MaRS and SDTC partner to bolster Canadian clean technology and energy innovation

TORONTO, May 7, 2015 – Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and MaRS Discovery District today announced a new partnership to strengthen efforts to grow Canada’s clean technology and energy innovation sector.

As part of the new partnership, SDTC and MaRS will collaborate to launch and grow high-impact, globally-competitive clean technology companies. SDTC’s funding and support to companies complements MaRS Discovery District’s skills development programming. The partnership will help high-potential Canadian companies connect with global market opportunities, share information on priority international markets and highlight the work of leading Canadian companies in the field.

“As a world leader in entrepreneurial skills development and venture services programming, MaRS is a natural partner for SDTC. We have long worked together to build Canada’s cleantech sector; this partnership agreement crystalizes those efforts, makes them more measurable and will accelerate commercial outcomes,” said David Harris Kolada, Vice President, Alliances & Market Development, SDTC. “Partnering with MaRS will allow start-ups and SMEs to more efficiently access the key ingredients to scale their business and access international markets, where our goal is to see a $50 billion Canadian clean technology industry by 2022.”

MaRS – represented by the Cleantech Venture Services team and Advanced Energy Centre (AEC) – brings a strong cleantech cluster and an increasing global presence to the alliance.

“SDTC is a pre-eminent national funder and market-maker for Canadian cleantech and energy innovation,” said Ron Dizy, Managing Director of the Advanced Energy Centre. “We look forward to working closely with SDTC to help unlock domestic markets for these companies and help them win on the global stage, further positioning Canada as an industry leader internationally.”

“Collaboration between SDTC and MaRS, and the extension of our support and programs into each other’s portfolios, will advance the commercialization of Canadian clean technologies and further strengthen this fast-growing sector,” said Jon Dogterom, Cleantech Venture Services Lead, MaRS.

About MaRS Discovery District
MaRS Discovery District (@MaRSDD) in Toronto is one of the world’s largest urban innovation hubs. MaRS cultivates high-impact ventures and equips innovators to drive economic and societal prosperity. MaRS Cleantech, a division of MaRS, works with Canadian high-impact ventures and is devoted to helping accelerate the development and commercialization of technology companies in five clusters – advanced materials and manufacturing, energy, water, agriculture and smart cities. MaRS Cleantech consists of venture services, the Advanced Energy Centre and ArcTern Ventures. Together, they focus on connecting cleantech companies with customers and capital, and work with stakeholders to remove commercialization barriers in the sector, with the goal of building a stronger Canadian cleantech economy.

About the Advanced Energy Centre
The Advanced Energy Centre (AEC) is a public-private partnership with the mission of fostering the adoption of innovative energy technologies in Ontario and Canada, and leveraging those successes and experiences into international markets. The AEC works with Canadian startups and SMEs in the cleantech and, specifically, the energy sector. Its role is to actively develop partnerships that will help bring these technologies to global markets. Within Canada, the AEC works to identify and remove systemic barriers to the adoption of energy innovation.

About Sustainable Development Technology Canada
Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) funds Canadian cleantech projects and coaches the companies that lead them as they move their ground breaking technologies through development and demonstration stages to market. SDTC’s support of cleantech translates into jobs, growth and export opportunities for Canadian companies, as well as economic, environmental and health benefits for all Canadians.  SDTC is independent but it doesn’t work alone. A big part of the organization’s role is building and sustaining networks of partners and stakeholders from private industry, academia and governments, at home and abroad. SDTC operates at arm’s length and receives funding from the Government of Canada.