BDC Venture Capital intends to invest more than CAD100m into current and future scalable energy/cleantech opportunities.
"The rising cost of energy and resources, as well as the transition to a low-carbon economy, has caused a surge in cleantech innovation in Canada, and this country has the opportunity to be a world leader in developing technologies that can help companies address global resource, productivity and efficiency challenges," says Tony Van Bommel, senior managing partner of the Energy/Cleantech (ECT) Fund. "With this financing, BDC Venture Capital will support Canadian ventures that have the potential both to commercialise scalable ECT technologies and to generate significant returns."
BDC Venture Capital is one of the largest and most active venture investors in the Canadian energy/cleantech sector.
Traditionally, cleantech venture capital investments globally have been directed to large, capital-intensive infrastructure projects such as solar or wind farms or building large facilities for the production of biofuels or green chemicals. By contrast, the BDC Venture Capital ECT Fund tailors investments towards scalable, capital-efficient ventures that can improve the efficient use of scarce resources across all technology platforms, especially electronics, novel materials and information and communication innovations.
"The BDC Venture Capital ECT Fund is reshaping the concept of cleantech, by putting smart money towards globally competitive Canadian technologies that can make businesses everywhere more resource-efficient and productive," says Paul Kirkconnell, executive vice-president of BDC Venture Capital. "Along with our other dedicated funds, the ECT Fund is another example of how today’s BDC Venture Capital is making strategic investments that foster promising Canadian ideas with the potential for substantial return on investment, while also strengthening the country’s venture capital ecosystem."
The BDC Venture Capital ECT Fund has invested in D-Wave Systems, a quantum computing company based in Burnaby, British Columbia, and REGEN Energy, a Toronto-based provider of energy-reduction solutions for commercial, industrial, institutional and multi-residential facilities. The fund’s current portfolio also includes General Fusion, SWITCH Materials, Teradici, Axine Water Technologies, Cooledge Lighting, Nexterra, Solantro and Vizimax.
