Hi there,

This week we take a look at Moment Energy’s $40M Series B to turn retired EV batteries into grid-scale storage. They’ve giving batteries a second life and creating a China-free supply chain for battery storage at the same time.

Elsewhere in climate tech:

Plus: I caught up with Nelson Switzer from Climate Innovation Capital to get his take on making the most of Toronto Climate Week - and what to avoid.

What happened: Moment Energy closed a US$40 million Series B led by Evok Innovations to scale its second-life battery storage systems.

The tech: Moment Energy repurposes used battery packs from EVs for energy storage. When a battery comes off an EV after 10-15 years, it still has around 80% of its original capacity. That's not useful for an EV where range matters, but offers years of storage potential.

Moment combines industry-standard certification to ensure they're ready to be reused and a customized battery management system to optimize performance.

What's the context: Electricity demand is growing, driven by AI data centre growth and electrification. Grid operators and data centre developers are moving to add storage capacity to supplement renewables and lower peak demand.

Battery storage costs have hit record lows, but supply chains are still highly concentrated in China, creating price and availability risk for buyers.

Why it matters: Moment Energy's second-life model turns a growing waste stream into a cost advantage - and a domestic supply chain.

As the North American EV fleet grows, so does the supply of retired packs available for reuse. Moment estimates that about 900 GWh worth of battery packs will be retiring by 2030 alone.

Tapping into existing battery packs also allows the company to side-step "Foreign Entity of Concern" (FEOC) rules that prevent companies from using suppliers tied to countries like China. While competitors rely on imports from China, Moment's batteries are already here.

The bottom line: Moment has raised over $100 million to date and will use the fresh capital to expand its production facilities in BC and open its first gigafactory in Texas, serving grid-scale customers on both sides of the border with domestically-sourced storage.

Canada's climate challenge isn't an invention gap; it's a scaling gap. The Climate Solutions Prize Festival (June 8–9, Marché Bonsecours, Montréal) is where innovation gets moving. Founders, investors, researchers, and policymakers. Seven thematic tracks. One ecosystem. One mission: accelerating climate solutions from breakthrough to scale.

Innovation in Motion. Be part of it.

Come witness innovation in motion.

Skyward Wildfire (Vancouver, BC) received $1 million from Innovate BC's Integrated Marketplace program to test its lightning-caused wildfire prediction and reduction technology.

Greenwater Technology received $5 million from Ontario for a renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel pilot plant from forestry mill by-products.

Canada invested $30 million in six food and ag innovation organizations, including CFIN, Bioenterprise Canada and MaRS.

MaRS launched its FOAK Lab, a nine-month program to help climate tech startups finance and execute their first commercial-scale deployments. The first cohort includes Carbonova, Exterra, and Planetary.

Vancouver's NORAM Electrolysis Systems's technology will be deployed at Vulcan Energy's lithium processing plant in Germany to produce battery-grade materials for European EV manufacturers.

Phytokana Ingredients secured $450M in long-term offtake agreements for its fava bean protein products, underpinning plans for a commercial-scale processing facility in Alberta.

Pulsenics partnered with Moment Energy to use its electrochemical diagnostic equipment to develop quality control for second-life EV batteries.

Light House launched Bluprint, its accelerator for sustainable construction products and technology.

Toronto Climate Week isn’t a conference. It’s a once-a-year market for attention, capital, and ideas.

Most people show up and drift through it. They hop between panels, coffees, and happy hours. The ones who get real value treat it differently. They treat it like a process.

Before you arrive

The week is already won or lost before it starts. If you’re building your schedule on June 1st, you’re already behind.

Pick six to eight people you actually need to meet. Investors. Founders. Partners. People who matter to your next step.  

Start with relevance. Who is actively investing in your space - not who you wish was. Look at recent deals. Portfolio overlap. Published investment theses, articles and interviews. Then pressure-test the list. Ask yourself: who can actually change my trajectory in the next 90 days?

Visit the TOCW calendar and carve it up using filters that prioritize your objectives. Capital. Access. Partnership. Reviewing the speakers should act as your first lens. This tells you who you’ll meet. Teams tend to travel together. The room matters as much as the stage.

Small, curated formats outperform scale. Dinners. Roundtables. Invite-only sessions. That’s where connections happen.

Then think about location. Anchor yourself in one or two hubs, not ten. Proximity compounds opportunity.

Once you have identified your short list, reach out early and be specific about why you want to meet. This isn’t about maximizing volume. It’s about maximizing relevance. Quality over quantity.

Keep reading for Nelson’s take on pitching, winning the week, and how to close the loop →

New nuclear: Ontario is advancing the first large-scale nuclear build in 30 years, entering a cost-sharing agreement with Bruce Power to advance consultation and pre-construction activities for a 4,800 MW nuclear power plant.

Impact assessment: The Carney government is proposing major changes to Canada’s project permitting regime, including moving responsibility for pipelines to the Canada Energy Regulator.

Honda backs out: Honda may pull out of a $15-billion EV plant in Ontario due to weak U.S. EV demand and a strategic shift toward hybrids. The plant would have produced 240,000 EVs per year starting in 2028.

Carbon pricing stalemate: Alberta is pushing for slower increases to the industrial carbon price in its negotiations with the federal government that could open up new pipeline routes.

QUICK HITS

🗓 Toronto Climate Week: Seven days of ideas, solutions, and collaboration with participants from across Canada and around the world. June 1–7th, Toronto.

🗓 Global Energy Show: Connecting industry, capital and partners around the priorities shaping Canada’s next phase of energy growth. June 9-11th, Calgary

💻 Moment Energy is hiring a Director of Engineering

💻 Jetson is hiring an Applied AI Engineer

💻 NorthX is hiring an Investment Associate/Principal