Congrats to MaRS client, Vive Nano, the recipient of nearly $3.8 million from the Ontario government! The Toronto-based company uses an environmentally friendly process to create nanotechnology-based products.
The investment, issued through the Innovation Demonstration Fund, will help Vive Nano build a pilot plant to expand R&D and increase production. The plant is expected to create 19 new jobs for chemists, technicians and engineers over the next two years.
Vive Nano’s first application is crop protection. The technology is used to reformulate pesticides, increasing the effectiveness of the active ingredient. The end result is that farmers use less pesticide, thereby reducing environmental impact. The company also uses nanotechnology to develop more efficient catalysts, with future products expected to influence development of other green technologies including biofuels and environmental remediation.
The Innovation Demonstration Fund, administered by the Ministry of Research and Innovation, funds the commercialization and pilot/demonstration of innovative green technologies, processes or products. The fund has made investments in 12 cleantech companies.
Congratulations Vive Nano!
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June is an information specialist at MaRS and a recent graduate of the Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto.