April Wrap-up: Sustainability & Innovation Bloom in Waterloo

With funding announcements from cleantech companies Miovision and Adaptis and a visit from the all-Canadian electric vehicle Project Arrow, cleaner and greener solutions are certainly blooming in Waterloo.

Here are the top stories from April 2023:

Miovision raises $260M

Local tech company Miovision is showing no signs of slowing down. It recently raised $260M in growth funding from TELUS Ventures, Maverix Private Equity and Export Development Canada.

The funding will allow the company to rapidly add new applications to its platform, reducing upfront costs for data-driven solutions that assist cities in improving transportation networks while supporting urban planning objectives.

Innovation Arena breaks ground

As the winter soil thaws, ground-breaking achievements are happening all over Waterloo, especially in the health tech sector. Last month, the University of Waterloo and Velocity announced their official expansion in Kitchener, one of the region’s three urban communities, with a new Innovation Arena geared toward health innovation.

With a $7.5M investment from the Government of Ontario, the new site will fast-track entrepreneurs and accelerate commercialization in our health and medtech ecosystem.

Project Arrow arrives in Kitchener

What’s the best way to put Canada’s EV manufacturing capabilities on display?

Hand-pick 58 Canadian suppliers and secure funding to build one of the biggest industrial collaborations in Canadian history. That’s how Flavio Volpe, project lead and president of the APMA, brought Project Arrow to life. Now it’s touring the world to show the strength and potential of Canada’s automotive manufacturing industry.

We got a chance to see this impressive automotive creation at Communitech in Kitchener, a community within the region, last month. We chatted with Flavio about how the project came together and why it was important to make a stop in our community. Read all the details in our interview here.

Local cleantech company thrives with new funding

Adaptis, a Velocity startup, has secured $2M in pre-seed funding to advance its mission of reducing waste and greenhouse gas emissions through building optimization. The company uses its proprietary, artificial intelligence-driven software to promote circularity in construction by decarbonizing and material recycling for existing and new multi-family housing, commercial and institutional buildings.

Quantum sector flourishes in Waterloo

With remarkable new inventions and exciting projects on the horizon, the quantum science and technology sector in Waterloo continues to grow.

Recently, the Institute for Quantum Computing (IQC), University of Waterloo School for Optometry and Vision Science and the Center for Eye and Vision Research in Hong Kong came together to create a programmable structured light interferometer, which will improve the quality of life for those living with macular degeneration.

The Quantum Quest Seed Funding also awarded $707,000 to eight projects that will accelerate quantum device development.

Additionally, in collaboration with UWaterloo, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) announced nearly $51M in funding for projects that will strengthen Canada’s quantum research and innovation capacity in alignment with the National Quantum Strategy.

Sustainability takes flight with new grant

$10M in federal funding is a major vote of confidence in UWaterloo’s aeronautics and innovation capabilities. The recent investment will support ground-breaking research by the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics (WISA) as it explores new technologies, processes and policies to help the industry become more resilient and meet its net-zero emissions goal by 2050.

“I believe in a future where every flight we take is socially, economically and environmentally sustainable. Today’s federal announcement is a vote of confidence that the Waterloo Institute for Sustainable Aeronautics will make that future possible,” said Vivek Goel, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Waterloo.

Waterloo EDC releases latest annual report

Released in April, the Waterloo EDC 2022 Annual Report recaps our progress and success over the past year. With several exciting local expansions and foreign direct investments, 2022 was an incredibly prolific year.

Read the highlights from the report and find out how we’re refocusing our efforts, overcoming global economic headwinds and collaborating with our partners to continue inventing the future in 2023.