Toronto: Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and MaRS Discovery District announced a new partnership May 7 to strengthen efforts to grow Canada’s clean technology and energy innovation sector.
As part of the new partnership, SDTC and MaRS will collaborate to launch and grow high-impact, globally-competitive clean technology companies. SDTC’s funding and support to companies complements MaRS Discovery District’s skills development programming. The partnership will help high-potential Canadian companies connect with global market opportunities, share information on priority international markets and highlight the work of leading Canadian companies in the field.
“As a world leader in entrepreneurial skills development and venture services programming, MaRS is a natural partner for SDTC. We have long worked together to build Canada’s cleantech sector; this partnership agreement crystallizes those efforts, makes them more measurable and will accelerate commercial outcomes,” said David Harris Kolada, Vice President, Alliances & Market Development, SDTC. “Partnering with MaRS will allow start-ups and small and medium-size enterprises to more efficiently access the key ingredients to scale their business and access international markets, where our goal is to see a $50 billion Canadian clean technology industry by 2022.”
MaRS – represented by the Cleantech Venture Services team and Advanced Energy Centre (AEC) – brings a strong cleantech cluster and an increasing global presence to the alliance.
“SDTC is a pre-eminent national funder and market-maker for Canadian cleantech and energy innovation,” said Ron Dizy, Managing Director of the Advanced Energy Centre. “We look forward to working closely with SDTC to help unlock domestic markets for these companies and help them win on the global stage, further positioning Canada as an industry leader internationally.”
“Collaboration between SDTC and MaRS, and the extension of our support and programs into each other’s portfolios, will advance the commercialization of Canadian clean technologies and further strengthen this fast-growing sector,” said Jon Dogterom, Cleantech Venture Services Lead, MaRS.