Planetary offers a scalable, natural alternative to engineered carbon removal solutions by enhancing the ocean’s existing ability to absorb CO2. The ocean already absorbs 31% of global CO2 emissions, and by adding alkalinity, Planetary increases this capacity while neutralizing ocean acidity. The process, called Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE), stores carbon as stable salts within the marine ecosystem for thousands of years, making it a low-energy, cost-effective, durable solution. Early tests in controlled environments confirm successful CO2 removal, and ongoing open-ocean trials show no measurable negative impact on marine habitats.
ThinkLabs AI is a specialized AI development and deployment company focused on advanced engineering systems. With their flagship product, ThinkLabs Copilot, using proprietary physics-informed AI digital twins, ThinkLabs AI is well positioned to transform the way grids operate, rich of clean data and predictive power.
An additional five VCs from Vancouver, Toronto, and Montréal will receive portions of the $25 million commitment.
The Canadian government announced the second tranche of $25 million in VCCI funding to support underrepresented entrepreneurs, including women, Indigenous, Black, and 2SLGBTQI+ communities. This funding will benefit five venture capital firms, including Amplify Capital. Amplify Capital's managing partner, Kathryn Wortsman, highlighted that our focus remains on achieving strong financial returns alongside measurable impact.
ThinkLabs AI is developing a physics-informed digital twin model, supporting human operations by offering autonomous modeling and orchestration of the power grid. These insights enable power grid operators to connect power from renewable sources to the grid faster and more efficiently, alleviating grid connection queues.
ThinkLabs AI is a specialized AI development and deployment company focused on advanced engineering systems. With their flagship product, ThinkLabs Copilot, using proprietary physics-informed AI digital twins, ThinkLabs AI is well positioned to transform the way grids operate, rich of clean data and predictive power.
To catalyze industrial decarbonization, we must move away from energy-intensive manufacturing to more energy-efficient, low carbon footprint alternatives, such as bio-fermentation. Quebec-based BioIntelligence Technologies (BIT) provides solutions for reducing the carbon footprint in large-scale bio-manufacturing industries like chemical production, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, and certain food applications. BIT's analytics can alleviate challenges in biomanufacturing by reducing production losses and increasing yields by 5-10% per batch. This improvement fosters the adoption of more sustainable manufacturing processes.
Venture capitalists have traditionally focused on high returns and calculated risks. However, in today’s evolving market landscape, there’s a significant shift towards a more purpose-driven approach. Relying solely on financial gains is no longer sufficient. The demand from consumers, governments, and communities for investments that also yield environmental and social returns is growing. This is particularly crucial given the current state of our planet and the challenges faced by health and education systems. Impact investing emerges as a paradigm shift, redefining the fundamental principles of investment for double bottom-line returns.
EarlyBird Education, developer of the EarlyBird game-based early literacy assessment, has raised $3.5 million in funding, led by venture capital firm Lobby Capital. In addition, David Hornik, founding partner at Lobby Capital and founder of the Lobby Conferences, will join the EarlyBird Education Board of Directors.
Toronto-based Amplify Capital has secured the final close for its second impact investment fund, raising a total $30.7 million CAD—exceeding its initial $30 million goal.
Founded in 2016 as the MaRS Catalyst Fund with a $5.8 million Fund I, Amplify rebranded and spun out of the MaRS Discovery District in 2019. Led by private equity veteran and Managing Partner Kathryn Wortsman, Amplify backs early-stage Canadian healthtech, edtech, and cleantech startups at the seed and Series A stages.
“We want to support traditional investors thinking about [that] double bottom line.”
-Kathryn Wortsman, Amplify
