15 Startups in BC Building a More Sustainable Canada

According to the Vancouver Economic Commission, there is a climate crisis and it is becoming urgent.

In 2021, the organization launched Angels for Climate Solutions, a program designed to increase the flow of capital investment into B.C.-based, early-stage climate technology startups.

“Technology-based solutions will form the backbone of climate action in many cities around the world—especially so in Vancouver, given our city’s climate-oriented character and robust tech industry,” stated VEC CEO Eleena Marley at the time.

In 2023, the need for innovative solutions is thus greater than ever, the organization believes—which is why VEC recently highlighted 15 climate technology startups.

The standout companies aren’t just being recognized for their solutions to shifting weather patterns, sustainable practises across sectors, and other climate-related changes, however. There is also capital at stake for these fledging disruptors.

Over several weeks, these startups will hone pitches, navigate deal structures, and present their innovation to a cohort. Selected finalists will then compete for a top prize: an investment of $100,000.

Below, the competing startups and companies:

• Asset Market is a B2B SaaS platform that connects organizations needing to install EV chargers, telecoms, and IoT devices with owners and operators of the land, buildings, and structures where these devices will be placed.
• BryoSphere Biotechnologies uses engineered moss plants to make rare, plant-derived ingredients for many industries, including skincare and cosmetics, nutraceuticals, therapeutics and food and beverage.
• Build Smartr Robotics is a construction company that employs an arsenal of technology, including computer automated design, material engineering, 3D modeling and robotics, to prefabricate homes from recycled steel.
• EdgeTunePower is commercializing a new electric grid distributed management system to reduce grid outages and realize the operation of legacy electric grids as net-zero and fully decarbonized systems.
• Etalim Inc. has developed a reliable remote power solution, 1GEN, which claims can cost-effectively reduce CO2e emission by 98%.
• Farment Biosolution is an agtech startup on a mission to provide livestock farmers with cost-effective regenerative farming solutions to manage livestock waste, improve soil health, and reduce the environmental impact of livestock farming.
• Halitra provides innovative real estate financing solutions to facilitate the retrofitting of small commercial buildings.
• InHubs Farms uses robotics and smart control systems in the cloud to mimic how mushrooms grow in nature to improve the taste, nutrition, and yield.
• NanoTerraTech has developed a proprietary method to create environmentally friendly and sustainable advanced carbon materials from biomass waste, replacing fossil fuel-derived carbon materials in manufacturing.
• Novion offers the world’s first Green Stormwater infrastructure platform to help cities manage green infrastructure needs ranging from planning and design to operations and maintenance.
• Peko Produce is building Canada’s number one online grocery marketplace that delivers “peculiar” or surplus groceries at up to 40 percent off retail prices.
• QuantoTech is a vertical farming company that designs, builds, and operates automated equipment—and also sells leafy greens and herbs.
• Reusables.com helps food businesses replace single-use containers with reusables through tech-enabled packaging paired with a proprietary tracking software.
• Rockburst Technologies is a mining innovation startup developing a new comminution (particle reduction) technology that uses super-critical CO2 to exert tensile breakage in ore and other materials.
• Sentire augments robots and advanced machines so they can quickly learn a new task, adapt or react to complex environments, such as a farm.