NorthX Climate Tech is doubling down on industrial decarbonization in British Columbia with $1 million in non-dilutive funding for two homegrown startups tackling some of the province’s toughest emissions challenges.
The nonprofit investor and commercialization catalyst announced new investments in Vertogen Technologies and Rockburst Technology, reflecting BC’s rising momentum in climate hard tech and the growing push to scale solutions for renewable gas and low-energy mining.
“Industrial decarbonization is one of the defining climate and economic opportunities of our time,” said Sarah Goodman, President & CEO of NorthX. “By investing early in homegrown innovators, we’re helping them demonstrate and deploy technologies that can transform BC’s industrial sectors, strengthen our economy, and create export opportunities.”
Vertogen: Biogas in Days, Not Weeks
Renewable gas capacity is expanding across BC, but converting organic waste into biogas remains slow and costly—often taking more than 20 days. Vertogen’s Renewable Natural Gas Accelerator aims to change that by shortening the process by up to 90%, dropping production time to less than two days.
“Producing renewable gas from waste has huge potential but has long been constrained by slow, costly processes,” said Dr. Troy Vassos, CEO of Vertogen. “By dramatically reducing processing time, our technology helps make renewable gas production faster and more efficient, while lowering waste and disposal costs.”
With municipalities and utilities seeking cleaner energy sources and better waste management, speeding up RNG production could unlock new opportunities across the province.
Rockburst: Crushing Energy Use in Mining
Mining and mineral processing remain among the largest industrial energy sinks. Traditional crushing and grinding account for a significant share of total energy consumption in the sector.
Rockburst’s CoreBurst™ platform uses pressurized CO₂ to fracture rock from the inside, a technique the company says can cut energy use by up to 50%—while also storing CO₂ in the rock itself.
“Improving efficiency in mining is key to reducing emissions,” said Oscar Malpica, CEO of Rockburst. “With NorthX’s support, we’ll be able to further pilot our CoreBurst™ technology to demonstrate its potential to lower energy demand and capture carbon during the rock-fracturing process.”
Scaling BC’s Climate Innovation Engine
With these latest investments, NorthX continues to build out BC’s early-stage climate-tech pipeline. To date, the organization has invested $46 million across 74 projects, supporting technologies expected to create more than 890 jobs within two years and unlock over $478 million in private follow-on capital.
For every dollar NorthX puts in, another $10 is catalyzed—an increasingly important multiplier as BC positions itself as a global hub for industrial climate innovation.
Leave a Reply