Women of all backgrounds are a powerful force in Canada’s innovation economy
But they’re significantly underrepresented in the area of clean technology. It’s time to change that.
Only one in 10 cleantech founders is a woman.
Only 19 percent of Canadian cleantech companies have at least one female founder.
Women of all backgrounds are a powerful force in Canada’s innovation economy
Program objectives
The RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator has five main objectives:
- Seek out the most-promising women entrepreneurs, representative of Canada’s strong diversity.
- Enable their dedication to the mission.
- Establish a community of women founders to share resources, advice and support, and celebrate successes and overcome challenges.
- Support success through mentorship, educational programming and access to market intelligence.
- Make timely connections to investors and corporate partners.
Program objectives
Participant benefits
- A leading business advisor with deep sector knowledge helps build your business and develop your product.
- Potential opportunity to work with a federal government lab facility that is matched to your specific R&D needs.
- Significantly enhanced profile through the RBC Women in Cleantech brand, including press releases and cleantech industry events.
- A curated curriculum designed in collaboration with MaRS subject-matter experts and program alumni, with the goal of helping your company gain an edge in hard-to-crack markets.
- Introductions to domestic and international investors and corporations.
- Access to mentor networks through investor showcases and curated events with influential women business leaders and industry experts.
- Opportunity to build relationships with fellow ventures and accelerator alumni.
- Potential to participate in the Canadian Tech Accelerators program(s) organized by Global Affairs Canada (Trade Commissioner Service) to introduce you to opportunities in key U.S. markets.
- Access to market intelligence, capital, talent and communications services offered through MaRS.
Participant benefits
Who are we looking for?
- Woman-identifying and/or non-binary leaders who are working to commercialize a cleantech innovation with potential for global impact.
- You are the leader of a business that is registered as a Canadian corporation.
- You are looking to join a two-year intensive program to help accelerate the growth of your company.
Applications are closed.
Who are we looking for?
Program eligibility
- You identify as a woman and/or non-binary person.
- You are the main technology innovator or individual leading/co-leading a Canadian business.
- You are part of a business venture that is registered as a Canadian corporation.
In addition to applicant eligibility, your technological innovation should:
- Fall under the definition of “cleantech” which, for the purposes of this Accelerator, is defined as “A company that is focused on the creation of intellectual property and new products that protect and/or increase efficient utilization of land, energy, water and natural resources while improving economic performance and reducing the environmental footprint relative to the baseline.”
- Be proprietary and/or patentable.
- Have potential to scale globally for major impact.
Fall within TRL3 and TRL5 on the nine-point Technology Readiness Level spectrum:
- TRL3: active research and development is initiated
- TRL4: basic testing to validate the technology in a laboratory/controlled setting
- TRL5: component and/or validation in a simulated environment
PARTNERS
In partnership with
Our advisors are some of Canada’s foremost cleantech experts.
Jane Kearns
Partner, Evok Innovations
Jane is a recognized leader in sustainable innovation and leverages over 25 years of experience in clean technology, sustainability and venture capital. She has co-founded, scaled and exited a renewable energy company.
Prior to Evok, Jane was Vice President, Growth Services and Senior Advisor, Cleantech at MaRS Discovery District, a launchpad for Canadian startups, where she oversaw development and delivery of products and services for 1,100 tech and hard tech ventures.
Jane sits on the boards of Clear Blue Technologies International (TSXV: CBLU) and Decarbonization Plus Acquisition Corporation IV (NASDAQ: DCRD), is an advisory board member for StandUp Ventures and Amplify Capital, and was a member of the Expert Panel on Clean Growth for the Canadian Climate Institute. She is a Cleantech and Energy faculty member at Singularity University, and holds an MBA from Columbia University.
