Evok Innovations
Canvas Category Consultancy : Company : Venture Capital
Launched in 2016 through a partnership between Suncor, Cenovus and the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance, Evok Innovations (Evok), is committed to developing and deploying cutting-edge clean energy technology. Evok’s inaugural fund aimed to accelerate the development of critical energy transition technologies across North America. The fund has made 16 investments in decarbonization technologies, ranging from clean hydrogen and carbon-to-value, to long-duration energy storage. Building on this legacy, Evok launched Fund II in 2022, which will target early-stage investments across North America in key industrial decarbonization verticals, including carbon capture use and storage (CCUS), low-carbon fuels, clean energy and grid innovations, mobility, advanced materials and circularity.
Assembly Line
ZwitterCo Secures $58.4m in Series B Funding Led by Evok Innovations
ZwitterCo, which is transforming water treatment through advanced membrane technologies, announced the successful close of its Series B funding round led by Evok Innovations. Evok was joined by DCVC, BHP, Munich Re Ventures, Siteground, HG Ventures, and Blue Horizon Advisors. The oversubscribed $58.4 million round will accelerate ZwitterCo’s mission to unlock the potential of unconventional water sources, such as industrial wastewaters and more challenging surface waters or process streams, to meet the massive water demands of industries that underpin a low-carbon future.
While membranes are ubiquitous in water treatment, there had been no breakthrough innovations in the field for half a century until ZwitterCo introduced membranes with novel zwitterionic chemistries. ZwitterCo’s technology creates unprecedented immunity to organic fouling, enabling ZwitterCo’s membranes to continue working efficiently and sustainably long after traditional membranes would have clogged.
e-Zinc Secures USD $31M in Series A2 Funding to Advance Commercialization Initiatives
e-Zinc, the company enabling sustainable, long-duration energy storage with its zinc-air battery, announced it has raised an additional USD $31 million in follow-on funding to its $25 million Series A round. This oversubscribed Series A2 round was led by Evok Innovations, with additional investments from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Export Development Canada (EDC), and Ultratech Capital Partners. e-Zinc’s existing shareholders also participated, including Toyota Ventures, Eni Next, Anzu Partners, BDC, and Graphite Ventures. e-Zinc plans to use this financing to accelerate product development and complete the construction of its 42,000 sq. ft pilot manufacturing facility in Mississauga, Ontario.
This funding will accelerate e-Zinc’s establishment of a manufacturing base that will enable commercialization of its long-duration energy storage solution, which promises lower cost and increased safety compared to conventional batteries.
e-Zinc is partnering with Toyota Tsusho Canada Inc. and the California Energy Commission to demonstrate how e-Zinc’s energy storage systems can reliably provide long-duration energy storage at commercial scale. By using this new investment to carry out these field demonstration projects, e-Zinc will validate that its zinc-air batteries have the capability to store 24 hours of energy, which is approximately 10x that of traditional batteries.
HZG Group Backs AIM3D’s Bound Metal 3D Printing Tech
AIM3D, a developer of a unique metal and ceramics 3D printing technology, has just secured further funding from 3D printing investor HZG Group and the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), who backed the Rockstock, Germany startup in 2021. AIM3D will use the money to support the launch of its ExAM 510 3D printer and develop software for the machine.
Summit Nanotech Secures US$50M for Lithium Extraction Technology to Support the Energy Transition to Net Zero
Summit Nanotech Corporation (“Summit”), a company sustainably solving lithium supply chain challenges, today announced the closing of a US$50 million Series A2. The Series A2 round was led by Evok Innovations and BDC Capital’s Climate Tech Fund alongside participation from previous investors including Xora Innovation and Capricorn Investment Group. Summit also welcomes a consortium of new climate-focused funds; Volta Energy Technologies, NGP, Helios Climate Ventures, and The Grantham Foundation.