Aaron Guan is the founder ofNeptune Nanotechnologies, a bio-nano material startup that is converting crab and other crustacean shells from the seafood industry into nano-material additives. These additives can dramatically increase the strength, water resistance and fire retardancy of paper packaging and other materials so that they can compete in areas where plastics have historically won out - all while being fully biodegradable.
In our conversation, we unpack how nanocrystals function and why they have such incredible potential; Aaron’s vision for a future with fully biodegradable products; and the impact that traditional plastics and additives have on human health and the climate.
We also talk about scaling a hardtech business from lab to commercial scale, overcoming green premiums in a highly commoditized market, and lessons learned from Aaron’s first biomaterials company.

Episode Links

• Aaron Guan
• Neptune Nanotechnologies
• Neptune's YouTube Channel
• The Lean Startup

If you liked this episode, please leave a review! You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to hello@climatetechcanada.ca.

Want more? Sign up for our newsletter to get news and insights on Canada's growing climate tech industry at⁠climatetechcanada.ca

Benoit Lacroix is the co-founder and CEO atReliON, a Reliability-as-a-Service startup offering an end-to-end experience for charging operators from problem detection to resolution.
In our conversation, we talk about why these charging issues exist in the first place, how they’re integrating a range of data points to better pinpoint charger issues and deploy the right resources for the job, and the impact reliability has on widespread adoption of EVs.
We also talk about what policy supports need to be in place to support electrification, the unique hurdles faced by fleet operators, and lessons Benoit’s bringing to this problem from close to 20 years experience working on electrifying transportation.

Talking Points:

• [3:40] Why reliability is still a problem in EV charging
• [7:55] Benoit’s journey from muscle cars to electric heavy duty vehicles
• [9:48] Building ReliON out of a Venture Studio
• [12:39] The different end users across the EV ecosystem
• [16:10] The many different problems chargers can run into
• [25:24] How do we define reliability?
• [28:16] The policy landscape and tailwinds
• [32:00] Listening to front line drivers
• [35:12] Lessons on company building from Effenco

Episode Links

• ReliON
• Diagram Ventures
• Canada’s Electric Vehicle Availability Standard
• A More Beautiful Question by Warren Berger

If you liked this episode, please leave a review! You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

Want more? Sign up for our newsletter at⁠climatetechcanada.ca

Paul Sehr is the co-founder of Jouleia, a new home modernization platform. Paul started Jouleia after modernizing & electrifying his own home - and realizing just how complex it can be.

Jouleia is modernizing homes for the electric age. Over 11 million Canadian homes require energy retrofits, covering everything from installing heat pumps to air sealing to improving insulation. Jouleia is simplifying the home retrofit process with a suite of free resources and their Home Expert Service, which handles the research and planning process of the retrofit while connecting homeowners with contractors and financing options.

Paul is a serial entrepreneur, having previously co-founded & run technology at FinanceIt (acquired, now Canada's largest home improvement lender). He has a technical background, with extensive executive experience in the fintech & home improvement sectors.

In our conversation, we cover:

[1:26] - How Paul got interested in this area by modernizing his own home

[5:02] - The problem Jouleia is solving in the market

[9:24] - Putting together the founding team

[11:13] - Building science and why they look at buildings as a system

[15:20] - Heat pump performance in cold temperatures

[17:33] - How we can accelerate retrofitting the millions of buildings needed for net-zero

[23:45] - Affordability in making these upgrades

[27:23] - How upgrading your home can avoid 35 flights worth of CO2

[28:32] - Lessons he’s applying from his time at FinanceIt

[31:06] - Initial traction with customers

[33:15] - Finding product market fit

[36:15] - Connecting homeowners and contractors in a marketplace

[38:02] - Emerging trends in home electrification

[41:08] - Building in the Toronto tech ecosystem and how its evolved

The Climate Cycle brings you in-depth conversations with climate tech founders building the next generation of climate solutions right here in Canada.

From the team at Climate Tech Canada, a weekly newsletter covering the latest in Canada’s climate tech ecosystem. We’re on a mission to highlight the incredible work of Canadian founders and connect the climate tech community.

Join us every other Thursday for new episodes.

In this episode of The Climate Cycle, we explore the world of public transit and its positive impact on our climate and communities.

Our guest is Justin Hunt, co-founder and CEO at Blaise Transit. Blaise is a sustainable mobility technology provider whose objective is to improve the cost-efficiency, ridership, and coverage of transit services. Blaise’s flagship product is a universal software platform based in artificial intelligence that allows local transit agencies to implement on-demand transit, paratransit or any other reservation-based transit service, using clicks, not code.

Justin has dedicated the past six years to nurturing Blaise Transit from its inception to a global force in the transit industry. Under his leadership, Blaise Transit has grown to a team of over 20 professionals and established partnerships with over 60 communities throughout North America.

In our conversation, Justin shares how his personal experiences using transit growing up led to founding Blaise Transit, how on-demand solutions are improving access (and in some cases safety) for communities, and the role of public transit in tackling climate change.

