Two British Columbia (BC) innovation organizations are doling out a combined $9.2 million in funding to projects spanning cleantech and life sciences.
The BC Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) is investing $7.7 million into 13 projects made through its call for wildfire tech projects and its July open call for innovation. Crown corporation Innovate BC has also awarded $1.5 million to five BC projects focused on research and development in life sciences, food sciences, or cleantech.
CICE is investing $3.5 million in six of the 74 companies that applied for the 2024 wildfire tech call for innovation from June. The initiative was launched to source and fund projects working to commercialize technology that can help communities adapt to, prevent, and mitigate the impact of wildfires—a problem that is being exacerbated in BC by climate change.
The companies receiving funding from CICE under this stream include CRWN.ai, FireSwarm Solutions, Hummingbird Drones, Skyward Wildfire Technologies, Voxelis, and Wildfire Robotics.
“Wildfires are becoming more frequent and destructive, threatening communities, ecosystems, and the economy,” Sarah Goodman, president and CEO of CICE, said in a statement. “The companies we selected are developing cutting-edge solutions to reduce fire risk, improve response times, and protect vulnerable regions.”
CICE is also investing $4.2 million in seven B.C. climate tech companies, selected from 79 applicants to its July 2024 open call for innovation. The projects span three key areas: low-carbon hydrogen, low-carbon fuels, and energy storage. They include Edison Motors, NORAM Electrolysis Systems, AlgaFilm Technologies, NanosTech Environmental, Ekona Power, Quantum Technology, and Unilia Fuel Cells.
Earlier this year, Ekona Power was among 28 hydrogen power projects that received a cumulative $57 million from Alberta Innovates. The startup closed $79 million CAD in Series A financing in 2022.
To date, CICE has invested $39 million in 59 clean energy and climate technology projects valued at over $196 million through its calls for innovation.
Innovate BC’s funding comes from the province through the Ignite program, which funds innovation projects in the areas of natural resources and applied sciences. To be considered, projects must also address an industry problem with the potential for significant benefit to BC and be implemented by a group of academic and industry members. Each project is receiving $300,000 in funding.
One funded project, led by Ideon Technologies and the University of British Columbia, focuses on developing cosmic-ray muon tomography to improve safety and efficiency in mineral mining.
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Another project, Peqish Group in collaboration with UBC, is creating chia-based fat substitutes to reduce calories in foods. Rockburst Technologies and UBC received funding to develop a carbon dioxide-based ore pulverization method that reduces emissions in mineral extraction.
Also among the Ignite-funding projects is one initiative led by Viridis Research and Simon Fraser University (SFU) to advance water treatment technology for recycling textile wastewater.
Lastly, Geno10X Biosciences, Gene Bio Medical, and SFU researchers are receiving funding for their work on an artificial intelligence-driven platform for rapid, non-invasive testing for human papillomavirus, better known as HPV.
“These innovations not only address some of the province’s most pressing challenges, but also help promote productivity and growth in key industries, ultimately contributing to a prosperous economy that benefits all British Columbians,” Innovate BC president and CEO Peter Cowan said in a statement.
Feature image courtesy Unsplash. Photo by Noah Buscher.