Written by Lindsay McCormick and Lina Pilar Martinez
On Wednesday, July 15, 2020, the CleanTech Alliance hosted day 4 of the first-ever virtual Clean Tech innovation Showcase. The session started with opening remarks from the CleanTech Alliance and introducing Andrew Creech, director of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
Andrew Creech spoke briefly about the Toronto stock exchange and the TSX venture exchange, its market composition, and the diversity of founds in Canada. He emphasized the relation of TSX and TSXV with the innovation sector and green companies.
Panelists Justin Kates, Sandeep Gupta, and Jeremy Wright participated in an extensive discussion about venture capital (VC) and public stock market participation for innovative and green companies. The panelists highlighted the main reasons for a company to go public, the advantages and disadvantages of VC vs. going public, and delineated the general path for a company. The panelists stressed differences between the USA and Canadian stock market and the benefits and challenges for innovative and green companies when going public.
After the panel, attendees had the option to either set up a one-on-one with the Toronto Stock Exchange or to network with other attendees.
After the first round of networking, attendees reconvened to hear 10 brief presentations from the 2020 Cascadia CleanTech Accelerator cohort. First, Rachelle Ames introduced David Kenney from VertueLab; a nonprofit organization focused on fighting climate change by providing funding and support to cleantech startups. David mentioned the impact that VertueLab has had during ten years of continuous work and the variety of programs and assistance they provide. After a brief introduction from Rachelle Ames, EarthUp presented, followed by Aquagga, Chapul Farms, FlexCharging, Industria, LeapFrog Design, Matidor Technologies, NULIFE GreenTech, Regenerated Textiles, and Voltaic Marine.
After the Accelerator companies presented about their novel and visionary value propositions and an overview of their business models, attendees had the chance to network with the companies in a second round of virtual networking.
To learn more about the CleanTech Innovation Showcase, click here.