Episode Links

• Blaise Transit
• Justin Hunt or jhunt@blaisetransit.com
• Next 36
• Transit App
• Start With Why by Simon Sinek

If you liked this episode, please leave a review! You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

Want more? Sign up for our newsletter at climatetechcanada.ca

In this episode of The Climate Cycle we talk with Wayne McIntyre, founder and CEO of Relocalize. Relocalize is eliminating middle mile logistics with hyper-local food production, starting with the packaged ice industry.

Transporting food produces about 3 gigatonnes of CO2 each every year. And while electrifying transport will play a huge rule in reducing those emissions, Wayne and the Relocalize team asked “What if instead of electrifying all these links in the chain, we eliminated them entirely?”.

Wayne McIntyre brings over 20 years of experience in strategy, law, and technology. He has led growth transformations, M&A, and building commercial teams in both technology startups and large corporations.

We explore: the inefficiencies and high carbon costs of our current food system, why now is the right time to challenge centralization, the difference between automation and autonomy, and his vision for a hyper-local food system.

Highlights:

• [4:28] The origins of Relocalize and mining for problems
• [7:55] The climate problem embedded in middle-mile logistics
• [12:38] Solving supply chain resiliency while decarbonizing
• [15:06] Why now is the right time for decentralized production
• [17:01] Automation vs autonomy and closing unsolved gaps
• [26:01] How to break down complex systems and identify opportunities
• [29:56] Why a diverse team is critical for disrupting traditional sectors
• [34:34] Scaling to deploy hundreds of factories a year
• [37:14] Why we need patient capital for really disruptive innovation
• [40:07] How we can get the incentives for big risks right

Episode Links:

• Relocalize
• Wayne McIntyre
• Climate Brick
• The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov

If you liked this episode, please leave a review! You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

In this episode of The Climate Cycle we sit down with Stephanie Lipp, co-founder and CEO of MycoFutures.

MycoFutures is creating a new material for the fashion industry (and beyond) using mycelium, the root system of fungi. Their material is a leather alternative that is animal-free, plastic-free and non-toxic.

Animal-based leathers contribute to a range of climate issues, from propping up the beef industry (which is a major contributor to methane emissions and deforestation) to water pollution and human health impacts from the tanning process. Even vegan leathers are often made from polyvinyl chloride or polyurethane, both of which come from fossil fuels.

MycoFutures combines mushroom cultivation, vertical farming technology, and novel tanning methods to create innovative materials that have the look and feel of leather but without the environmental impact.

In our conversation, we cover:

• [1:50] Starting a mushroom farm in rural Newfoundland
• [6:15] Problems with animal-based leathers
• [9:56] Why there's no problem too small in climate
• [14:19] How they grow mycelium into a durable material
• [18:29] The potential in strain selection
• [20:30] Keys to scaling up
• [23:45] What's resonating with early customers
• [27:01] Proving the viability of a circular bioeconomy
• [29:42] Obstacles for early-stage startups that don't match the pattern
• [35:04] De-risking science-focused ventures

Episode links

• MycoFutures
• Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs
• Entangled Life by Merlin Sheldrake
• Mycophilia by Eugenia Bone
• Radical Mycology by Peter McCoy
• Fantastic Funghi

If you liked this episode, please leave a review! You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to ⁠⁠hello@climatetechcanada.ca⁠

In this episode, we're joined by Dr. Vida Gabriel, co-founder and COO of TerraFixing.

TerraFixing has engineered the only Direct Air Carbon Capture (DAC) technology to capture CO2 in cold climates. Because of their unique cold climate technology, they enable northern mines and the underserved indigenous communities nearby to fully decarbonize and achieve energy independence.

Dr. Vida Gabriel, co-founder and COO of TerraFixing, is an entrepreneur tackling climate change and is recognized in the Forbes 30 Under 30 list. With a PhD in sustainable chemical reaction engineering and almost a decade of engineering research experience, she is leading innovation to develop the first ever cold-climate direct air carbon capture (DAC) technology – a direct means for Canada to reach our net-zero targets.

In this episode, we cover:

• [2:00] The origins of TerraFixing and why they're pursuing a physical, adsorption-based method of removing carbon

• [4:25] Vida's pivot from biodegradable plastics to carbon removal
• [7:10] The advantages of working in cold climates
• [11:21] Partnering with Tugliq to unlock renewable energy investments in the North
• [15:19] Why carbon removal is so deeply intertwined with the energy system
• [17:47] Unpacking common criticisms of carbon removal and why we need it
• [26:38] Building a hardtech company out of a university lab & what needs to improve in the ecosystem
• [32:43] Advice to get started in carbon removal

Episode Links

• TerraFixing
• Tugliq Energie
• SDTC Seed Fund
• Carbon Unbound
• Carbon Business Council
• AirMiners
• Speed and Scale by John Doerr
• Buy Back Your Time by Dan Martell
• Unwinding Anxiety by Judson Brewer

If you liked this episode, please leave a review! You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to hello@climatetechcanada.ca.

Want more? Join hundreds of industry experts reading the best in Canadian climate tech each week. Subscribe at climatetechcanada.ca.

