“These founders are poised to become tomorrow’s climate leaders”

The ventures in the latest cohort of the RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator are working to scale their solutions for global impact.

Despite years of progress and impressive gains, women cleantech founders still garner just a fraction of the funding their male counterparts receive. Last year, only 6.6 percent of climate tech funding in the U.S. went to women-led companies, and in Canada, women entrepreneurs face a similar uphill battle in securing the connections and capital they need to scale their solutions. And with the impacts of climate change increasing in both intensity and frequency, the imperative for more supports is clear — we need as many hands on deck as possible.

The RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator is tackling this issue head on. The two-year program provides 10 women founders with the tools they need to succeed: tailored workshops, mentorship, networking, marketing and connections to capital. This month, the accelerator launched its third cohort with startups working on everything from decarbonizing chemical production to creating a more sustainable food supply.

“These founders are poised to become tomorrow’s climate leaders,” says Poonam Patel, a senior manager at MaRS, who is leading the program. “They are using quantum computing to improve water quality, developing efficient direct air capture systems and tackling our plastics problem — and their solutions have the potential to have a considerable climate impact. It’s exciting to help them get these transformative ideas out into the world.”

Here, meet the 10 women-led companies in the 2024–2026 Women in Cleantech accelerator.

Xatoms offers a clarifying solution

It all started with a high school science experiment. At the age of 17, Diana Virgovicova discovered a new material that eliminates organic pollutants in water using quantum chemistry software. After furthering her studies at the University of Toronto, she founded Xatoms, a startup that harnesses artificial intelligence and quantum chemistry to develop patentable materials that could purify water from such impurities as bacteria, viruses and pesticides. Virgovicova and her team have set big milestones for the company: They aim to improve access to clean water for the 1.5 billion people worldwide without it. They also want to empower girls and women in Asia and Africa by cutting down on the amount of time needed to fetch clean water, which will enable them to spend more time in school or pursuing economic opportunities. Already, Xatoms is collaborating with organizations in Nigeria, the Netherlands and Canada.

Permalution taps a new water source

To help secure access to clean water, Permalution founder Tatiana Estevez is looking to the sky. The startup is developing technology that collects water from clouds and fog. This could greatly help water-stressed areas, Estevez says, noting Permalution’s devices can collect up to three times more water than rain. Based in Sherbrooke Que., the company is working on collection devices that span from small backpack modules (which can collect up to 80 litres a day) to large-scale industrial applications (which can capture up to 2,000 litres).

SkyAcres AgroTechnologies is building up our food supply

Located in Surrey, B.C., SkyAcres is building the “AirBnB of Vertical Farms.” Its indoor vertical farming system allows anyone with underutilized space — whether it’s a barn, home or office tower — to grow 40 types of fruits and vegetables year round and sell it through the company’s B2B marketplace. SkyAcre’s tech is also low-energy and uses less water and fertilizer than traditional farming methods, notes COO and co-founder Zaffia Laplante. “As an Indigenous woman, it means a lot to me to be a part of this cohort as it will provide me with a great platform to share more about the work we are doing and how I integrate elements of my culture into that,” she says.

Synoro Med wants to make hospitals less wasteful

From IV bags to needles, hospitals use a ton of single-use plastic items — and that waste piles up. It’s estimated that prior to COVID-19 one hospital bed produced 29 pounds of waste a day. And while some things need to be single use (needles, for example, should never be reused for hygienic and health purposes), many items can be used again if they’re sterilized properly, says Synoro Med’s founder Aditi Sitolay. The Vancouver-based startup is in the process of creating a circular economy for medical supplies where they can be sterilized and then safely redeployed again. “Reusables are not new to healthcare and through proper design choices, we can make them safely reusable,” Sitolay says. First up, the startup is developing a reusable, sterilizable IV bag as well as a service that would handle the cleaning, sterilization and refilling of supplies to ensure patient safety.

