The B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) has announced the recipients of its latest funding opportunities, investing a total of $7.7 million in 13 innovative climate tech companies.
These non-dilutive investments, made through CICE’s Call for Wildfire Tech and the July 2024 Open Call for Innovation, align with CICE’s mission to accelerate transformative decarbonization solutions and B.C.’s transition to a clean economy. This investment supports early-stage companies developing innovative clean energy and climate solutions, with a focus on technologies that drive significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
This spring, CICE launched Canada’s first-ever funding opportunity for wildfire technologies, committing up to $3 million to support companies developing groundbreaking solutions to better manage and mitigate the growing threat of wildfires. 74 companies applied for the 2024 Wildfire Tech Call for Innovation.
“Wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive, threatening communities, ecosystems, and the economy,” said Sarah Goodman, President and CEO of CICE. “The companies we selected are developing cutting-edge solutions to reduce fire risk, improve response times, and protect vulnerable regions. This funding is a significant investment in B.C. and Canada’s ability to respond to one of the most urgent climate-related challenges we face, while also paving the way to reduce carbon emissions from these devastating events.”
CICE is investing a total of $3.5 million in the following six companies:
- CRWN.ai: Predicting wildfire risk with frequency and AI on the most remote transmission lines.
- FireSwarm: Wildfire suppression through autonomous drone swarms to detect, map, and battle fires with precision and speed.
- Nova from Hummingbird Drones: Delivering real-time mapping with infrared scanning and machine learning, enabling fire teams to make swift, data-driven decisions.
- Skyward: Groundbreaking lightning suppression technology to prevent wildfires and protect communities, industries, and forests.
- Voxelis: Supercharging firefighting helicopters with advanced AI and sensor technology to combat wildfires.
- Wildfire Robotics: Advancing robotic systems that transform perimeter control and risk-reduction burning.
In addition, CICE is investing $4.2 million in seven B.C. climate tech companies, selected from 79 applicants to its July 2024 Call for Innovation.
These companies are advancing breakthrough technologies in low carbon hydrogen, battery technology, energy storage, and low-carbon fuels, and align with CICE’s mission to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon economy.
These projects—from EV-enabled snowplows to high-efficiency hydrogen fuel cells, to biofuels derived from wastewater—are pushing the boundaries of innovation to tackle emissions and transform industries. The projects include:
Battery and Energy Storage
- Edison Motors: Transforming winter road maintenance with the world’s first EV tri blade snowplow.
- NESI: Enabling sustainability in lithium battery manufacturing through circular processing.
Low Carbon Fuels
- AlgaFilm: Revolutionizing wastewater treatment with algae to create clean water and sustainable biofuels.
- NanosTech: Validating a novel catalyst to convert agriculture and forestry-based oils into low carbon fuels.
Low Carbon Hydrogen
- Ekona: Disrupting clean hydrogen production with cost-effective solutions that convert carbon waste into catalysts for economic growth and GHG reduction.
- Quantum Technology: Eliminating hydrogen loss during storage and transfers, enabling efficient refuelling for heavy transportation and remote applications.
- Unilia: Boosting hydrogen fuel cell efficiency, durability, and performance for zero-emission heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles to compete with diesel trucks.
“We’re on a mission to fast-track the commercialization of B.C.’s most promising climate solutions. A critical part of that is supporting innovators when they need it the most, so they ultimately deliver those impactful solutions to the world while creating economic benefits for B.C. and Canada,” adds Goodman.
To date, CICE has invested $39 million in 59 clean energy and climate technology projects valued at over $196 million through its open and directed calls for innovation.
Earlier this week, CICE launched a Call for Energy Storage Innovation in collaboration with BC Hydro, a $3 million funding opportunity to scale energy storage solutions and grid technologies to propel decarbonization and electrification in B.C., that can be replicated across jurisdictions to drive global climate impact.
CICE’s Call for Women in Climate Tech is now open, inviting women-led climate tech ventures to apply by December 3rd, with the goal of driving innovation, strengthening economic growth, and creating a more inclusive energy transition.