In this episode of The Climate Cycle, we're sharing a preview of our upcoming report on the state of VC funding for Canadian climate tech. It breaks down funding by industry, which investors and regions are the most active, and year-over-year changes in deal activity.

We share three areas of climate tech that we’ve been following closely this year and that have been attracting investment dollars.

We dive into chemicals and plastics, alternative proteins, and enabling platforms in sectors like carbon removal and biomanufacturing.

I’d love to hear which sectors you’re watching closely, or if you think we got something wrong. You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

Episode Links

• Our 2023 VC funding report

• Bioform Technologie and Anodyne Chemistries

• erthos

• Friendlier

• Suppli and Reusables.com

• Nfinite Nanotech

• Inside Chemical Valley’s state of emergency

• Opalia and Maia Farms

• CFIN and Genomics Ontario

• Mangrove Systems

• Biointelligence

In this episode of The Climate Cycle, we sit down with Roya Aghighi and Sarah Graham, co-founders of Lite-1.

Lite-1 is using biomanufacturing to produce sustainable dyes from microorganisms, replacing the fossil fuel-based dyes and pigments used in many industries.

Dyes are easy to overlook even though they’re right in front of us. But conventional versions are made from fossil fuels, contributing to water pollution, human health risk, and climate change. Lite-1 is aiming to take over these synthetic colourants with their sustainable and circular alternatives.

In our conversation, we explore the world of biodesign and precision fermentation, and why Roya and Sarah believe it’s the future of manufacturing. We also talk about the environmental and social impact of traditional dyes and the shift they’re seeing towards sustainable solutions like Lite-1 from partners in fashion and other industries.

Roya and Sarah also share their experiences building a hardtech company in Canada and how we can build a more supportive ecosystem for hardtech and climate tech.

About Lite-1

Lite-1 is at the forefront of transforming the colour industry, transitioning it from one of the most pollutive sectors to a clean, sustainable, and ethical one. By pioneering the next generation of 100% sustainable colourants grown from microorganisms in a circular system, Lite-1 is revolutionizing the way colours are produced and experienced. Using microbes as the factories of the future, Lite-1 cultivates sustainable dyes and colourants that offer an eco-friendly alternative to the fossil fuel-based dyes currently prevalent across industries. 

With the founders leading the charge in the field of biodesign, Lite-1 introduces a groundbreaking approach to interdisciplinary collaboration and bridges the gap between innovative technologies, systemic change, and societal needs, paving the way for a circular and regenerative economy that is not only environmentally sound but also economically viable. By prioritizing sustainability and profitability in equal measure, Lite-1 is shaping a brighter, more colourful future for industries worldwide.

If you liked this episode, please leave a review! You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to ⁠hello@climatetechcanada.ca⁠

In our conversation, we cover:

• [4:09] Roya & Sarah's journey into biodesign and biomanufacturing
• [8:58] The problem with conventional dyes
• [12:23] How biomanufacturing works
• [14:46] Advancements in bioreactor technology
• [18:46] Scaling up and adoption with industry
• [21:06] Integrating with existing supply chains
• [30:33] Common misconceptions about biodesign
• [35:21] Challenges building a hardtech company in Canada
• [43:40] Building out the Lite-1 team & what's next

Episode Links

Lite-1

Roya Aghighi

Sarah Graham

The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf

Grow magazine by Ginko Bioworks

In this episode of the Climate Cycle, we talk to Jack Bruner, co-founder at Mammoth Climate. Mammoth empowers companies to achieve their climate goals by mobilizing the workforce.

Mammoth's platform brings climate literacy and specific actions employees can take to reduce emissions into the workday, and helps sustainability teams align these efforts with the company’s specific emissions targets.

We talk about why so many corporate net-zero strategies are failing, how to make the return-on-investment case for sustainability teams, and what it means to build climate culture at work.

Jack also shares his experience leading teams in a fast-growing company, navigating challenging market conditions, and the keys to an effective founding team.

If you liked this episode, please leave a review! You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to ⁠hello@climatetechcanada.ca⁠

About Jack & Mammoth Climate

Jack is the co-founder of Mammoth Climate. Mammoth's mission is to empower companies to achieve their climate goals by mobilizing the workforce.

The team at Mammoth believe that the fight against climate change will be won from the bottom up, and bring expertise to the problem area in corporate sustainability and behavioural science.

To date, their work has driven tens of thousands of tonnes of carbon reduction and removal across their clients who range from financial institutions, to tech companies, to universities.

In our conversation, we cover:

• [1:44] The problem with corporate net-zero plans
• [4:04] Creating tailored climate actions
• [6:58] Building climate literacy
• [8:07] Empowering Green Teams
• [9:20] Why Scope 3 reductions are becoming table stakes
• [13:08] Carbon offsets vs reducing emissions
• [16:20] Mammoth’s growth and what’s changed in the market
• [20:17] Creating a climate culture & key learnings
• [25:22] The challenges leading a high growth company
• [30:01] Keys to an effective founding team

Episode Links

Jack Bruner

Mammoth Climate

Climate Tech Canada

No Competition newsletter by Matt Bertulli

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

In this episode of The Climate Cycle, we sit down with ⁠Alex Todorovic⁠, co-founder and CEO of ⁠Arbor⁠, a carbon management platform. We talk about the challenges faced by companies around the world as they decarbonize their operations and Scope 3 emissions, and the regulatory pressures that are creating a sense of urgency in businesses.

