The Capital Angel Network is a network of angel investors in the Ottawa-Gatineau region.  They exist to build the region's entrepreneurial community and make the region the best place to start a business.  They have nine meetings of their members each year, and at each meeting two or three companies present their proposals to the angels in attendance.

Capital Angel Network

We help startups get from prototype to ramen profitable

Ramen Ventures

Innovacorp is an early-stage venture capital firm that helps knowledge-based startups commercialize their technologies in the global marketplace. It invests in early stage Nova Scotia entrepreneurs, combining venture capital with business mentoring and incubation facilities. Innovacorp was established in 1995 and based in Halifax, Canada.

Innovacorp

Apollo Projects is an early-stage investment fund managed by the Altman brothers. It invests in founders who have audacious visions of the future, and who can execute to make their visions reality.

Apollo Projects

Planetary

Reinforcing recycling, rerouting refuse, and reducing wasteflows

Waste Recovery & Management Tech

Cyclic Materials is an Ontario-based advanced metals recycling company focused on recovering rare earth elements (REE) used in high-performance magnets from end-of-life products. It re-circulates REEs back into the supply chains of automobiles, renewable wind energy, electronics, and more. Additionally, the company’s process recycles copper, aluminum, steel, cobalt, and nickel—metals that are also required for electrification and decarbonization. Cyclic Materials' closed-loop process reportedly uses less than 2% of the water and requires only 40% of the CO2 emissions of newly mined material.&nbsp;In February 2024, Cyclic Materials expanded to process <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27086">two new streams</a>, wind turbine generators and MRI machines to create a circular supply chain that feeds these critical metals back into the North American and European markets.Cyclic's first facility, operational since September 2023, processes approximately 2,200 pounds of devices per hour, or nearly 18 million pounds per year, using its Mag-Xtract magnet removal process. Additionally, its hydrometallurgical process, which underwent trial runs in 2022, has an initial capacity of 22,000 lbs per year. As of March 2024, the company was developing its first commercial demonstration plant for this technology in Kingston with a target launch date in Q2 2024. Plans are also underway to expand with multiple facilities in the US and Canada.Key customers and partnershipsIn 2022, Cyclic Materials partnered with Polestar for the development of REEs of recycled magnets for use in Polestar cars, as well as explore ways to efficiently recycle existing magnets. ‍In February 2023, the company partnered with<a href="https://www.solvay.com/en/"> </a>Solvay for the production and supply of recycled mixed rare earth oxides (rMREO). The company also partnered with Arnold Magnetic Technologies, a leading magnet manufacturer, in April 2023, to establish a rare earth recycling program that would recycle all elements from Arnold's supply feed. In March 2024, the company partnered with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/27689">Vacuumschmelze</a>, a developer of magnetic materials and solutions, to recycle by-products containing critical materials used in high-performance permanent magnets.Funding and financialsIn April 2023, Cyclic Materials raised USD 27 million in an <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/18019">oversubscribed Series A financing</a> round led by Energy Impact Partners (EIP) and BMW i Ventures (BiV) to scale up its technologies for future growth in North America, Europe, and Asia, as well as meet the rising demand for REEs. The company was also among the 17 companies selected to receive USD 3.6 million in funding in February 2023 from the Sustainable Development Technology Council (SDTC) of Canada to support the scaling of their proprietary technology.

Cyclic Materials provides recycling services that recover rare earth elements aiming to reduce the opening of new mines and accelerate the transition to electric mobility and cleaner energy. It operates landfill-bound products and recovering their critical metals that help businesses in supplying wind turbines, electric vehicles, and electronics segments by reducing CO2 emissions.

Planetary develops ocean-based carbon removal technology to accelerate the natural carbon cycle. Planetary’s system purifies the mountains of alkaline rock waste left behind by large-scale mining operations, extracting the alkalinity from the rubble and putting it in the ocean, thus accelerating the carbon transition and rebalancing ocean chemistry. Planetary Technologies is on a mission to remove 1 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere by 2035.

Canada-based Planetary Technologies (formerly Planetary Hydrogen) is an ocean-based carbon removal technology. The company’s patented accelerated carbon transition (ACT) platform removes carbon at a gigaton scale and permanently sequesters carbon.

Clear the air on carbon capture, reuse, and storage

Carbon Capture, Utilization & Storage (CCUS)

Planetary Technologies

Planetary Publishes Research

Cyclic Materials

BMW i Ventures

Energy Impact Partners

Bioindustrial Innovation Canada

Fifth Wall

Startups developing recycling technologies such as lithium-ion battery recycling processes or a Magnet-to-Magnetä recycling process to convert electronic waste into products that include recycled batteries and cathode materials.