TerraFixing is developing a cool new way to remove carbon

Ottawa-based direct air capture company TerraFixing has invented a technology that is designed to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere in even the coldest regions. While other DAC technologies struggle to function in sub-degree weather (most existing systems capture carbon with liquids that free easily), TerraFixing has optimized its carbon dioxide removal solution to work in northern climates. Instead of using liquid, TerraFixing uses a mineral called zeolite, explains COO and co-founder Vida Gabriel. Its five-step process captures the carbon dioxide directly from the air and purifies it, trapping it in the zeolites. Like a sponge, the zeolites can be emptied of carbon dioxide when saturated and then reused. “We know that northern climates face the most drastic effects of climate change,” says Gabriel. “Every one- or two-degree change that will be felt near the equator will be five to 10 degrees in the North.”

CERT Systems is making chemicals without fossil fuels

Christine Gabardo, co-founder and CTO of Toronto’s CERT Systems, has a vision of creating essential chemicals without having to use fossil fuels. Using a proprietary electrochemical process that grew out of Gabardo’s research at University of Toronto, the startup converts carbon dioxide into ethylene, one of the world’s most widely-used chemicals found in everything from plastic packaging to garbage bags to detergents. This process is powered by renewable energy and can be used on captured carbon emissions. In this sense, CERT is creating a double win — its solution not only transforms waste emissions, it also helps the chemical industry decarbonize.

Seedark is seeding change

The world is facing a seed crisis: not only are we running out of seeds, but the seeds we do have aren’t effectively growing thanks to the shifting climates around the world. Climate change has destroyed the quality of seeds and how they are saved from season to season, exacerbating this seed crisis. Located in Toronto, Seedark is “modernizing the seed supply chain for the purposes of ecological restoration,” says CEO Blaine Pearson. Seedark is hoping to enhance the tracing of seeds around the world to see where they’re most effectively grown in order to preserve them for later seasons and to make better decisions around biodiversity. By getting to the bottom of where seeds are, how viable they are and what sorts of environmental changes are making it harder for that seed to sprout, Pearson says we can make “best-case decisions for viability in terms of where seeds should be planted.”

ALT-PRO Advantage is cooking up more sustainable pet food

Toronto-based ALT-PRO Advantage, formerly known as HOPE Pet Food, is a meat-free and eco-friendly pet food option. Founder Sofia Bonilla and her team have refined pet food made of insects, algae and fungi, avoiding the use of meat and animal byproducts. The startup is working to not only reduce the environmental impact of pet food by using less carbon-intensive foods but also by providing an alternative for cats and dogs who are allergic or sensitive to overused proteins in traditional pet food (like chicken and beef).

Seacork Studio is developing a plastic-free material

Through her work developing low-impact materials, Vancouver-based architect Annie Dahan became interested in the light-weight and porous properties of seaweed and realized it could make a viable alternative to plastic soundproofing materials. Seacork Studio’s acoustic panels are 100 percent biodegradable and are sound absorbing, carbon negative (meaning it removes more carbon dioxide than it emits throughout its lifespan) and uses locally-sourced seaweed. Each panel can be seamlessly removed and replaced, making installation and maintenance simple.

Viridis Research is zapping pollution

Microplastics from industry are one of the biggest threats to clean water today: trillions of microplastic particles are floating in the ocean, polluting them. This Vancouver-based company co-founded by chemical engineer Macarena Cataldo uses electro-oxidation (an advanced oxidation process) to remove microplastic pollution from the water. Their technology is being deployed to treat wastewater from the industrial textile industry, cleaning, surfactants and other toxic chemicals in order to effectively recycle the water. “We are able to destroy any kind of organic compound, a dye or pesticides, anything that contains carbon,” says Cataldo, “and it works with microplastics.” The company is currently exploring partnerships with appliance manufacturers to incorporate the device into home washing machines.

 
Learn more about how the RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator is helping innovators build a sustainable future.