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VANCOUVER — The (CICE) has announced the recipients of its latest funding opportunities, investing a total of $7.7 million in 13 climate tech companies.  

The investment supports early-stage companies developing innovative clean energy and climate solutions, a release reads, with a focus on technologies that drive significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions. 

News of the funding allocations comes after the CICE launched Canada’s first-ever funding opportunity for wildfire technologies this spring, committing up to $3 million to support companies developing solutions to better manage and mitigate the growing threat of wildfires.  

“The companies we selected are developing cutting-edge solutions to reduce fire risk, improve response times, and protect vulnerable regions,” said Sarah Goodman, president and CEO of CICE, in a statement.

“This funding is a significant investment in B.C. and Canada’s ability to respond to one of the most urgent climate-related challenges we face, while also paving the way to reduce carbon emissions from these devastating events.” 

CICE is investing a total of $3.5 million in six of the 74 companies that applied for the 2024 Wildfire Tech Call for Innovation. The companies include: 

• : Predicting wildfire risk with frequency and AI on the most remote transmission lines. 

• .: Wildfire suppression through autonomous drone swarms to detect, map and battle fires with precision and speed. 

• : Delivering real-time mapping with infrared scanning and machine learning, enabling fire teams to make swift, data-driven decisions. 

• : Groundbreaking lightning suppression technology to prevent wildfires and protect communities, industries, and forests. 

• : Supercharging firefighting helicopters with advanced AI and sensor technology to combat wildfires. 

• : Advancing robotic systems that transform perimeter control and risk-reduction burning.  

In addition to these companies, the CICE is also investing $4.2 million in seven B.C. climate tech companies, which were selected from 79 applicants to its July 2024 Call for Innovation.

These companies are advancing technologies in low-carbon hydrogen, battery technology, energy storage and low-carbon fuels, the release continues.

The projects include: 

Battery and Energy Storage

• : Transforming winter road maintenance with the world’s first EV tri-blade snowplow.
• : Enabling sustainability in lithium battery manufacturing through circular processing.  

Low Carbon Fuels

• : Revolutionizing wastewater treatment with algae to create clean water and sustainable biofuels.
• : Validating a novel catalyst to convert agriculture and forestry-based oils into low carbon fuels. 

Low Carbon Hydrogen

• : Disrupting clean hydrogen production with cost-effective solutions that convert carbon waste into catalysts for economic growth and GHG reduction.
• : Eliminating hydrogen loss during storage and transfers, enabling efficient refueling for heavy transportation and remote applications.
• : Boosting hydrogen fuel cell efficiency, durability, and performance for zero-emission heavy-duty fuel cell electric vehicles to compete with diesel trucks. 

To date, CICE has invested $39 million in 59 clean energy and climate technology projects valued at over $196 million through its open and directed calls for innovation.