On August 9th, we embarked on a new journey to showcase some of the most innovative startups emerging from Canada’s cleantech sector. This 5 part series is dedicated to highlighting the trailblazing companies that are at the forefront of sustainable development, demonstrating how they are reshaping our approach to environmental stewardship. As we eagerly anticipate the Clean50 Awards, set to be announced on October 10th, it’s important to recognize that the clean tech human leaders we will recognize only capture a fraction of the remarkable talent and innovation we’ve encountered this year. Which is why we invite you to follow along as we amplify the best of what we’ve seen and continue to explore the transformative solutions that are driving change.

Our new series is not just about shining a light on innovation; it’s a call to action. The cleantech sector in Canada is making substantial strides in paving new pathways toward sustainability and unlocking critical opportunities for economic growth. However, innovation alone is not enough to realize its full potential. Startups in this space need robust support at every stage of their development to truly make an impact. This support encompasses everything from funding and mentorship to regulatory guidance and market access.

This week, we focus on a diverse array of innovative companies making waves in building efficiency and software solutions. Each of these companies represents a vital piece of the puzzle in our collective effort to address climate change and drive sustainability. These profiles represent just a snapshot of the innovation driving Canada’s cleantech sector forward.

This week, we highlight several innovative cleantech companies making strides in transforming building performance and efficiency through AI. With the recent release of Canada’s Green Buildings Strategy, focusing on supporting the technology that can help Canada move towards the goal of achieving net-zero emissions by 2025 is imperative.

However, the technologies featured this week are not limited to buildings solutions. We also recognize the importance of technology for conservation, meeting supply chain and sustainability performance goals, and soil health – which are critical to keeping Canada’s land healthy for future generations.

As we continue to explore and highlight these groundbreaking startups, we hope to inspire support for these vital technology companies that are shaping a more sustainable future. Think about becoming an investor or a customer!

Profiles 1-5: Building Efficiency Solutions

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Adaptis Technologies Inc., Sheida Shahi (CEO & Co-Founder)

Company and product snapshot: Construction, renovation and demolition waste has a high potential for recovery, but over 85% ends up in landfills, contributing an estimated 25% of all solid waste and 50% of natural resources consumed globally. Adaptis is addressing this issue with a state-of-the-art decision-support platform for decarbonization and circularity planning for buildings. Their platform uses proprietary patent-pending methodologies and AI-powered technology to evaluate and optimize building performance, whole-life carbon, and capital expenditures, covering all stages of the building lifecycle to provide the most accurate recommendations on the market for emission reduction and reporting. Adaptis works 20x faster and 10x more cost-effectively than traditional methods, and enables 20%+ capital expenditure savings. Their projects typically achieve 10-50% reductions in operational carbon emissions and 10-20% reductions in embodied carbon for new construction, as well as significant additional savings through selective demolition and material reuse. 

Who should buy it: Adaptis will be a powerful tool for building owners, real estate asset managers, and consultants working on deep decarbonization, circularity, and long-term resilience planning for their projects and real estate portfolios.

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BrainBox AI, Jean-Simon Venne (Co-founder and CTO)

Company and product snapshot: BrainBox AI’s game-changing HVAC technology leverages both autonomous AI and generative AI to make buildings smarter, greener, and more efficient. Headquartered in Montreal, its tech is in operation in over 14,000 buildings in over 20 countries. With a team of over 190 employees, the company’s suite of solutions that range from AI for HVAC optimization to the world’s first genAI powered virtual building assistant – ARIA, optimizes energy usage by leveraging AI and genAI capabilities. The core solution reduces HVAC-related energy consumption by up to 25% and carbon emissions by up to 40%, making it ideal for commercial building owners and operators focused on energy and sustainability.

Who should buy it: BrainBox AI supports real estate clients in various sectors, including office buildings, hotels, commercial retail, grocery stores, airports, and more. 

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Carbon Cap Inc., Raphael Kolenko (Founder & CEO)

Company and product snapshot: Carbon Cap Inc., based in Hamilton, Ontario, specializes in advanced heat recovery systems designed for commercial hot water heating boilers. This simple retrofit, called the FGR-10, captures energy that would otherwise be wasted, reducing carbon emissions and lowering energy costs. Specifically, their technology maximizes boiler efficiency by capturing energy from escaping flue gas. Suitable for almost any building, this solution can increase boiler efficiency by up to 25%, making it a smart choice for property managers and industries looking to save money and go green. Carbon Cap’s technology has the potential to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, supporting global efforts towards sustainability.

Who should buy it: operators of HVAC equipment that consumes natural gas.

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Climative, Winston Morton (CEO)

Company and product snapshot: Climative is reinventing how organizations collaborate with building owners to accelerate decarbonization in the built environment. Climative uses AI to create personalized low-carbon plans for buildings so owners can make faster, better decisions that lower their emissions, increase comfort, and save money. Starting with a rapid AI-powered energy assessment of all homes in a region, communities use Climative’s trio of products – Climative Insights, Climative Navigator, and Climative Advisor – to analyze their residential retrofit needs; engage homeowners with personalized advice and offers; and connect them with energy advisors to put retrofit advice into action. If maximum adoption is reached, meaning 90% of North American homes are assessed and 4% of homes are retrofitted annually to net-zero, the emission reduction potential between now and 2050 is 6.854 GT CO2 eq.