Tyler Hamilton
Senior Director, Cleantech
Tyler Hamilton is Senior Director of Climate at MaRS and guides all climate-related activities for ventures, corporate partners and investors, including the flagship Mission from MaRS program. He is also on the board of the Ontario Clean Technology Industry Association (OCTIA) and a member of the XPRIZE Brain Trust. Previous to joining MaRS, Tyler spent two decades as a journalist and wrote extensively about Canada’s clean technology sector and global cleantech trends. Most recently he was editor-in-chief of business and sustainability magazine Corporate Knights. He also spent 13 years at the Toronto Star, where he reported on Canada’s energy sector and wrote a popular weekly column on clean energy technologies and trends. In 2011, Tyler authored Mad Like Tesla, a book that examines the various barriers to clean energy innovation and surveys the landscape of some potentially world-changing clean technologies. A recipient of the Cleantech Group’s “Pioneer” award for his early writings on the sector, Tyler was also recognized in 2016 on Canada’s “Clean50” list for his thought leadership on clean energy and climate issues.
Leah Perry
Senior Manager, Cleantech
Leah is the Senior Manager, Cleantech at MaRS Discovery District where she works closely with the MaRS cleantech portfolio through all stages of growth, primarily when they are raising capital. Managing MaRS’ Climate investor relationships and leading the MaRS Cleantech VC Syndicate, Leah supports in the preparation of venture investment rounds and connects the MaRS Cleantech portfolio to the capital they require to grow. Leah also leads the RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator, a two-year cohort program at MaRS aimed to accelerate women-led cleantech ventures. Prior to MaRS, Leah worked at Export Development Canada (EDC), where she spent nearly seven years helping SMEs along their growth journey, including several years on EDC’s Cleantech Team. Leah holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business, York University, is a Certified International Trade Professional (CITP), and was recognized as one of Corporate Knights' Top 30 under 30 Sustainability Leaders in Canada.
Jenny Yang
Senior Advisor, MaRS Enterprise
An entrepreneur angel investor, Jenny brings vast experience to the Enterprise team. Prior to joining MaRS, she was co-founder and CEO of Aida (acquired by Vision Critical) and Metafor Software (acquired by Splunk). Jenny also worked for BDC Capital where she led investments in technology startups, and was a consultant with both the Boston Consulting Group and Bain & Company. Jenny holds a bachelor of applied science in electrical engineering from the University of British Columbia and an MBA from INSEAD.
Richard Bozzato
Executive in Residence
Scale-up Experience: Head of Drug Development at Allelix Biopharmaceuticals
- Successful product development partnership with multinational Pharma
- Team member raising venture capital financing and eventual IPO
- Early-stage research through to clinical development
- Growth of drug development programs from 10 staff to over 200.
- Successful regulatory approval and marketing authorization
- Founder of Advanced Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering Consortium - industry-academic partnership
- Integrated multi-site contract manufacturing and clinical development facilities
- Biotech strategic partnerships
- Therapeutics product development strategies
- VC interactions and financing
- Product licensing (in-/out)
Jon Dogterom
Senior Advisor, Cleantech
Jon is an experienced founder, executive, and board member of private and public entities in energy, mobility, and alternative fuels. He was formerly the Senior Vice President of Venture Services at MaRS. Prior to leading the Venture Services Team, he was the Managing Director of the Cleantech Practice. He is also the founder of the MaRS Advanced Energy Centre.
Prior to joining MaRS, he led business development for Hydrogenics Corporation (now Cummins) through the launch of the company’s fuel cell and hydrogen generation divisions. He also co-founded Sustainable Energy Technologies (now Eguana Technologies), a leading Canadian provider of power electronics for the solar power industry. He has also served on the Energy Transformation Network of Ontario, on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Clean Water Agency, and on the investment committee for Arctern Ventures fund 2.
Farzin Mou
Manager, Cleantech
Farzin leads MaRS' Intensive Capital Program for Seed and Series A startups improving the odds of success for Canada's highest potential ventures. She works across cleantech, health, digital and emerging technologies, helping ventures navigate their fundraising strategy and investor readiness. Prior to MaRS, Farzin rose up the ranks at RS Energy Group, an energy analytics SaaS scale-up, which was acquired by US-owned Enverus for $1 billion. From roles in investment research to customer success and product management, Farzin married her data-driven nature with delivering customer-centric technology solutions. Before that, she worked at Suncor Energy and Imperial Oil after graduating from the University of Calgary's Mechanical Engineering program.
