Cheatsheet: How do Vancouver investors approach climatetech?
It’s a hot space for investment, and a complicated one, too. We speak with a number of local funders to help demystify the industry.
What does it mean to invest in the technologies that will allow us to mitigate or adapt to a changing climate? I asked a number of Vancouver funders in the space what they thought — Sarah Applebaum at Pangaea Ventures, Marty Reed at Evok Innovations, and Mike Winterfield at Active Impact Investments. Here’s what they had to say.
These interviews have been lightly edited and condensed for clarity.
Go deeper: Investing in Vancouver’s early-stage cleantech and climatetech
VTJ: How do you approach climatetech investment at your fund?
Marty Reed: For decarbonisation, we really look at five buckets. First, carbon capture and utilization, which includes carbon dioxide removal. Second, electrification, particularly in industrial systems. Third, critical minerals — this has really become a much greater area of focus not only for us but the clean tech community as a whole, in terms of continuing to provide the world with the copper, lithium, nickel, and graphite needed to build renewables. Fourth, low carbon fuels — things like hydrogen and sustainable aviation fuel. And then the final bucket is just catch-all, industrial decarbonisation things, like concrete and steel.
Sarah Applebaum: We are an impact investor. We're investing in science-based, hard technology companies that are leveraging advancements in materials chemistry and biology to help solve some of the world's most fundamental challenges. Climate is right down the fairway in our focus. We're investing in companies directly addressing climate solutions — that includes energy transition, industrial, decarbonisation, circular economy, green chemistry, and sustainable materials. We're also investing in food and water technologies.
Mike Winterfield: We are probably a little bit more focused and concentrated on greenhouse gas emissions reduction. And I would say from a portfolio construction standpoint, we've tended to focus on some companies where you can get reductions immediately.