Who should buy it: The Climative platform helps communities, efficiency organizations, and financial services organizations collaborate and provide their customers with more cost-effective and compelling low-carbon solutions.

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SensorSuite Inc., Palmer Simpson (Vice President, Global Head of Revenue)

Company and product snapshot: SensorSuite is a leading provider of advanced energy intelligence and optimization solutions tailored specifically for the real estate industry. SensorSuite’s platform combines cutting-edge IoT sensors with AI-driven analytics to give building owners, managers, and operators real-time insights and control over their building systems. By offering predictive maintenance and centralized automation, SensorSuite enables clients to achieve significant energy savings—typically 20%-25% annually—while improving tenant comfort and operational efficiency. Additionally, their 24/7 monitoring and optimization solution, backed by expert support, ensures that building systems operate at peak efficiency, extending equipment lifespans and reducing maintenance costs. With a focus on seamless integration and user-friendly design, SensorSuite empowers clients to make data-driven decisions that enhance the value and sustainability of their properties.

Who should buy it: SensorSuite’s products are ideal for building owners, managers, and developers committed to reducing GHG emissions and energy costs, increasing property value, and achieving sustainability goals. Facility managers and energy consultants seeking advanced tools for optimal building operations, along with sustainability officers focused on reducing carbon footprints, will find SensorSuite’s solutions invaluable.

Profiles 6-8: Software

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Intengine Enterprises Inc., Connie Linder (Founder & CEO)

Company and product snapshot: Intengine is a business platform/directory designed to make sustainable products, services and information more widely accessible. Based in Vancouver, Intengine’s platform has the largest global database of social and environmental standards, certifications and eco-labels, connecting clients with a vast pool of suppliers and partners to boost their ESG initiatives. Complementing this, eValuater provides SMEs and large enterprises with critical operational and supply chain transparency. This helps businesses manage risks, ensure regulatory compliance, and report on ESG performance. We offer an extensive set of pre-built survey templates aligned with global standards such as GRI, UNGC, EIB, IFRS, and the latest ESRS. Users can also integrate their own operational data and customize surveys with specific questions, tailoring the data collection process to meet their unique business needs. By using eValuater, users can access accurate and real-time data from their supply chains that allows for risk analysis, goal setting, reporting and improved decision making. Making informed decisions drives innovation and adoption of improved technologies and business processes that lessen negative climate impacts. In response to the escalating ESG mandates, Intengine has built their Sustainability data management and reporting tool (eValuater) on top of their directory. Their customers are SMEs and Large Enterprises from all around the world.

Who should buy it: Intengine’s platform is ideal for any organization focused on enhancing their procurement, ESG performance, analyzing and optimizing their data, streamlining the reporting and filing process.

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Korotu Technology Inc., Sean and Agata Rudd (Co-founders and CEOs)

Company and product snapshot: Korotu is a social enterprise committed to advancing conservation efforts with a software platform, named the LandSteward. Specifically, the LandSteward platform uses remote sensing data from satellites, drones and mobile devices combined with AI to estimate carbon and monitor changes in forests. The platform has been used to identify and prioritize lands to protect, monitor the impacts of hurricanes on forests, and assess the state of grassland habitats for threatened Bobolink birds. Users can upload data to the platform to output disturbance maps, key metrics, and more, enabling informed decision-making, carbon management, and risk mitigation practices. The goal of company founders and their product is to protect and restore natural ecosystems to more effectively store carbon, provide clean water, and conserve biodiversity.

Who will be able to use it: LandSteward helps land protectors, conservationists, scientists, foresters, farmers, and policy-makers.

Market readiness: LandSteward is projected to be “market ready” with commercially viable R&D in 12-18 months. Note: Korotu’s partners test the software as it’s developed, so they can make a tool that fits their needs perfectly. 

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SoilOptix, Paul Raymer (CEO)

Company and product snapshot: SoilOptix® is a technology that helps farmers understand their soil better by creating detailed high-definition soil maps of its health and characteristics. Understanding soil health is critical because it directly affects crop growth, water management, and overall farm productivity. SoilOptix® uses sensors to scan the soil in a field, which can detect various characteristics of the soil, such as nutrient levels, moisture content, and soil composition. The data collected is then used to create detailed maps of the soil’s properties across the field. These maps are high-resolution, meaning they can show differences in soil health within very small areas. This technology ultimately provides precise soil information to help farmers and agronomists make informed decisions, empowering them to grow better, more sustainable crops by optimizing the use, placement, and cost of inputs, thus improving crop yield and quality

Who should buy it: Farmers can access the technology through a network of Service Providers. These are agronomists, consultants and ag retailers who purchase the hardware and work with SoilOptix to provide precise soil information to their customers- farmers and producers.