tree-Planting Drones

Because of their carbon-sequestration powers, trees are among our most important defences against climate change. But the tree planting industry has barely changed in the last century.

Read more
View all Earth Tech stories

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence & Advisors

Advisor

Helen Platis

Entrepreneur-in-Residence with Climate Ventures
Helen brings over twenty years leadership and management experience within small and large organizations across the private and public sectors. Her field is energy, her expertise is market entry strategies, and she's been lucky enough to support different kinds of companies, all over the world: private/public, large/small, highly regulated, startups and not-for-profit.
Headshot of Rick.
Advisor

Rick Findlay

Entrepreneur-in-Residence with Climate Ventures
Rick is a serial entrepreneur and has provided management advice in environment, operations, and strategy across sectors around the world for over 30 years. He is CEO of LINCit – a not-for-profit assisting cleantech firms to scale-up rapidly through a unique hosting model and specialized strategies.
Advisor

Trevor Coleman

Entrepreneur-in-Residence with Climate Ventures
As Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer of Interaxon, Trevor Coleman co-created Muse: the brain sensing headband. Since 2017 he has been a Design Thinking consultant, early-stage startup advisor, and indie game developer. His main areas of expertise are value-proposition design, strategy, fundraising, and product management.

Partners & Funders

Logo for RBC Foundation
Funder, Partner

The RBC Foundation

The RBC Foundation is focused on preparing youth for the future of work, protecting the environment, and helping emerging artists thrive. RBC Foundation is contributing funding and expertise to support Earth Tech and its participants.
Funder, Partner

Bullfrog Power

Bullfrog Power, a Spark Power company, is a Canadian green energy retailer operating in Canada. Bullfrog Power is contributing both funding and expertise to support Earth Tech and its participants.
Funder, Partner

Vancity Community Investment Bank (VCIB)

VCIB is a values-driven bank on a mission to finance a sustainable tomorrow. VCIB is the only Canadian bank exclusively focused on partnerships with organizations that drive social, economic and environmental change.
Logo for WWF
Partner

WWF-Canada

WWF-Canada creates solutions to the environmental challenges that matter most for Canadians. WWF-Canada is providing advisory services to Earth Tech participants.

Interested in partnering? Contact us

© 1986 Panda Symbol WWF – World Wide Fund For Nature (Formerly World Wildlife Fund)
® “WWF” is a WWF Registered Trademark