Montreal, November 22, 2022 – Cycle Capital, a leading ClimateTech venture capital investment platform, announces the expansion of its investment and finance team with the addition of two new resources.
Ricardo Jordan joins the Investment team as an Associate. Ricardo brings over eight years of experience in cleantech startups, not only at the technology level delivering projects but also in business development and technical sales. Ricardo spent the first few years of his career as a Project Manager at Terragon Environmental Technologies – a Montreal-based company developing novel energy and biochar generation system and wastewater electrochemical treatment systems – where he led the technology implementation efforts in the field.
Most recently, Ricardo worked as a Business Development Manager at a Peru-based startup, Optima Energía, which focuses on industrial spaces’ digitalization and energy efficiency. In his role, Ricardo worked with clients to identify and develop new business opportunities to maximize energy savings and reduce carbon footprint.
Ricardo holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University and an MBA from HEC Montreal.
Alexandria Papillo joins the team as Director of Finance, where she will contribute towards preparing Cycle Capital’s financial statements and assist with accounting and administrative procedures.
As a CPA Auditor since 2017, Alexandria brings seven years of finance and auditing experience. She previously worked as a Senior Analyst at Gildan, a manufacturing apparel company, for three and a half years in the Financial Planning and Analysis group and External Reporting group. Before Gildan, she worked for nearly four years in Audit and Valuation Services at Deloitte.
She holds a BA in Accounting and a CPA Auditor title from Concordia University’s John Molson School of Business.
“Cycle Capital is thrilled to welcome Ricardo and Alexandria – two new talented individuals with unique expertise in technology and finance. Ricardo’s addition to the investment team will bring strong technical and engineering expertise to advance our due-diligence process and investments in innovative ClimateTech startups. Likewise, Alexandria’s financial and auditing background will be valuable for Cycle Capital’s investment team. We received a lot of candidates for these roles and are excited by the knowledge and experience Ricardo and Alexandria bring to the team.” adds Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner of Cycle Capital.
Montreal, Paris and Tampa, September 20, 2022 – Masonite International Corporation (“Masonite”) (NYSE: DOOR), the Fonds de solidarité FTQ and a leading in store marketing services provider announced today their investment in the Circular Innovation Fund (“CIF”) – a joint venture between pioneer ClimateTech investors Cycle Capital and Demeter. CIF is a US$150M – €150M impact innovation fund dedicated to scaling circular, sustainable and profitable growth stage companies from North America, Europe and Asia. The fund will positively contribute to climate change mitigation and circular use of resources across various sectors including new materials, packaging, recycling & waste, logistics, eco-efficient processes & design. CIF is an impact innovation fund classified as Article 9 under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation.
Masonite was founded in 1925 by William H. Mason, engineer, inventor, and apprentice of Thomas A. Edison, on sustainability principles and a revolutionary process that transformed waste wood from the logging industry into durable pressed hardboard. The company continues to build on its legacy today by developing industry-changing innovations and utilizing recycled and renewable materials to create Doors That Do MoreTM.
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ is the largest development capital fund in the province of Quebec.Through its governance and codes of ethics, the Fonds is a socially responsible investor committed to sustainable economic development where people come first.
“We continually seek new ways to incorporate sustainable innovations into our products and operations at Masonite. This strategic investment in CIF is another example of our commitment to caring for the environment while identifying new technologies that can make Masonite an even stronger company. We are pleased to support this important work to identify and support companies that seek to advance the circular economy.” – Clare Doyle, Chief Sustainability Officer, Masonite
“Our actions must accelerate if we wish to leave the next generations a planet where it will be good to live. We are choosing today what their future will be. This is why the Fonds de solidarité FTQ is committed to reaching $12 billion in assets related to sustainable development within 5 years. This is an ambitious but necessary objective, particularly to fight climate change and ensure a just transition.” – Janie Béique, President & CEO, Fonds de solidarité FTQ
“We are very pleased to have among our investors one of our founding Limited Partner, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, which has made a serious commitment to fighting the climate crisis, and a new Limited Partner, Masonite, which has an inspiring history of deploying circular processes for almost a century.”- Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder & Managing Partner, Cycle Capital
“The support of prominent institutional, corporate and private investors confirms Circular Innovation Fund’s vision and momentum. Moreover, the set of North American and European investors matches with the global footprint of our investment strategy.” – Stéphane Villecroze, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Demeter
The Fund is also backed by L’Oreal and a broad range of investors including, strategic investor Axens, family offices including Haltra and Claridge, as well as institutional investors, private investors and the managers.