Alex shares the origins of Arbor from the early days at the University of Calgary, the team’s first hand experience with wasteful supply chains, and how they’re harnessing network effects to unlock data across industries.

About Alex

Alex Todorovic is co-founder and CEO of Arbor, a carbon management platform. Utilizing his extensive background in both software and business development, Alex has put his sights towards combating climate change, with a focus on creating positive human impact. Alex's passion for protecting the environment comes from his love of the outdoors, never letting a nice day go to waste.

About Arbor

Arbor aims to be the world's most accurate carbon management platform that quickly calculates the carbon impact of products, assets, and supply chains, with a high degree of accuracy. Arbor transforms data into actionable insights, paired with climate data and expert guidance, enabling businesses and organizations to confidently quantify their Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.

If you liked this episode, please leave a review! You can also send feedback and ideas for future episodes to ⁠hello@climatetechcanada.ca⁠

In our conversation, we cover:

[1:56] The origins of Arbor

[3:11] Working with Thin Air Labs

[5:02] The team’s drive to have a tangible human impact

[8:21] How the founding team came together

[10:10] Arbor as the single source of truth for emissions

[13:10] Avoiding greenwashing with data quality

[15:36] Working with regulators

[18:18] Using network efforts to unlock data at scale

[19:50] The competitive landscape

[23:38] What growth looks like today

[26:39] Growing the business and future fundraising

Episode Links

Alex Todorovic

Arbor

Thin Air Labs

Global Reporting Initiative

Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

What does it actually take to build first-of-a-kind climate projects inside some of the world’s most risk-averse industries?

In this episode, three leaders share how they’re scaling climate hard tech in the real world.

Saad Dara from Mangrove Lithium, on scaling electrochemical lithium refining and standing up their first commercial plant

Sean Lowrie from Arca shares how they’re deploying carbon mineralization at active mines and integrating carbon removal into mining operations

Jonathan Rhone from CO280 on partnering with pulp and papers mills to scale carbon removal and building a pipeline of billion-dollar projects across North America.

Recorded live at Converge 2025, hosted by NorthX.

Three home-grown leaders building the next generation of industry in Canada and around the world.

In this episode, we cover:

• The real challenges of moving from lab validation to commercial scale
• How to work with large industrial partners and navigate risk-averse industries
• Tactical lessons from building pilot plants and hundred-million-dollar projects
• The economic edge for Canada to transform existing industry

If you’re building in climate tech - or trying to understand how hard-tech companies actually scale - this episode offers three grounded, first-hand perspectives from the people working to transform industry and move the needle on climate change.

📬 ⁠Sign up for our weekly briefing⁠ to get the latest deals, real-world projects, and policy signals in Canadian climate tech.

More

→ ⁠Show notes for this episode⁠

→ Support the show by leaving a review on Spotify or Apple!

→ Follow us on ⁠LinkedIn⁠

→ Send feedback and episode ideas to ⁠⁠hello@climatetechcanada.ca

In this episode, I’m joined by Sarah Goodman, President and CEO of NorthX.

NorthX deploys non-dilutive catalytic capital at the early stages of commercialization, where founders face high risk, limited funding options, and a real need for industry traction. Their model has now supported more than 80 projects and helped unlock nearly half a billion dollars in follow-on investment from commercial partners and investors.

In this episode:

• The unique challenges faced by early-stage hardtech
• Why NorthX thinks like a VC fund to deploy non-dilutive funding
• How catalytic capital unlocked real traction for Arca, Mangrove Lithium, Moment Energy and others
• What founders need to know about securing their first industry partners
• Why Canadian climate startups need to think globally from day one
• The strategic opportunity for Canada to lead on climate tech

The NorthX model is truly unique in Canada, and is making real progress on scaling up climate hardtech. If you're interested in how climate tech actually makes it to market, this one's for you.

📬 Sign up for our weekly briefing. Get the latest deals, market insights, and policy signals in Canadian climate tech.

Enjoying the show? Help us grow by leaving a rating or review.

More

→ Show notes for this episode

→ Follow us on LinkedIn

→ Send feedback and episode ideas to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

Canada needs to retrofit millions of homes - fast. But outdated tools, confusing incentives, and a narrow focus on ROI are holding us back.

In this episode, Arman Mottaghi, CEO of Properate, lays out what it will take to bring retrofits to scale. We explore how Properate is rebuilding the software stack for home upgrades, why health and comfort are the real drivers of adoption, and how single-family homes - an overlooked part of our built environment - could become a climate linchpin.

We cover:

- The hidden impact of low-rise residential buildings

- What’s broken in Canada’s retrofit ecosystem

- How Properate is bringing energy assessments into the 21st century

- Why indoor air quality could be the secret weapon to unlock more retrofits

- Navigating ROI without consumer carbon pricing

- Creating feedback loops across governments, homeowner, and contractors

- Bootstrapping a climate tech company without VC funding

This is a conversation about the systems change behind climate tech and what it takes to create momentum in a market.

