Canada’s largest cleantech venture fund to drive growth of global clean technology with second closing

Toronto — ArcTern Ventures, a venture capital firm investing globally in breakthrough clean technology companies addressing climate change and sustainability, announced a second closing of its Fund II.

In response to growing institutional investor and family office interest in planet-positive investments, ArcTern increased its second fund size to $200 million from $150 million, with new investors including TD Bank Group, Suncor, BDC, top family offices such as The Ivey Foundation, and another top Canadian pension fund. They join anchor investors OMERS, Equinor (formerly Statoil) and others.

Together, they have invested approximately $165 million in aggregate capital commitments to-date, indicating surging levels of confidence in current and emerging cleantech innovation.

“We are pleased to help advance cleantech innovation and entrepreneurs through our investment in ArcTern Ventures’ Fund II and to partner with leading global energy firms and pension funds,” said Drew MacIntyre, Vice-Chair and Head of Global Energy, TD Securities. “This investment is part of TD’s ‘The Ready Commitment’ which supports the transition to a lower-carbon future and contributes to building a more sustainable tomorrow.”

The announcement positions ArcTern Fund II as the largest cleantech venture fund in Canada and among the leading cleantech venture funds in the world. ArcTern’s managing partners, Murray McCaig and Tom Rand, co-founded ArcTern Ventures in 2012 with the view that the accelerating global transition to a greener economy was inevitable, bringing significant investment opportunity as it disrupts virtually all industries.

“The Ivey Foundation is pleased to join other leading Canadian investors to create one of the country’s largest cleantech funds and ultimately support Canada’s transition to a sustainable economy. We agree with ArcTern’s view on the global shift towards sustainability and we believe that investments of this kind can lead to long-term growth in our endowment.”

ArcTern analysis shows a multi-trillion-dollar opportunity within the cleantech industry, particularly in cleantech innovation, and strong potential to generate both outsized financial returns and a positive environmental impact.

“By leveraging our integrated energy expertise, Suncor is in an enviable position to accelerate technology deployment. ArcTern’s deep domain knowledge and connectivity to the global cleantech ecosystem combined with our own cleantech investments and industry collaboration will contribute to how we’re positioned in the future low carbon economy,” said Steve Reynish , executive vice president, strategy and operations services, Suncor.

“The global cleantech sector is growing and innovating at such a rapid pace that it’s providing more investment opportunities than we ever thought possible only a few years ago,” explained McCaig. Rand, a leading global climate solution advocate, added that “Cleantech investing is a team sport, which is why we are excited to have united such a powerful and forward-thinking group of investor partners. Our leadership, coupled with their capital commitments, expertise, and global connections will help drive the growth of our investee companies with the goal of transforming them into global market leaders.”

“We are pleased to be partnering with ArcTern and their strategy of building global cleantech champions from their base in Canada,” said Alison Nankivell, Vice President of Fund Investments at BDC Capital. “Entrepreneurs are at the core of everything BDC does and we believe founding partners Tom and Murray have the operating experience as startup founders and CEOs that will enable them to provide hands-on guidance to companies helping Canada and the global economy transition to a more sustainable future.”

In Canada, ArcTern works closely with MaRS Discovery District to find the highest-potential companies in cleantech. MaRS is North America’s largest urban innovation hub and a leader in startup acceleration.