Masonite
Masonite International Corporation is a leading global designer, manufacturer, marketer and distributor of interior and exterior doors for the new construction and repair, renovation and remodeling sectors of the residential and non-residential building construction markets. Since 1925, Masonite has provided its customers with innovative products and superior service at compelling values. Masonite currently serves more than 7,000 customers globally. For more information on Masonite, visit: masonite.com.
Fonds de solidarité FTQ
The Fonds de solidarité FTQ invests to build a better society by channeling the savings of its 748,371 shareholders into development and risk capital investments to help Québec transition to a green economy, a people-centred world of work, and a healthier society. The Fonds offers businesses unsecured financing and strategic support. With $17.4 billion in net assets as of May 31, 2022, the Fonds has supported 3,620 partner companies and 296,927 jobs. For more information on Fonds de Solidarité FSTQ, visit fondsftq.com.
Circular Innovation Fund
The Circular Innovation Fund (“CIF”) is a global growth stage venture capital fund focused solely on circular innovation. It is a joint venture between leading cleantech capital managers – Montreal-based Cycle Capital and Paris-based Demeter. The fund invests in growth-stage companies from North America, Europe and Asia, developing breakthrough new materials, circular packaging, recycling and waste innovations, logistics, as well as eco-efficient processes & design, and circular business models. For more information on the Circular Innovation Fund, visit: circularinnovationfund.com.
Cycle Capital
Cycle Capital is a leading ClimateTech venture capital platform scaling impactful sustainable innovation. Founded in 2009, Cycle Capital invests across North America, Europe and Asia in growing companies commercializing solutions to the major ecological challenges and contributing to a net-zero transition. Cycle Capital is the founder of Cycle Momentum Accelerator + Innovation Engine. Cycle Capital has developed an ESG and impact assessment methodology integrated into the investment workflow from the pre-investment phase to the exit of the portfolio company. For more information on Cycle Capital, visit: www.cyclecapital.com .
Demeter Demeter is a major European investment platform dedicated to ecological transition. Demeter has over €1.2 billion under management and has carried out 200 investments since 2005. It invests €1m to €30m to support companies at all stages of development: innovative startups, high growth SMEs and infrastructure projects. Its team of 38 is based in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Metz, Madrid and Düsseldorf. Demeter is a responsible and committed investor, signatory of numerous initiatives such as PRI (Principle for Responsible Investment), CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), iC20, The Shift Project, and initiatives for gender diversity. All Demeter funds since 2021 are classified “Article 9” under the framework of the new European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). For more information on Demeter, visit: demeter-im.com.
Info
Catherine Bérubé
Vice President, Sustainability, Investor Relations and Public Affairs [email protected]
+1 514 629-1022
Cycle Capital, an impact investor and leading cleantech venture capital investment platform, welcomes Ankit Mishra to the team. As Project Manager, Communications & Marketing, he will lead Communication and Marketing efforts across the Cycle Capital platform and report to the VP of Sustainability, Investor Relations and Public Affairs.
Before joining Cycle Capital, Ankit spent over ten years working for various early-stage startups in the San Francisco Bay Area, the Ontario Government and the OECD, specialising in economic growth, energy transition, and the future of work. Ankit is also an Energy Contributor at Forbes. In 2022, he was named a Fellow at the Energy Futures Lab.
“We are thrilled to welcome Ankit to Cycle Capital,” says Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner of Cycle Capital. “His unique experience in entrepreneurship, marketing and research is a perfect fit for Cycle Capital as we look to scale our Cycle Momentum and Cycle Central initiatives.”
Ankit studied a Master’s degree in International Economics from Sciences Po Paris and a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with French from York University (Glendon College).
Montreal, August 3, 2022 – Cycle Capital – a leading cleantech venture capital platform – announces that its portfolio company Rhombus Energy Solutions (“Rhombus”) has been acquired by BorgWarner (NYSE: BWA) a publicly-traded
Tier 1 automotive supplier.
Rhombus supplies patented next-generation bi-directional EV charging infrastructure to EV OEMs, such as Proterra and Blue Bird, as well as integrators that provide grid services, such as Nuvve. High-efficiency power conversion and advanced energy management systems enable Rhombus to offer increased performance and reliability for EV fleet charging.
