A Canadian clean energy innovator won this year’s Beaver’s Den.
The inaugural Beaver’s Den, a Canadian riff on the popular Dragons’ Den franchise and kickoff to this year’s Vancouver Starup Week, invited pre-series A companies for a chance to win cash and exposure.
Hosted by Funded in Vancouver at Science World, the affair saw nearly 100 companies apply.
Twenty-five startups were then selected as finalists, before the top five pitched live in late April.
The finalists were Prince George’s Open Waters Solar and Vancouver-based PhyCo Technologies, Goverly, ImageCyte Technologies, and BryoSphere Biotechnologies.
Niki Kearl of Open Waters Solar ultimately won the competition.
Typical solar panels use thin silicon cells that are high efficiency—but impractically fragile. Rooftop panels use glass that’s fine for a house but not ideal for things with curves, like boats.
Kearl alongside the rest of the team innovated a solution.
Founded in 2016 with an interesting backstory, Open Waters Solar has developed a special composite material that suspends solar cells inside a protective layer. This allows for protective rigidity but also versatile flexibility.
“We experienced first hand, fragile marine solar with misleading claims, inefficient designs, and bulky frames, so we developed a solution that delivers true durability, flexibility, and performance for those who seek the best,” the B.C. innovator states online.
The technology is being utilized through flagship products such as SolaDek, a walkable solar-powered flooring solution for boats, as well as configurations for air and land applications.
“Congratulations to you, Niki Kearl for a great pitch and facing our beaver judges,” reads a statement from Beaver’s Den.
“We’re honoured to come out on top,” Open Waters Solar stated. “We went into this process stronger than last year, with a more developed data room, clearer commercialization, and real market traction. That showed.”