Angels for Climate Solutions Aims to Accelerate and Amplify Investments in B.C. Climate Technology Startups
The Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC) is proud to launch Angels for Climate Solutions, a program aiming to increase the flow of capital investment into B.C.-based, early-stage climate technology startups.
“Angels for Climate Solutions is a result of the strategic imperative to ensure our innovation ecosystem has the support necessary to apply its ingenuity and agility to the climate emergency,” says VEC CEO Eleena Marley. “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.”
The program, funded by Innovate BC and delivered in partnership with Spring Activator, Volition and Foresight Canada, undertakes a cohort-based approach to education and training with two intersecting streams, one geared towards angel investors looking to make early-stage investments into climate technologies and one designed for climate-focused startups looking to fundraise.
Applications for both cohorts close on October 27. The education and training are interspersed with a series of pitch events, which culminate in the angel cohort awarding one startup an investment of up to $100,000.
“Collaboration with our partners within the tech ecosystem is so critical to driving progress with innovation and economic development in B.C. Innovate BC is proud to support Vancouver Economic Commission and their industry delivery partners on Angels for Climate Solution to catalyze the growth of our cleantech services ecosystem,” says Raghwa Gopal, President and CEO of Innovate BC.
Facilitating early-stage investment in climate solutions is essential to progress the innovation required to meet necessary climate goals. This is particularly critical during the “Decade of Action” outlined by the United Nations, which urges accelerated efforts to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.
“Moreover, the success of our early-stage startups and angel investors alike plays a significant part in future-proofing Vancouver and ensuring a strong, stable and inclusive economy,” adds Marley.
“Decade of Action” unlocks timely market opportunity for scalable climate-facing technologies
Thanks to Vancouver’s long-established environmental ethos alongside a talent-packed tech and startup ecosystem, the city is a hub for world-leading climate tech innovation – indeed, the Vancouver region accounts for the greatest per-capita density of climate tech companies in Canada.
However, the success of climate solutions, which include applications in transitioning the energy supply to renewable sources; moving toward zero-emissions transportation; reducing the impact of buildings and other infrastructure; cultivating sustainable food and agriculture, forestry, and land use; and decarbonizing industrial processes, is dependent on more than an attitude of safeguarding the environment.
“While effective climate solutions are a result of the founders and the innovations they develop, it is also reliant on the capital that supports them in their critical early stages of growth,” says Keith Ippel, CEO of Spring Activator. “For B.C.-based climate solutions to grow, thrive, and become global players in addressing climate solutions, we need to develop a vibrant early-stage investor community that is equipped and empowered to make informed investments for both financial and environmental returns.”
By connecting angel investors in Vancouver with startups seeking funds to scale their climate-oriented solutions, Angels for Climate Solutions helps address the urgency of the Decade of Action while leveraging the market opportunity it presents.
Together, these cohorts can make a notable contribution in addressing the climate emergency. For more information, visit www.vancouvereconomic.com/climate-angels.
Statements by Partners
“An important part of Foresight’s work accelerating the growth and impact of cleantech in Canada is connecting emerging companies with capital. Angels for Climate Solutions has tremendous potential to propel the commercialization and adoption of agile climate tech that will combat climate change and create green jobs in Canada through an engaged investor network.”
– Jeanette Jackson, CEO, Foresight Canada
“We have all seen the impact of climate change in this province and beyond, and we are honoured to be working in collaboration with VEC, Foresight, and Spring, to deliver the Angels for Climate Program. The startup program that we are working with Foresight on provides comprehensive training to help climate startups to fill knowledge gaps and improve core elements of their business, including their investor-related materials – our goal is to ensure that they are ready to engage investors and fundraise with confidence.
“This program is built for companies that are focused on climate change solutions, which is important and necessary work for a sustainable future, and given the rate of startup failure, it is crucial that these companies are provided the tools and support to be sustainable and create impact.”
– Paul Brassard and Melanie Ewan, Managing Partners, Volition
About the Vancouver Economic Commission (VEC)
The Vancouver Economic Commission is proud to serve one of the world’s fastest-growing, low-carbon economies. As the economic development agency of the City of Vancouver, VEC strengthens Vancouver’s economic future by building a prosperous, inclusive, zero-carbon and resilient local economy, competitively positioned in the global market. It does so by developing programs, supporting local companies, attracting targeted high-impact investment, and conducting and publishing thoughtful leading-edge industry research.
VEC respectfully acknowledges that it is located on the unceded ancestral territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ / sel̓íl̓witulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations.
Media Contact
Ingrid Valou
Communications and Media Relations Specialist, Vancouver Economic Commission
+1 (604) 868-1990 | ivalou@vancouvereconomic.com