→ Check out the full show notes and resources on our website

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Get weekly funding updates, industry news, and Canadian climate tech insights. Sign up here

💬 Enjoyed the episode? Leave a review or drop us a line at hello@climatetechcanada.ca.

Nyla Ahmad is the COO at Alvéole, a company helping commercial real estate go nature-positive, starting with rooftop beehives. What began as a tool for tenant engagement has evolved into a scalable biodiversity monitoring platform, combining physical infrastructure with environmental data collection.

Nyla brings a background in media and telecom, having held senior leadership roles at Rogers and OWL Kids, before making a career pivot into sustainability. At Alvéole, she’s helping property owners prepare for the next wave of ESG disclosures, turn rooftops into biodiversity sensors, and reconnect people with nature.

Learn more at https://www.alveole.buzz/

In our conversation, we explore:

• Why biodiversity is the next frontier in ESG—and why it’s so hard to measure
• How rooftop beehives act as biosensors, collecting eDNA and pesticide data
• What’s driving commercial real estate interest in nature-based solutions
• The role of tenant engagement in return-to-office strategies
• What’s coming in the regulatory landscape (like GRESB and TNFD)
• How Alvéole is scaling across 70+ cities with 2,200+ hives and 80 million bees
• Lessons from customers, and why data and education go hand in hand
• Reflections on a career transition from telecom to climate

You'll gain insight into how real estate owners are starting to measure nature-related risk, how Alvéole blends tech and hands-on experiences to drive action, and why connecting people with nature might be the most overlooked lever in the climate fight.

📬 Subscribe to the Climate Tech Canada newsletter and get weekly updates on Canadian climate tech funding, industry news, and trends directly to your inbox. Sign up here.

⁠→ Check out the full show notes and links on our website

→ Support the show by leaving a review on Spotify or Apple!

→ Send feedback and episode ideas to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

Alex Deslauriers is the founder and CEO at FireSwarm Solutions, a startup revolutionizing wildfire suppression. FireSwarm is developing AI-powered swarm algorithms that enable heavy-lift drones to fight wildfires.

Alex brings over 25 years of experience in aerospace engineering and aviation software (including work with the US Navy on F-18 programs) before pivoting to wildfire tech after losing his own property to the Gun Lake fires in 2023. Now, he’s applying his extensive aviation experience and a talented team to tackle this growing climate challenge.

In our conversation, we explore:

• How FireSwarm’s drone swarms can close a critical nighttime gap in firefighting
• The economics of drone swarms
• How drones perform on efficiency, precision and lifetime costs
• Why wildfires represent a national security issue and Canada’s opportunity to lead
• The regulatory landscape and FireSwarm's path to deployment with Canadian wildfire agencies
• Partnerships with First Nations communities and municipalities

You'll learn about how wildfire response works on the ground, how autonomous drones make fire suppression safer and more effective, and the intersection between climate tech and national security.

📬 Subscribe to the Climate Tech Canada newsletter and get weekly updates on Canadian climate tech funding, industry news, and trends directly to your inbox. Sign up at ⁠climatetechcanada.ca⁠

→ ⁠Check out the full show notes & resources mentioned in this episode⁠

→ Support the show with a review on Spotify and Apple!

→ Send feedback and episode ideas to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

Marc-André Forget is the founder and CEO of dcbel, a startup transforming our relationship with energy at home.

dcbel enables homeowners to easily manage their solar, EV charging, and battery storage, integrating them into their intelligent home energy system - Ara.

dcbel recently secured a $55 million funding round led by the Canada Growth Fund, and is now deploying dcbel across North America and Europe.

Marc-André brings over a decade of energy sector expertise to the conversation, and shares his perspective on building dcbel, how our relationship with energy is changing, and the transformation he sees on the horizon.

In our conversation, we explore:

• How dcbel is creating an "iPhone moment" for home energy management
• Why homes are becoming the new battleground in energy markets
• How rising electricity costs and blackouts are changing consumer behaviour
• The path to customer adoption
• dcbel’s recent $55 million investment from the Canada Growth Fund
• Why finding the right investor fit is critical for long-term success
• Scaling hardware manufacturing
• Marc-André's predictions for the future of home energy

📬 Subscribe to the Climate Tech Canada newsletter and get weekly updates on Canadian climate tech funding, industry news, and trends directly to your inbox. Sign up at climatetechcanada.ca

→ Check out the full show notes & resources mentioned in this episode

→ Support the show with a review on Spotify and Apple!

→ Send feedback and episode ideas to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

Mike Kelland is the co-founder and CEO of Planetary, a carbon removal startup that’s aiming to draw down gigatonnes of carbon from the atmosphere by accelerating the ocean’s natural, carbon absorbing abilities.

While the world urgently needs to reduce the amount of carbon pollution going into the atmosphere, it’s also becoming clear that we need to remove our historic emissions if we want to limit the worst effects of climate change.