Since its inception in 2012, Rhombus has become a leader in the EV space and has developed best-in-class Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) solutions, making it a key contributor to the race to net zero for the transportation sector and improving grid reliability. The acquisition by BorgWarner will allow to accelerate the deployment of EV charging solutions for EV fleets amid exponential growth in the sector.
“We are extremely proud of the company’s progress and glad to have contributed to its growth over the course of our investment in Rhombus. This acquisition is a natural fit between cutting-edge, tech focused companies that are scaling innovative and sustainable e-Mobility solutions.” says Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner of Cycle Capital.
This transaction has an enterprise value of up to US $185 million. It comes less than two years after Cycle Capital’s investment in the company alongside Emerald Technology Ventures, Inci Holding, Nabtesco Technology Ventures, Greenhouse Capital Partners and private investors.
Rick Sander, Co-Founder, President and CEO of Rhombus said, “After leading an incredibly talented team of people for 10 years at Rhombus, I am energized with taking this next step in achieving our goals and vision to become part of a global industry leader in e-Mobility Charging by joining the BorgWarner organization.The strategic fit with BorgWarner’s Charging Forward initiative is perfect; providing Rhombus the platform to continue our rapid growth by leveraging BorgWarner’s strengths and being part of one of the world’s largest providers of innovative and sustainable mobility solutions for the global vehicle market.”
“The technology that Rhombus brings expands BorgWarner’s electric vehicle portfolio in North America and complements our existing European charging business. This transaction supports our Charging Forward strategy and strengthens our electric vehicle positioning as we look to power the entire propulsion system from grid to wheels,” said Frédéric Lissalde, President and CEO of BorgWarner.
IMPROVED acted as financial advisor to Rhombus’ and its shareholders in the transaction.
Cycle CapitalCycle Capital is an impact investor and leading private cleantech venture capital investment platform. With offices in Montreal, Toronto and Qingdao, mainland China, and a presence in New York and Seattle, Cycle Capital invests across North America and China in growing and commercializing companies that have developed technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and optimizing resources and processes. Cycle Capital is the founder of Cycle Momentum Accelerator. For more information on Cycle Capital, visit: www.cyclecapital.com
Rhombus Energy Solutions
Rhombus develops and manufactures next-generation bi-directional electric vehicle charging infrastructure, high-efficiency power conversion systems and energy management systems (EMS) software for vehicle-to-grid (V2G) capable electric vehicle fleet charging, energy storage and microgrid applications. The high reliability of our solutions is the result of decades of experience developing high-power systems for a variety of applications and deployment scenarios, including UL-1741-SA system-to-grid solutions. For more information on Rhombus, visit: rhombusenergysolutions.com
BorgWarner
For more than 130 years, BorgWarner has been a transformative global product leader bringing successful mobility innovation to market. Today, we’re accelerating the world’s transition to E-mobility — to help build a cleaner, healthier, safer future for all. For more information on BorgWarner, visit: bordwarner.com
Supported by strategic investor L’Oréal, Circular Innovation Fund aims at scaling growth stage circular innovations and business models across various sectors
Montreal and Paris, April 21, 2022 – Cycle Capital et Demeter, leading cleantech-focused capital managers, announced today ahead of Earth Day the successful first close for its new US$160M – €150M Circular Innovation Fund (CIF) with participation of anchor investor L’Oréal.
With this fund, the managers join their resources to scale circular, sustainable and profitable growth stage solutions from North America, Europe and Asia that positively contribute to climate change mitigation and circular use of resources across various sectors including new materials, packaging, recycling & waste, logistics, eco-efficient processes & design. The fund will capitalize on the managers’ experience of investing in venture, private equity and infrastructure in cleantech to the growing need for market-ready solutions to convene capital towards talented entrepreneurial teams that are deploying those innovations.
CIF is an impact innovation fund classified as Article 9 under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation. The fund’s robust, reliable and innovative impact measurement methodology integrates due diligence and continued monitoring on critical non-financial KPIs including greenhouse gas emissions reductions, resource use and diversity over the investment horizons of portfolio companies. The fund managers’ compensation is also aligned on the achievement of a selection of pre-determined impact goals.
Anchor investor L’Oréal is contributing €50M through its L’Oréal for the Future sustainability program. The fund also benefits from a broad range of investors including, strategic investor Axens, family offices including Haltra and Claridge, as well as private investors and the managers.
