Three companies are receiving support to advance their decarbonization solutions for the transportation and construction sectors.

The not-for-profit B.C. Centre for Innovation and Clean Energy (CICE) today announced that it’s investing $1.25 million in hydrogen fuel cell startup Unilia, concrete company InnoCast, and renewable diesel fuel developer Expander Technologies.

Each company is addressing critical emissions challenges in different ways. Unilia is working on a hydrogen fuel-cell heavy-duty truck that doesn’t produce emissions, offering a different option from battery-electric trucks. Meanwhile, Expander is creating green solutions for long-haul trucking with its fossil-free, net-zero diesel, as well as creating sustainable jet fuel for flights.

As for InnoCast, the company is reducing concrete’s high carbon footprint. Using carbon sequestration, the process of capturing and storing the gas, the company is helping to reduce the greenhouse effect and mitigate climate change caused by construction. Its approach enables potential applications for millions of carbon by-products, wrote CICE in a press release.

“Investing in British Columbia startups is more than fostering innovation; it’s about driving economic growth and creating jobs for sustainable economic prosperity,” said Sarah Goodman, the CEO of CICE. “We are proud to support these groundbreaking companies by unlocking capital to commercialize and scale essential net-zero technologies.”  

Since CICE was founded in 2021, it has provided $32 million toward 48 cleantech projects valued at over $174 million. Its latest investment in Unilia, InnoCast, and Expander mark a total of $8.82 million of funding as part of its first Call for Innovation — where non-dilutive investments were awarded to nine innovators driving decarbonization solutions in forestry, mining, marine, transportation, agriculture, and tech. The not-for-profit focuses on supporting projects at its earliest stages and aims to attract investments, create more jobs, and build sustainable economic prosperity.

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