Hey there,
Welcome to all the new folks that subscribed this week! Today we’re back from a busy few days on the road and sharing a few takeaways from Toronto Climate Week. With 200+ events happening all across the city, it’s pretty much impossible to sum it all up. But we’ll share a few key themes that jumped out, and what it says about the state of climate tech in Canada.
Elsewhere in climate tech:
NS/TX closes $10.5M to scale alternative protein production
TD and Deep Sky sign a 10-year CDR deal
The team mapping Canada’s geothermal resources
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What we heard at Toronto Climate Week
Credit: Hiroki Kudo
Across five days and 200+ events, Toronto Climate Week showed that Canadian climate tech is past the “is this real?” question - and now onto the harder conversation about capital structure, market timing, and what it takes to scale.
Adaptation on the horizon
The realities of a warming climate are hitting home, and adaptation - products and services whose demand increases in a hotter world - is emerging as an investment thesis.
Darren Clifford from Adapt[us] laid out a clarifying assumption: if 2.5°C of warming is happening, how does that change where you invest or build?
Evok Innovations expanded its Fund IV thesis to include adaptation because a changing climate means customer demand is showing up
For insurer Definity, seeing claims double over the last decade signals a new reality. Restoring customers to pre-catastrophe conditions is no longer enough and requires a more active role in prevention and adapting
The thesis is still murky: exits are unclear, acquirers aren't obvious, and trying to sell loss avoidance is hard
Building in the real world
Climate tech isn't just about developing your technology. It's about scaling up from the lab and putting together complex, commercial-scale projects.
For Amit Modi from FGS, the first thing he looks at after a financial model is a risk register - identify every project risk before you pitch, from offtake agreements to supply chains and project partners.
Canada Growth Fund uses stage gates to meet the market while managing project risk, unlocking capital as milestones are hit
Founders focused on raising the current round need to keep an eye on the long term: having a line of sight to the next-of-a-kind project and showing investors the long-term game plan
Clean AI takes centre stage
The CleanAI Initiative launched their Canadian ecosystem report, making the case that Canada's already a leader in deploying AI for the climate.
Clean AI is a foundational growth sector, not a niche - 11% of AI VC is tied to a clean AI application
Canada's positioning (AI talent + resource economy + cleantech expertise) is strong, but compounding requires concentration: Vancouver, Toronto, KW, and Montreal each have distinct strengths that need to connect
For all the ways AI is reshaping energy demand and climate tech, this event was one of the few covering the topic, suggesting it’s still flying under the radar here in Canada
The case for Canada
Canada’s climate policy is sending mixed signals lately, but the actual moves on the ground are clear.
In our carbon solutions panel, the pull for international companies to Canada is real: regulatory stability, clean energy abundance, proximity to US markets, and resource access
Tina Rasmussen from Meadow Lake Tribal Council said Microsoft saw working with Indigenous communities and industry as a values-aligned partner - not a hurdle - in putting together a 15-year CDR offtake
But a speed and coordination gap persists. Nikhil Shukla from ArcTern put it plainly: Bay Area deals close faster because the whole capital network operates on trust. Canada's version is still forming. More big exits create the track record that gets you there
The bottom line: The climate tech conversation is maturing quickly as more companies go through the commercialization gauntlet. The structures that let ambition compound - trust networks, project financing, institutional offtakes - are the work of the next few years.
NS/TX (Toronto, ON) secured US$10.5 million in Series A funding and grants to scale its alternative protein manufacturing platform, led by Inter IKEA and Lever VC. NS/TX is building its V2 automated assembly line to 10x capacity.
SensorUp (Calgary, AB) closed a growth financing round led by Pender Ventures for its monitoring platform for heavy industry. SensorUp monitors oilwell production, flaring, and methane leaks, and will use the capital to expand into new industries and develop agentic modelling.
Picketa (Fredericton, NB) raised $2.1 million in seed funding led by Tall Grass Ventures for its crop analysis platform. As fertilizer prices climb, Picketa analyses plant tissue to help producers optimize fertilizer use.
EECOMOBILITY (Hamilton, ON) closed a follow-on financing round for its battery testing platform backed by RiSC Capital, Automotive Ventures and an OEM. The funding will be used to scale commercial deployment internationally and expand its product.
BeNat (Sherbrooke, QC) and Local Energy (Montreal, QC) won the Climate Solutions Prize Startup Competition.
Lyrata (Toronto, ON) won a $200K investment from Spring for its sustainable soil alternative for indoor farming.
NORAM Electrolysis Systems receives $5.6M to scale lithium refining operations. Vancouver-based NESI secured $5.6 million in federal and provincial funding to scale up electrochemical lithium refining.
Germany's TKMS signed an MOU with Heirloom and thyssenkrupp to develop large-scale DAC in Alberta. The agreement is part of TKMS' bid to build submarines for Canada.
General Fusion and Eavor ranked first and second on Time's Top GreenTech list for best-performing companies. Hydrostor and Carbon Upcycling also made the list.
Calgary-based Kathairos has reduced the equivalent of one million tonnes of CO₂ by replacing methane-rich natural gas with liquid nitrogen in pneumatic devices at oil and gas sites.
TD Bank signed a 10-year carbon removal offtake deal with Deep Sky, buying over 18,000 credits from direct air capture facilities.
GIT Coatings launched a next-gen graphene coating for ship propellers that reduces build-up, improving performance and fuel efficiency.
Bruce Power successfully refurbished its Ontario nuclear reactor seven months early and $150M under budget, extending operating life to 2064.
Jetson launched its home electrification service across California.
Climative launched its customer engagement platform for home energy upgrades in the US, helping homeowners leverage home equity for retrofits.
The Cascade Institute launched the Canadian Thermal Model, a machine learning-based map of Canada's geothermal resources to unlock investment in geothermal energy.
The Canadian Deep Geothermal Coalition is also building out a Canadian Deep Geothermal Roadmap.
US-based Vema Hydrogen partnered with First Atlantic Nickel & Cobalt to produce engineered mineral hydrogen at a nickel-cobalt project in Newfoundland.
Food security strategy: Canada launched its National Food Security Strategy, committing over $3.6B across food production, processing and distribution. Notably, it includes $750 million for indoor farming and a $1B fund for project finance at Farm Credit Canada.
Why it matters: The food value chain is a significant source of emissions - and a growing source of economic pressure for Canadians. New supports could unlock adoption across refrigeration, indoor farming, heat recovery and more while securing access to local food sources.
Low-cost power procurement: Ontario secured some of the lowest-cost generating capacity in its latest call for power - all of which came from renewables. New battery storage capacity was 36% lower than the last round.
EV mandates: Quebec lowered its zero-emissions vehicle mandate to 80% by 2035 citing supply chain and trade issues. Meanwhile, BYD may be bringing its flash-charging network to Canada.
Carbon groundwork: Quebec passed new legislation that lays the foundations for the province to establish a regulatory framework for carbon sequestration. Provincial regulations are required to tap into federal incentives.
QUICK HITS
A “Godzilla” El Niño could make 2026 the hottest year yet
Solar and storage made up 90% of new US capacity in Q1
Participation trophy: SBTI allows companies to claim “best efforts” on emissions
Can we really decouple emissions from growth? It’s complicated
Is this the end of the AI hype-cycle?
Twelve opens the first commercial SAF plant in the US
Rivian’s R2 takes on the SUV market
The SpaceX alum betting on oceans for geothermal energy
🗓 EVENTS
District Energy 2026 - June 23-26th, Ottawa
IEA Annual Global Conference on Energy Efficiency - June 29-30th, Montreal
PNW Climate Week - July 13-19th, Vancouver
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