Planetary is working to draw down some of the 8 gigatonnes of CO2 we need to remove every year by 2025 to hit our climate goals. Ocean-based carbon removal is relatively new with lots of technical and measurement problems to be solved, but it’s one of the highest potential pathways for gigatonne-scale removal.

I sat down with Mike in person in Ottawa to talk about Planetary’s approach to carbon removal, the challenges of measuring carbon removal in the open ocean, and how they plan to scale physical plants on coastlines around the world.

→ Go here for full show notes and links

→ If you liked this episode, please leave a review!

→ Send feedback and episode ideas to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

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At this year’s Carbon Removal Day in Ottawa, we caught up with experts working across the life cycle of carbon removal to discuss the state of carbon removal, keys to scaling up, and Canada’s leadership potential.

Our Guests

[0:54] Phil De Luna is the Chief Science & Commercial Officer at Deep Sky, a project developer and owner-operator of carbon removal projects.

[7:12] Carson Fong is a Program Manager at the Business Renewables Centre Canada and the Pembina Institute’s Carbon Dioxide Removal Centre.

[12:20] Jane Kearns - Partner at Evok Innovations, a Canadian venture capital firm investing in the energy and industrial transition.

[18:30] Genny Shaw - Co-founder and CEO at Gaia Refinery, a carbon removal startup that merges direct air capture (DAC) with biomass carbon removal.

→ Go deeper with full show notes and links.

→ If you liked this episode, please leave a review!

→ Send feedback and episode ideas to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

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Matt Loszak is the co-founder and CEO of Aalo Atomics, a company building factory mass-manufactured nuclear power plants, purpose built for AI data centres.

The explosive growth of AI is driving up data centre energy consumption, and big tech players are looking for reliable, low-carbon energy sources to step up. Aalo’s small, modular reactor systems are purpose built for the needs of data centres and use a mass-manufacturing approach to lower costs and project timelines.

In this conversation, we explore why nuclear power is experiencing a resurgence after decades of limited deployment, the advantages of small modular reactors versus traditional large nuclear plants, how nuclear safety has improved with modern reactor designs and fuel types, Matt’s journey from SaaS to deeptech founder, and much more.

→ Go deeper with full show notes and links

→ If you liked this episode, please leave a review!

→ Send feedback and episode ideas to hello@climatetechcanada.ca

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In this episode, we sit down with Dr. Christine Gabardo, co-founder and CTO of CERT Systems, a climate tech startup working to produce essential chemicals without fossil fuels.

CERT's technology takes CO2 from industrial carbon capture systems and turns it into sustainable, high value chemicals like ethylene using water and electricity.

The CERT team brings decades of experience in electrochemistry, materials science, and engineering, and was the first in the world to demonstrate the conversion of industrial emissions into ethylene as a finalist in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE.

In our conversation, we unpack how CERT Systems' technology works, how it could be a pathway for producing sustainable aviation fuel, lessons learned from the Carbon XPRIZE, scaling up 10,000x, why people underestimate the market for sustainable ethylene, building effective pilot partnerships, and more.

More info and show notes available here.

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Our guest today is Rashmi Prakash, founder of Aruna Revolution. Aruna is a sustainable fibre company making compostable menstrual pads that are better for our bodies and the planet.

We talk about the intersection of climate and human health, how they’re turning agricultural byproducts like stems into sustainable, high performance fibres, and Rashmi’s journey from medical engineer to startup founder.

Talking points:

• The impact and scale of single-use menstrual products
• Biodegradable vs compostable materials
• Balancing technology development with consumer product strategy
• Scaling up production to 1 tonne
• Creating sustainable supply chains through direct farmer relationships
• The transition from engineering to entrepreneurship

Episode Notes

• Aruna Revolution on Dragons' Den
• ISO's Menstrual Product Standards
• Scale Your Everest

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In today’s episode, we’re diving into the world of commercial building retrofits.

We're joined byChristopher Naismith, founder and CEO ofAudette, a decarbonization platform for commercial real estate asset managers.

Audette enables retrofits at scale by bringing data and software to what has traditionally been a manual, building-by-building process, turning it into a data-driven strategy and with the capital plans to make them a reality.

We cover:

• Christopher’s path from civil engineer to startup founder
• Audette’s data-driven approach to building audits
• The spread of building performance standards across cities
• Brown to green capital strategies
• Energy efficiency vs true building decarbonization
• How carbon taxes and fines are creating new financial incentives for building improvements
• Why workflows and business models matter as much as technology
• Audette’s ambitions as a marketplace for building retrofit solutions

Episode notes:

• Christopher Naismith on LinkedIn
• Audette

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We sit down with Hayden Smith, founder and CEO of FeX Energy, to unpack why energy storage matters to the energy transition and how their new iron-based storage solution could challenge incumbent technologies like lithium-ion.

FeX is developing an Iron Arc reactor that has the potential to hold energy for days or weeks, and release it as clean energy and high-temperature heat that could power industries like mining, provide heating for buildings, or balance load for the grid. By using one of Earth’s most abundant and affordable materials, FeX aims to close the gap between intermittent renewables and reliable, dispatchable power.

