Five women-led climate tech ventures will receive $2.5 million in funding from the B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy.
That’s according to an April 25 announcement from CICE, which states the funding will support climate tech companies in the transportation, construction and bio-industrial sectors.
Chosen from a pool of 58 applicants, one of the ventures is Agora Energy Technologies Ltd., a Vancouver-based company that is developing a system that captures carbon dioxide emissions and directly converts them into clean electricity.
Other ventures include Ayrton Energy Inc., EnviCore Inc., Gaia Refinery Ltd. and Seacork Studio Inc.
CICE is a non-profit organization that funds the development and commercialization of B.C. cleantech ventures, and will be funding the five women-led companies through its inaugural Women in Climate Tech initiative.
The Vancouver-based non-profit has invested $39.7 million in 65 projects to date, said the release.
CICE CEO Sarah Goodman told BIV the initiative was created because of a funding gap in women-led ventures.
“This is really about making sure that we are attracting talent to grow those companies to solve climate challenges, and really deliver the solutions that we need to decarbonize and grow the economy,” said Goodman.
CICE’s announcement comes at a time of economic uncertainty due to a trade disputes with the U.S.
Goodman said this provides an opportunity for the Canadian cleantech industry.
“As we saw in the federal election, there's a big discussion about building our economy, diversifying our markets, and investing in these early stage companies to get them to a place where they can be growing and selling into international markets,” she said.
In 2021, B.C.’s cleantech sector generated $27.6 billion in revenue and included 40,100 jobs, according to a 2023 sector report from the province. The same report said there were 492 cleantech companies in B.C. as of 2023.