Canada-based Planetary Technologies (formerly Planetary Hydrogen) is an ocean-based carbon removal technology. The company’s patented accelerated carbon transition (ACT) platform removes carbon at a gigaton scale and permanently sequesters carbon.Planetary Technologies has developed a process to purify alkaline rocks that remain after mining, which are then added to the ocean to enhance its natural ability to capture and permanently sequester carbon from the atmosphere. Planetary Technologies is currently selling 3,000 carbon credits with retirement dates of 2027–2029. Shopify was the first purchaser of Planetary’s carbon credits. The company planned to deploy pilot plants in Quebec, Nova Scotia, and the UK in late 2022.Key customers and partnershipsPlanetary Technologies is currently selling 3,000 carbon credits with retirement dates of 2027–2029. Shopify was the first purchaser of Planetary’s carbon credits.Funding and financialsIn April 2022, Planetary received USD 1 million as a part of the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Milestone Award.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9198">March 2022</a>, the company raised USD 4.2 million in a pre-seed funding round led by Innovacorp and Apollo Projects and received CAD 3.6 million (USD 2.8 million) in grant funding. The proceeds were used to build pilot facilities to deploy Planetary Technologies’ proprietary ACT technology.

Prometheus follows a next-gen electro-chemical-based approach to convert CO2 into carbon-neutral fuel using renewable energy and carbon nanotubes. Industrial fans suck ambient air and blow it across a waterfall that absorbs CO2 and additional water. The electricity “charges” and “energizes” captured carbon with hydrogen molecules from water to create long-chain alcohols. Alcohols are then harvested using a special type of membrane called the Maxwell Core. Its pores are carbon nanotubes, which allow alcohol through while rejecting water. A final catalyst step combines the alcohols and recovers water. The company claims that it is the only one in the world that can separate alcohol from water economically. This step can be customized to produce gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel.In <a href="https://prometheusfuels.com/news/our-finished-commercial-scale-stack-design-unlocks-lowest-cost-fuel">October 2022</a>, Prometheus completed the design of the commercial-scale cell and stack Titan Fuel Forge.Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2019, Prometheus partnered with Boom Supersonic (a company building the world’s fastest supersonic airliner) to supply carbon-neutral fuel for the flight test program of one of its demonstrator aircraft scheduled for 2021. In July 2021, the company entered into a purchase agreement with American Airlines to supply 10 million gallons of carbon-neutral jet fuel.&nbsp;

Prometheus Fuels

UK-based Storegga Geotechnologies (Storegga) provides carbon capture and storage (CCS) solutions for energy-intensive sectors such as petrochemicals, agriculture, and airlines. In July 2020, Storegga acquired Pale Blue Dot Energy (PBDE), through which the company became the lead developer of the Acorn CCS Project (the UK’s first large-scale carbon capture project). In August 2022, Storegga launched a new entity <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11990">“Storegga Americas” </a>to explore clean fuel opportunities and to scale up its operations across the US, Canada, Latin America, and the Caribbean.Key customers and partnershipsIn June 2021, Storegga partnered with Carbon Engineering, a Canadian direct air capture (DAC) startup, to initiate engineering and designing a new facility in North East Scotland, which could remove between 500,000 and one million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere annually. The project was backed by a UK government grant of GBP 249,000 received in May 2021. In July 2021, Acorn CCS signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SEGAL and FUKA gas terminals to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from its operations. The two gas terminals will become the first customers for Acorn CCS. In August 2021, Storegga signed an MoU with Virgin Atlantic to secure the airline as an early customer.&nbsp;In March 2022, Storegga <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/9378">partnered</a> with Mitsui to commercialize its proprietary DAC technology. In June 2022, the company signed an MoU with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/11230">Aker Carbon Capture</a> to deploy CCS projects in the UK. Other partners include Sval Energi, Talos Energy, Freeport LNG and <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/10230">ScottishPower</a>.In August 2023, Storegga together with Sval Energi, a Norwegian energy provider, and Neptune Energy, a UK-based oil and gas explorer, <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21191">secured</a> their <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/16698">previously applied</a> CO2 storage license to develop the Trudvang CCS project in the Norwegian North Sea. In October 2023, the company signed an MOU with <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/22815">Svante</a> to develop CCUS projects by combining Svante's carbon capture and removal filter technology and Storegga's CO2 transportation and storage expertise. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/32814">August 2024</a>, the company partnered with PETRONAS and ADNOC to evaluate offshore CO2 storage capabilities in Malaysia.&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

