MaRS and Definity announce participants in its new Adaptech Accelerator

Nine ventures join the nine-month accelerator to scale solutions that protect communities and strengthen Canada’s resilience.

TORONTO, May 19, 2026 – MaRS Discovery District and Definity today announced the nine ventures selected for the Adaptech Accelerator, a comprehensive initiative designed to help Canadian ventures scale technologies that strengthen climate adaptation and resilience.

Canada’s infrastructure, economy and safety depend on our ability to predict, prevent, respond to and recover from extreme climate events. Research shows that being pro-active in building resilience pays dividends: for every $1 spent on adaptation measures today, it’s estimated that $13 to $15 will be returned through direct and indirect benefits.

Despite the clear economic and societal benefits of investing early in resilience, significant barriers remain. A recent report developed by MaRS and California-based venture and advisory firm Tailwind Futures, identified key constraints to growth, which include limited early-stage capital, obstacles to market adoption and a lack of dedicated programming to help ventures scale climate resilience technologies.

The Adaptech Accelerator was created to help tackle these challenges, translating the report insights into action. Over the next nine months, participating ventures in the accelerator will be offered tailored programming, market research, network building, capital-raising support, advisory and connections to investors, industry partners and governments seeking to adopt or support the development of resilience solutions.

As part of the program, MaRS is partnering with ICLEI Canada — Local Governments for Sustainability to facilitate pilot opportunities between three ventures and three municipalities. These partnerships are designed to accelerate the testing, validation and procurement-readiness of adaptation technologies in real-world settings. This project will help communities deploy solutions faster while providing an opportunity for ventures to bring their solutions to scale.

Building on this work, MaRS has also been working with climate-resilient building and infrastructure experts at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to grow Canada’s adaptation and resilience innovation ecosystem and explore ways to support Accelerator participants with their R&D.

“As climate impacts intensify, Canada needs innovative solutions that strengthen resilience across communities, infrastructure and local economies,” says Grace Lee Reynolds, CEO of MaRS Discovery District. “Through the Adaptech Accelerator and the support of our partners, we’re helping Canadian ventures scale technologies that can better prepare communities for the challenges ahead.”

“Our commitment to helping build a more resilient Canada is a core part of our purpose. We are proud to advance this commitment through our work with MaRS, fostering a new generation of Canadian innovators,” says Rowan Saunders, president and CEO at Definity. “By accelerating these adaptation-focused ventures, we are making a targeted investment in the practical solutions that will help protect our communities and support our country’s economic vitality. This initiative is a tangible step in our strategy to ensure a sustainable and insurable future for Canadians.”

“The challenges facing communities today don’t wait for perfect conditions, and neither can our response,” says Ewa Jackson, managing director at ICLEI Canada. “Partnerships like this one — connecting municipalities with innovators who are developing innovative technologies — are exactly the kind of practical, cross-sector collaboration that can help scale climate solutions.”

MaRS would also like to acknowledge TD Bank Group and the Donner Canadian Foundation for supporting our effort to advance adaptation and resilience innovation in Canada.

The new Adaptech Accelerator participants include: 

ApexRMS
ApexRMS is a clean technology company with two complementary commercial products serving the wildfire hazard response, adaptation and resilience market.

Aquasensing
AquaSensing has invented and manufactured battery-free leak detectors, which offer maintenance-free, environmental-friendly and low-cost solutions.

ClimateFirst
ClimateFirst assesses the climate threats a building faces, estimates their potential financial impact and provides plans to help owners adapt.

Enersion
Enersion’s core business is the commercialization of advanced thermally driven cooling and heating systems that dramatically reduce building electricity consumption, natural gas consumption and eliminate synthetic refrigerants.

Geosapiens
Geosapiens develops science-driven, locally calibrated models that provide property-level hazard and financial-loss insights.

NOAH Intelligence
NOAH Intelligence uses high-precision, physics-based flood simulations to evaluate risks down to the level of individual buildings on a street.

RUNWITHIT Synthetics
RUNWITHIT Synthetics designs replicas of geographic areas — typically cities and linked regions — to assess emergency preparedness and other issues that can affect the well-being of a population.

Tinybox Systems
Tinybox Systems is developing rapid-deploy, climate-resilient modular housing designed for extreme weather, remote regions and disaster response.

ZS2 Technologies
ZS2 develops advanced magnesium-cement technologies that utilize carbon dioxide and industrial by-products to create fire-resistant, low-carbon building materials and prefabricated systems.

To read about the ventures in the accelerator, click here.

About MaRS
MaRS Discovery District is a charitable organization and one of North America’s largest urban innovation hubs, helping Canadian science and technology companies commercialize and scale. Building on a 25-year legacy of supporting founders, MaRS connects ventures with capital, customers, talent and expertise — through venture programming and partnerships, MaRS IAF (one of Canada’s most active seed-stage venture funds), MaRS Connect (a live digital marketplace linking commercially ready ventures with buyers, partners and sources of capital), and more than 1.5 million square feet of world-class lab, office and event space across the MaRS Centre and MaRS Waterfront in downtown Toronto. Since 2010, MaRS-supported ventures have generated $11.5 billion in cumulative revenue, raised $19 billion in funding and created and maintained more than 33,000 jobs. For more information, contact mfm@marsdd.com.

Contact Information:
Media contact: Amanda Whalen
awhalen@marsdd.com
MaRS Discovery District