Asset Market takes Angels for Climate Solutions crown

The angels admired Asset.

After a 12-week training period reached its climax with a series of five pitches, local SaaS-for-smart-cities startup Asset Market won the Angels for Climate Solutions competition. The company received a cheque worth $150,000, and also – most likely – a blank one, as startups that emerge from this competition often go on to secure additional capital.

Meet the winner

Asset Market

What it does: Smart city infrastructure matchmaking.How it does it: Asset Market accelerates the delivery of telecommunications, electric vehicle charging, and IoT infrastructure to increase access to critical technologies that benefit society. Go deeper: The company was a finalist in the New Ventures BC 2022 competition

Meet the finalists

Farment Biosolution

What it does: Regenerative livestock farmingHow it does it: Farment Biosolution is a Vernon-based agtech startup on a mission to provide livestock farmers with cost-effective regenerative farming solutions to manage livestock waste, improve soil health, and reduce the environmental impact of livestock farming. Its fermentation technology reduces the need for chemical fertilizers by transforming nutrients into a more available form for plants, increasing soil water retention capacity. This allows farmers to produce more with less.

Halitra

What it does: Financing low-carbon buildings.How it does it: With Halitra, all banks can become green banks and all buildings can qualify for low-carbon finance. The company provides innovative real estate financing solutions to facilitate the retrofitting of small commercial buildings.

InHub Farms

What it does: Smart mushroom farms.How it does it: Armstrong-based InHubs Farms’ vision is to revolutionize the North American food supply chain with a network of smart mushroom farms in every city. The company’s farms use robotics and smart control systems in the cloud to mimic how mushrooms grow in nature to improve taste, nutrition, and yield. By eliminating the need for long fulfillment trips and supply chains, InHub Farms is both improving the taste of crops and actively contributing to the health of people, forests, and ecosystems.

Reusables.com

What it does: Resusables as a service. How it does it: Reusables is on a mission to eliminate single-use packaging waste. The company helps food businesses replace single-use containers with reusables through tech-enabled packaging, paired with proprietary tracking software. Its Reusables Management System tracks the reusable packaging across a network of stores, consumers, cleaners, and distributors, while simultaneously capturing climate impact data. Go deeper: The company partnered with a Disney production in Vancouver to reduce the film set’s environmental impact.Go even deeper: The company was the audience favourite at the pitch finale, taking home the People’s Choice Award.

A true asset to local startups

The second-time challenge is run by the Vancouver Economic Commission, with program delivery by Foresight Canada, Volition, and Spring Activator, and presented by TD Friends of the Environment Foundation and Invest Vancouver. Last year, Vancouver’s Circular Rubber Technologies took home the crown and $122,000 in investment. Like clockwork, it received more funding recently — $3.2 million from Alberta’s Circular Economy Challenge — which is a trend amongst these competitions. So, you’ve just met the startups you’ll see in the Funding and Deals section of our Sunday Briefing over the next year. Stay tuned.

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