Storegga Geotechnologies

Carbfix is an Icelandic carbon sequestration company that stores captured carbon dioxide (CO2) permanently underground. During the pilot phase of Carbfix, findings revealed that over 95% of the injected carbon dioxide mineralized within two years, in contrast to the previous understanding that it would take several hundred or thousands of years. Carbfix began as an academic-industrial research project in 2007 and was established as a subsidiary of Reykjavik Energy (OR), an Icelandic geothermal company, in 2019. Carbfix was spun out of OR in January 2020.As the technology requires vast amounts of water to dissolve carbon dioxide, in June 2021, Carbfix’s technology was validated to be used with seawater—applicable in regions where fresh water is scarce. The use of seawater with Carbfix’s technology is experimental, with a field pilot project scheduled in Iceland for 2022.Key customers and partnershipsIn August 2020, Climeworks, a Swiss company specializing in direct air capture (DAC) technology, along with ON Power, a Swiss geothermal energy provider, signed an agreement with Carbfix to scale up CO2 removal and storage. From September 2021, the new facility, located in Iceland, is expected to remove 4,000 tons of CO2 from the atmosphere per year. In 2017, Climeworks and Carbfix also partnered to operate a small-scale DAC and storage facility of 900 metric tons per year, also in Iceland.In July 2021, Aker Carbon Capture, a Norwegian carbon capture company, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Carbfix to collaborate on cost-efficient carbon capture and storage solutions. Elkem, a Norwegian environmentally responsible manufacturer of materials, has also partnered with Carbfix to reduce emissions of its alloys plant in Grundartangi, Iceland.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/21311">August 2023</a>, the company partnered with the University of Edinburgh (UoE) and the Scottish Universities Environmental Research Centre to evaluate CO2 mineralization in Iceland. In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/23535">November 2023</a>, Carbfix injected dissolved CO2 in seawater underground in partnership with the universities of Geneva and Switzerland, Iceland GeoSurvey (ISOR), and University College London.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/28975">April 2024</a>, Carbfix partnered with Deep Sky, a Canadian carbon removal project developer to explore potential CO2 mineral storage options in Canada.Funding and financialsIn July 2022, Carbfix was awarded a grant of ISK 16 billion (USD 117 million) from the EU Innovation Fund for the deployment of its Code Terminal project (a CO2 transport and storage hub) to capture 3,000,000 tons of CO2 per annum by 2031.

Carbfix

Global Thermostat specializes in Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The company employs a proprietary process using amine-based adsorbents to capture CO2, which is then concentrated for various applications, including storage and conversion into fuels, chemicals, and other products. This technology aims to transform CO2 from a climate liability into a valuable resource, contributing to a circular carbon economy​In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/29707">May 2024</a>, the company was acquired by Zero Carbon Systems, a developer of CO2 removal technologies, for an undisclosed sum.Key customers and partnershipsAs of August 2021, Global Thermostat had two pilot facilities in California and Alabama, each with the capacity to remove 3,000–4,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Since 2019, Global Thermostat has been in a partnership with ExxonMobil to scale commercially.In April 2023, Global Thermostat unveiled one of the world’s largest DAC units that permanently captures CO2 from the atmosphere. The unit had been under trial since the end of 2022, capturing 1,000 tons of CO2 per annum at the company’s US headquarters in Commerce City, Colorado. The DAC unit launched was a commercial-scale demonstration, with the company taking on pre-orders for DAC systems.In <a href="https://sp-edge.com/updates/26251">February 2024</a>, the company commissioned its first containerized T-Series system for the multi-ton scale DAC, with two microalgae producers, MicroBio Engineering Inc and Cyanotech Corporation, using this system to improve the production of microalgae biomass for renewable fuels in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.Funding and financialsMost recently in May 2023, the company received an undisclosed investment from Sumitomo Corporation, via its US-based venture arm Presidio Ventures. The two companies had also signed a letter of intent (LoI) to identify and develop CCS projects globally.

Global Thermostat

Remora’s devices capture carbon emissions directly from truck tailpipes. They can be fitted onto tailpipes of existing trucks to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) for 600–1,200 miles before an offload. Remora’s solution was initially funded by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and tested at the agency’s National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Lab.The company’s technology has a capture efficiency of 80% and can offload the captured CO2 while refueling—to be sold to concrete producers and other end users. The proceeds from the sale of CO2 are expected to be shared across fleet owners and customers once commercialized. Funding and financialsIn February 2024, the company raised an undisclosed amount in a Series A funding round led by Voyager Ventures.&nbsp; Key competitors: None comparable (Remora is the only startup that captures carbon from truck tailpipes)

Remora

Solutions that capture CO2 from flue-gas stacks including both industrial stacks and vehicle tailpipes.

Solutions that capture CO2 from ambient air, including from indoor spaces.

Solutions that “recycle” captured CO2 to produce commercial products other than sustainable fuel, such as proteins, plastics, building materials, etc.

Solutions that permanently store captured CO2 underground.

Solutions that “recycle” captured CO2 to produce sustainable fuels

Recycles captured CO2 emissions to produce sustainable fuels and other products

Planetary Technologies

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