EARTH TECH:
MEET OUR
2021 COHORT

Meet the 2021 cohort of 17 for-profit and nonprofit cleantech ventures working on technology solutions to climate and water challenges.

This year’s diverse cohort was composed of ventures based across the country, from BC to Newfoundland, tackling compelling challenges with a range of solutions, from replacing the billion toxic, single-use glow sticks used every year to recycling decommissioned solar panels. 88% of the cohort had women or BIPOC-identifying leaders.

We supported our 2021 Earth Tech cohort with 245+ hours of outcomes-based coaching, 25 skills-based workshops, and 8 networking and pitch events in order to advance their businesses and tech, grow as entrepreneurs, and scale their impact.  

Participants consistently note the high quality of Earth Tech’s programming, with an overall rating of “exceptional” (82 NPS) and 100% of participants reporting gaining useful knowledge, skills and connections for 2021. 

IMPACT

Over six months, the 2021 cohort of early-stage ventures achieved:

$3.8M
earned and raised,
a 133% increase
67
jobs supported,
a 23% increase
21
pilots run
“As an impact startup, at the end of the day, your mission is to make the world a better place. Through its incredible community and mentors, Earth Tech brings that mission into sharp focus and makes you continuously renew that dedication towards impact.”
Myra Arshad, ALT TEX
“The Earth Tech program was pivotal to the success of our company. It helped us secure our foundation and clarify our product messaging to incorporate impact-related KPIs into our strategy. It also helped to get the right team together, with the right network in order for us to scale and develop our technology to the next level.”
Minelli Clements, Lorcan Technologies Inc.

Ventures

2S Water have developed a sensor for the detection of metals in water in real time. This is vital for environmental stewardship and the protection of human health and safety.
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 14: Life Below Water
ALT TEX is a B2B biomaterials startup creating sustainable textiles chemically regenerated from food waste that are biodegradable and carbon neutral.
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
SDG 13: Climate Action
Aquafort is developing a data analytics platform for aquaculture that predicts production ecosystem health, and automates fish behaviour inspection. This increases revenue generation, and yield quality and quantity.
SDG 2: Zero Hunger
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
SDG 14: Life Below Water
AquaSignum has developed a novel sensor that measures changes in microbial activity in real time. This technology has the ability to revolutionize environmental monitoring, wastewater treatment, industrial biofouling detection, and more.
SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 14: Life Below Water
Calmura has developed a patented natural and carbon-negative wall system that provides healthy, protective and durable walls for homeowners. We use waste wood resources in creating our zero-waste, carbon-negative, monolithic biocomposite wall system.
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
SDG 13: Climate Action
Community Garden App is building the world's first custom software for community garden management. We make administering a garden easy.
SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 15: Life On Land
ESI provides a hyperlocal, AI-powered environmental and meteorological monitoring solution that offers a low-cost, easy-to-deploy tool to manage environmental impact and sustainability objectives.
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 13: Climate Action
SDG 15: Life On Land
Geosapiens developed E-NUNDATION, a web-based solution for flood risk assessment and management. E-NUNDATION helps municipalities, insurers and citizens to reduce the economic, environmental and social impacts of floods.
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 13: Climate Action
ioAirFlow is a digital audit platform that uses wireless sensors and data analysis to find performance and energy efficiency issues in commercial buildings. We provide action plans to help buildings reduce their carbon emissions.
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
Lorcan's leading-edge network allows customers to access valuable data located in the most remote regions. Our device withstands rugged outdoor conditions for a longer life with the ability to transmit data over further distances.
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
SDG 13: Climate Action
SDG 15: Life On Land
SDG 17: Partnerships For The Goals
Starting with the world's first portable, plastic-free, bioluminescent light source, Nyoka is on a mission to create clean technology that follows a circular economy model and gives back to the land through its design.
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
SDG 13: Climate Action
Scarcity Analytics uses machine learning to help agriculture-dependent businesses avoid environment-driven price spikes in their supply chains and improve their climate resilience by pre-emptively building up inventory when an environmental shock is on the horizon.
SDG 2: Zero Hunger
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
SEI is a manufacturer of solar power equipment that has designed a novel solar farm solution that reduces installation costs, as well as a work light that operates exclusively on solar energy during Canadian winters.
SDG 7: Affordable & Clean Energy
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 13: Climate Action
SUNSET Renewables provides sustainable technology and process solutions to manage early loss and end of life waste material from the renewable energy industry (solar, wind, battery storage) into a circular economy.
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
Trace is an electronics development platform that applies new PCB manufacturing technology and a platform business model to help developers speed-up their workflows by 3x, thereby helping them bring their products to market faster.
SDG 6: Clean Water & Sanitation
SDG 9: Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure
SDG 12: Responsible Consumption & Production
More people are investing in farms for themselves and their families. Urban Crops helps landowners work with nature and farmers so their land is more productive and resilient, while growing in value over time.
SDG 3: Good Health & Well-Being
SDG 11: Sustainable Cities & Communities
SDG 13: Climate Action
Only 25% of Canada's shorelines are currently managed sustainably. Through its Natural Edge Program, Watersheds Canada works to reduce human impacts on freshwater. Our goal is to restore 75% of Canada’s shorelines using native plants.
SDG 13: Climate Action
SDG 14: Life Below Water
SDG 15: Life On Land

Stories

Entrepreneurs-in-Residence & Advisors

Advisor

Claire Dixon

Entrepreneur-in-Residence with Climate Ventures & Foresight
Claire has a unique ability to distill complex and disparate information into clear, concise insights. She brings 20+ years of strategy and operations experience in strategic consulting and senior operational roles. Claire holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a MEng/MA from Cambridge University.
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.

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.
Logo for the Peter Gilgan Foundation
Funder, Partner

Peter Gilgan Foundation

The Peter Gilgan Foundation aims to improve the lives of children and families by empowering charities that help the world transition to a more healthy, prosperous, and sustainable future.
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.

Interested in partnering? Contact us

Photo at top of page courtesy of Neil Palmer/CIAT (CC BY-SA 2.0)