In this conversation, we cover:

• Why energy storage is the “missing link” in the clean-energy transition
• How FeX’s iron-based system compares to lithium and hydrogen storage
• The role of long-duration storage in decarbonizing heavy industry and remote sites
• What Canada needs to do to accelerate storage deployment and grid resilience
• Hayden’s journey from corporate innovation at Siemens Energy Ventures to climate tech founder

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In this episode, we dive into the complex world of climate risk and how it's reshaping global financial markets.
Our guest is Dr. Ron Dembo, founder and CEO ofRiskThinking.AI. RiskThinking.AI leverages their digital twin of the Earth to offer the only probability-based, integrating different climate scenarios, expert insights, and millions of data points to measure and model climate financial risk. See it in action atask.riskthinking.ai.

In our conversation, we cover

• Why climate risk requires new approaches
• How understanding climate risk can accelerate the switch to a low-carbon economy
• The impact of climate risk on credit ratings and long-term stability
• RiskThinking's collaboration with Canada's financial regulator
• Why more Canadian businesses should back home-grown innovators

About Dr. Ron Dembo

Dr. Dembo has made significant contributions to mathematical algorithms and finance, and is a leading authority on financial risk management. Dr. Dembo worked on methods for solving large-scale nonlinear equations as a professor at Yale and a visiting scholar at MIT, and was honoured as a Lifetime Fellow of the Fields Institute of Mathematics in 2007. Dr. Dembo previously founded Algorithmics (acquired by Fitch Ratings), an enterprise risk management platform for the world’s top banks, and Zerofootprint, one of the first companies focused on measuring and reducing carbon footprints.

Episode Notes

• Dr. Ron Dembo
• RiskThinking.AI
• Ask RiskThinking chatbot
• Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari
• OSFI

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Corey Ellis is the co-founder and CEO of Growcer, an Ottawa-based company building modular farms & food infrastructure used by communities, schools, and grocers across Canada and around the world.

We talk about the impact our food system is having on the climate and how vertical farming can help solve those problems. We also talk about lessons learned from the vertical farming hype cycle, Growcer’s $30M infrastructure fund, and building a company for the long-term.

About Corey

Corey started Growcer in 2014 with his co-founder Alida Burke after seeing firsthand how northern communities struggle with food security. What began as a social enterprise project in Nunavut grew into a mission-driven company tackling food affordability, waste, and access.

Growcer has deployed over 800 farms worldwide, acquired its US competitor Freight Farms, and launched a $30M Growcer Fund to finance climate infrastructure.

In this conversation, we cover:

• 7:40 - What’s broken in our food system and why boring problems like distribution and shelf life matter

• 11:03 - How modular farms cut food waste and fertilizer use - but aren’t a silver bullet

• 16:51 - How Growcer turned customer criticism into their best R&D engine

• 19:19 - What real food sovereignty looks like when communities own their infrastructure

• 24:34 - The “vertical farming” hype cycle and why most players got it wrong

• 39:37 - Borrowing lessons from real estate to finance climate infrastructure

• 50:59 - Solving hard problems and building culture from first principles

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Kevin Krausert is the co-founder and CEO of Avatar Innovations, a Canadian venture studio reshaping how energy technologies are developed, funded, and scaled. From Calgary to Houston and beyond, Avatar is working with industry insiders to turn ideas into deployable solutions for the energy transition.

Kevin brings a unique perspective to climate tech. He began his career on the rigs in northern Alberta, became CEO of one of Canada’s largest drilling companies, and later co-founded Avatar to bridge the gap between researchers, corporate engineers, and operators. His goal: create a new model of innovation that can move the needle on emissions while making economic sense.

Talking Points

• (6:02) How Avatar’s venture studio model differs from traditional VC and why it may be better suited to capital-intensive energy tech
• (10:58) The evolution of energy innovation - from wildcatters to corporates to today’s startups - and why the old venture model is breaking down
• (17:32) The role of corporates, governments, and founders in building smarter risk–return structures to accelerate climate solutions (not just throwing public money at the problem)
• (21:12) Why Canada is positioned as a “middle power” in climate tech
• (34:24) Tactics for founders and startups to break through the noise selling to corporates

You’ll walk away with a clear-eyed look at where energy innovation is headed, what models might actually work in Canada’s climate tech landscape, and how founders can better navigate this uncertain but opportunity-rich moment.

Show Notes

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Nelson Switzer is the co-founder of Climate Innovation Capital and author of The Gigacorn Hunter. Nelson’s spent his career at the intersection of capital markets and sustainability, helping corporations, institutional investors, and governments allocate dollars where they can drive the greatest climate impact

Talking points:

• (5:11) The fifth industrial revolution. Nelson explains why the decarbonization of everything is not just a trend but an economic and existential shift.

• (9:34) “Dollars in motion transform entire sectors.” Why Nelson believes capital allocation - not philanthropy or reports - has the greatest power to drive decarbonization.

• (13:31) The carbon qualification model. A tactical framework using scale, speed, and cost to evaluate whether a climate solution can bend the carbon curve.

