UVic and Foresight partner to create a path to net zero

Foresight, Canada’s cleantech accelerator, today announced a new partnership with the University of Victoria, one of Canada’s leading research universities, to support the growth of the cleantech ecosystem and accelerate the transition to an inclusive, net-zero future.

The purpose of the partnership is to advance the growth and competitiveness of BC’s cleantech ecosystem by helping ventures attract the capital they need to commercialize and scale-up. The two partners will leverage regional strengths, increase inclusive economic participation, support cleantech ventures to capture global markets, and foster learning opportunities in sustainable finance and impact investing.

There are already links between UVic and Foresight. Solaires, a venture creating the next generation of solar cells, jointly led by scientists from UVic’s chemistry department and the Centre for Advanced Materials and Related Technology (CAMTEC), is currently participating in Foresight’s Launch program.

The Memorandum of Understanding outlines an approach to accelerating Canada’s transition to a green economy including:

• Support industry in BC to adopt cleantech solutions required to achieve 2030 greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and net-zero targets.
• Help BC cleantech ventures to grow, access capital, and tap into global markets.
• Enhance understanding of cleantech issues, research, and data among private sector investors to unlock capital in support of the cleantech sector.
• Increase education in areas such as cleantech, sustainable finance and climate focused impact investing in post-secondary institutions.
• Encourage collaboration between entrepreneurs and researchers working in cleantech.

The University of Victoria leads several initiatives that support the growth of cleantech. The new Vancouver Island Impact Investing Hub (VI3Hub), led by the Gustavson School of Business in collaboration with other faculties and centres, supports research and education to promote investments in climate solutions. UVic’s Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) is an interdisciplinary centre with a focus on the development of clean energy technology and processes. VI3Hub and IESVic will work with the Office of the Vice-President of Research and Innovation in collaboration with Foresight on this new partnership.

In the first public-facing event to come out of the collaboration, Foresight CEO Jeanette Jackson will be a panelist in a free roundtable discussion titled “Financing Canadian Cleantech: Matching Growth Capital with Investor Demand,” as part of the UVic-led virtual conference “The Post-COVID Recovery and the Race to Net Zero,” Aug. 30-31.

“We look forward to seeing the impacts of UVic’s partnership with Foresight as students, researchers and community members collaborate to improve access to capital for climate-smart businesses and start-ups,” says Lisa Kalynchuk, UVic’s Vice-President Research and Innovation.

“Foresight is pleased to formalize our collaboration with the University of Victoria and explore how we can work together to address urgent climate challenges,” says Jeanette Jackson, CEO of Foresight. “In particular, we welcome the opportunity to engage students with cleantech so we can harness their energy and creativity.”

“We are pleased to partner with Foresight to advance our mutual goals of mobilizing capital towards climate solutions,” says Basma Majerbi, finance professor at the Peter B. Gustavson School of Business at UVic and founder of the Vancouver Island Impacting Investing Hub. “Collaboration is key to filling critical knowledge gaps and build capacity in climate finance and impact investing.”

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