Climate & energy startups in Toronto

Mike Winterfield (founder)

FLAG — HQ in Vancouver, BC. Canada's largest seed-stage climate-tech VC (Certified B Corp, est. 2018), >$100M AUM across three funds, backing early-stage energy, food, water and materials startups nationwide...

evolution of the MaRS Catalyst Fund

Founded 2016 and HQ'd in Toronto, Amplify Capital is an early-stage (seed / Series A) impact VC managing ~$100M across climate and health. Portfolio includes Toronto long-duration storage company Hydrostor; ...

Murray McCaig & Tom Rand (co-founders)

Formerly the MaRS Cleantech Fund, ArcTern is one of the world's largest dedicated climate-tech VC funds, investing Series A/B across renewable energy, low-carbon mobility, circular economy, sustainable food ...

Tom Heintzman & Greg Kiessling (co-founders)

Toronto-based green-energy retailer (founded 2005) that matches customers' electricity and natural gas use with renewable generation sourced exclusively from wind, solar and low-impact hydro. A pioneering Ca...

David Keith (founder)

FLAG — HQ in Squamish, British Columbia (founded in Calgary). Direct air capture (DAC) pioneer whose technology underpins 1PointFive's Texas mega-DAC plant. Acquired by Occidental Petroleum for US$1.1B (2023...

Robert Niven (founder)

FLAG — HQ in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Injects captured CO2 into fresh concrete where it mineralizes permanently, reducing embodied carbon. Co-winner of the US$7.5M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE (2021); backed by Brea...

spun out of University of Toronto (Ted Sargent lab)

A former NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE finalist, CERT Systems developed electrochemical CO2 conversion (CO2 electrolysis) that uses clean electricity and water to turn captured CO2 into ethylene, ethanol and other...

Gregory Zhang (founder, 2013); James Larsen (CEO)

Founded 2013 as a University of Toronto / MaRS spin-out, e-Zinc builds zinc-metal long-duration energy storage that discharges over multiple days at low cost. Secured US$31M Series A2 (June 2024) led by Evok...

Sankar Das Gupta (co-founder & CEO)

Incorporated 1996 and HQ'd in Mississauga, Electrovaya designs and manufactures lithium-ion battery systems (Infinity ceramic-separator tech) for industrial EVs, material-handling and stationary energy stora...

Bryce Jones, Cameron Jones & Angelique Ahlström (co-founders)

Founded 2019 with ties to University of Toronto Mississauga, Flash Forest uses drones, aerial seed pods and AI to automate post-wildfire reforestation, planting up to ~10x faster than manual methods. Complet...

Luna Yu (founder & CEO)

Spun out of a University of Toronto Scarborough lab, Genecis uses engineered bacteria to convert food/organic waste into PHA biodegradable plastics for fibres, packaging and consumer goods. Became the first ...

Curtis VanWalleghem & Cameron Lewis (co-founders)

Founded 2010, Hydrostor commercializes Advanced Compressed Air Energy Storage (A-CAES) for utility-scale, long-duration grid storage. In Feb 2025 it raised US$200M from Canada Growth Fund, Goldman Sachs Alte...

Benjamin Britton (co-founder)

FLAG — HQ in Vancouver, BC. Founded 2017, develops PFAS-free ion-exchange membranes/polymers for green-hydrogen production, fuel cells and green-energy storage. Named to the 2025 Global Cleantech 100; facili...

Ajay Kochhar & Tim Johnston (co-founders)

Founded 2016 by U of T engineering alumni, Li-Cycle recycles lithium-ion batteries via proprietary 'Spoke & Hub' technology to create a closed-loop battery supply chain. Went public on NYSE (2021) and cumula...

Cleantech / Climate practice

North America's largest urban innovation hub and anchor of Toronto's climate ecosystem, MaRS supports 1,200+ ventures and runs cleantech programs including the First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) Lab for scaling first co...

Derek Lim Soo (co-founder & CEO)

Founded 2015, Peak Power is a clean-energy software company whose Peak Synergy platform optimizes battery storage, grid-interactive buildings and EVs, aggregating distributed energy resources into virtual po...

Amanda Hall (founder & CEO)

FLAG — HQ in Calgary, Alberta (West-coast operations). Direct lithium extraction (denaLi DLE) that converts brine into battery-grade lithium hydroxide at the mine site with lower water/chemical use; deployme...

Smart-grid / grid-management software company headquartered in Brampton, enabling utilities worldwide to run reliable, efficient, sustainable energy networks. A cleantech/enterprise anchor of the Brampton In...

Diana Virgovicova, Kerem Topal Ismail Oglou & Shirley Zhong (co-founders)

Founded 2024 out of the University of Toronto / Western, Xatoms uses AI and quantum chemistry to discover new light-activated materials for solar/LED water purification (purifies water in ~30 minutes). Close...