• (21:42) Building trust with investors. Advice for founders on how they can build trust with potential investors - even if they don’t have totally complete data.

• (31:13) Opportunities in today’s market correction. Why Nelson sees discounted valuations, dry powder, and surging demand as the setup for the next successful vintage of climate funds.

• (37:40) Canada’s commercialization gap. Why Canadian corporates need to stop piloting and start buying if we want to build global-scale climate companies.Stay in the know on Canada’s clean economy.

About Nelson: Before founding Climate Innovation Capital, Nelson led sustainability initiatives inside global giants like Nestlé and advised some of the world’s largest investors on ESG risks and opportunities. His book, The Gigacorn Hunter, lays out a practical playbook for climate investors navigating one of the most urgent - and profitable - frontiers of our time.

Show Notes

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We sit down with ⁠Emily Farrar⁠, co-founder at ⁠Genuine Taste⁠, a startup tackling one of the biggest limitations in plant-based food: flavour.

Genuine Taste are developing cultivated animal fats grown from cells in compact bioreactors. Their goal? Deliver the taste, texture, and nutritional profile of real fat - without the emissions or animal suffering.

About Emily: With a background in climate tech consulting and civil engineering, Emily co-founded Genuine Taste alongside a biophysics expert to define the future of food and build a more sustainable alternative to animal agriculture. They’ve already secured early partnerships and are scaling toward commercial pilots.

We talk about:

• Why fat is key to unlocking adoption in plant-based foods
• Lessons they’ve taken from the first wave of alt-protein companies
• How they’re able to produce fats lower costs and 100x smaller footprint than competitors
• Navigating regulations and their decision to enter the pet food market first
• Positioning cultivated fats and proteins with consumers
• How Canada’s biotech ecosystem is giving them an edge

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Apoorv Sinha is the co-founder and CEO of Carbon Upcycling Technologies, a Calgary-based startup turning industrial waste and captured carbon into low-cement.

Cement is a huge part of modern life but also one of the biggest sources of carbon pollution. Carbon Upcycling helps cement producers lower their emissions by replacing traditional cement with low-carbon alternatives made from industrial or mine waste and reacting it with CO2 to permanently lock away carbon.

Their tech slots right into existing plants and helps cement makers localize their supply chains, making it easier and cheaper to cut emissions while building the infrastructure Canada needs.

About Apoorv

Apoorv is a chemical engineer by trade and has extensive experience in conventional energy.

Since launching Carbon Upcycling in 2014, he’s built partnerships with some of the biggest cement companies in the world, including CRH, Titan, and CEMEX, and just closed a major funding round led by Builders Vision.

Talking Points

• How waste from mining and steelmaking can replace emissions-heavy cement ingredients
• Why working with local materials matters for climate, economics, and supply chain security
• What it takes to scale a startup in Canada’s hard-to-decarbonize sectors
• The policy and funding tools that could speed up adoption
• Why Canada's infrastructure push is a huge opportunity for climate tech

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Morgan Lehtinen and Sebastian Alamillo are the co-founders of RXN Hub, a new facility to help ChemTech ventures scale from lab to market.

RXN Hub is tackling one of the biggest and least-addressed challenges in climate tech: how to scale chemical technologies from the lab to commercial scale.

Whether you're working on carbon capture, energy storage, or green industrial processes, there’s often nowhere to go once your research is too big for a university but too early for a full-scale plant.

Morgan and Sebastian have both lived that experience as chemtech founders, and now they’re building the infrastructure they wish they had to make scaling up faster, easier, and more cost effective.

In our conversation, you’ll learn about:

• Why chemistry is at the core of so many climate solutions
• What’s driving a renewed interest in chemistry tech
• Crossing the capital and infrastructure valleys of death

• How RXN Hub is cutting costs and complexity for first-of-a-kind projects
• Why international ventures are looking to Canada for their first pilots
• The value of founder experience in building better infrastructure

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Oliver David (OD) Krieg is the President of Intelligent City, a Vancouver-based company redefining how we build housing using mass timber, advanced manufacturing, and parametric design. Intelligent City is working to solve Canada’s climate and housing crises.

About Intelligent City: Intelligent City manufactures prefabricated building panels out of renewable mass timber. Their platform enables faster, lower-carbon, and higher-quality housing construction that can scale across Canadian cities.

About OD: With a background in architecture, robotics, and computational design, OD was one of the earliest team members at Intelligent City. He’s helped guide the company from early research and prototyping to full-scale manufacturing, including recent projects in Vancouver and Toronto. Their work is pushing the frontier of what’s possible in Canada’s construction and climate sectors.

In our conversation, we discuss:

• The carbon math behind mass timber and why end-of-life planning matters
• What’s slowing down construction, from financing models to permitting
• What it takes to get developers and builders to shift mindsets and start exploring mass timber and prefab
• The role of Canada’s forest supply chain in enabling sustainable construction
• OD’s vision for local factories building homes across across the country

You’ll gain firsthand insight into what it takes to bring climate tech into a sector that can be slow to change and adapt, and why prefab construction might finally be ready to scale in Canada.

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