“In a context of “it is now or never” as the last IPCC report said, private companies such as L’Oréal, have an increased role to play in supporting solutions which are critical for the future of our planet and humankind. At L’Oréal we believe that Impact investment is a powerful tool to tackle the biggest environmental issues and accelerate the necessary green transition. With the Circular Innovation Fund, we are joining forces with other committed actors to scale circular and profitable solutions for sustainable growth.” – Alexandra Palt, Chief Corporate Responsibility Officer and CEO of the Fondation L’Oréal.
“Axens is deeply involved in the development of advanced processes and
solutions for the circular economy of goods and materials, including plastics – with our Rewind® family processes – and metals. In order to accelerate the emergence of a circular
economy worldwide, innovation is required all along the value chain of those
goods and materials. The Circular Innovation Fund, with
renowned partners coming from different horizons, will be a powerful
tool to support this innovation growth, and we, at
Axens, are glad to be part of it.” – Jean Sentenac, Chairman and CEO, Axens.
“We are enthusiastic about joining Cycle Capital and Demeter, two leading investors in the ecological transition, with a global presence and activity in North America, Europe and Asia. Our investment is a strategic component of our impact investing program flowing from our responsible investment policy. The Fund will allow Claridge to make investments in circular economy solutions and to participate in both return potential and contribution to global environmental health.” – Pierre Boivin, President and CEO, Claridge Inc.
“As a family investment firm focused on managing assets and having a positive impact, we promote the emergence of disruptive and sustainable economic models for future generations. We are delighted to participate to this new fund in the Circular Economy, one of our core investment themes. We have known Demeter for many years and are pleased to partner with Cycle Capital and L’Oréal in this field” – Matthieu Baumgartner, Co-Founder, HALTRA.
“We are beyond thrilled to announce the first closing of the Circular Innovation Fund, which comes at a pivotal point in the global supply chain crunch and, most importantly, has the potential to drastically re-design how we extract, manufacture, consume and dispose of goods and materials. In light of the new IPCC report, a transition to renewable energy is not enough to solve some of the most pressing challenges humanity faces. We also need to tackle carbon emissions generated by the goods we consume with innovation-driven technologies developed by talented entrepreneurs” – Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder & Managing Partner, Cycle Capital.
“The joint-venture formed by Cycle Capital and Demeter platforms represents the perfect match for the Circular Innovation Fund investment strategy. Our dedicated team benefits from our undisputed expertise in ecological transition and circular economy, our international footprint and our track records as well as our best-in-class impact knowhow.” – Stéphane Villecroze, Co-founder & Managing Partner, Demeter.
Led by Benoit Forcier and Mathieu Goudot, with the support of Adeline Kempf and Maya Hassa as well as the firms’ back-office, the team brings decades of combined skill set of entrepreneurial, operating and investing expertise and experience in the cleantech sector.
Investments in early-stage VC funds
Consecutive to the first close, CIF announces indirect investment in two early-stage funds focused on circular innovation – U.S.-based Closed Loop Venture Fund II and European Circular Bioeconomy Fund (“ECBF”).
• Founded in 2014, Closed Loop Partners is a New York-based investment firm, comprised of venture capital, growth equity, private equity and catalytic capital, as well as an innovation center focused on building the circular economy. The firm’s venture capital arm, Closed Loop Ventures Group, launched in 2017 with one of the first venture funds dedicated to investing in disruptive, early-stage companies developing breakthrough solutions to accelerate the transition to the circular economy. In 2021, the Group launched its second venture fund to build on this strategy. To date, the team has made 30+ investments across both funds, targeting strong, early-stage venture returns.
ECBF is the first venture fund exclusively dedicated to investing in growth-stage companies in the European bioeconomy, including the circular bioeconomy. The fund aims to make sustainable investments in our future and speed up the shift from a fossil-based to a bio-based economy. Thus, ECBF backs up businesses with high potential for innovation, favorable returns, and sustainable impact.
CIF will also sponsor a global acceleration program through a partnership with Cycle Momentum. The program will offer support for startups at the Seed/Series A stage with cohorts across Europe, North America and Asia over 3 years.
CIF’s investment team is actively evaluating a rich pipeline of investment opportunities and welcomes inquiries and collaboration with entrepreneurs and co-investors.
Circular Innovation FundThe Circular Innovation Fund (“CIF”) is a global growth stage venture capital fund focused solely on circular innovation. It is a joint venture between leading cleantech capital managers – Montreal-based Cycle Capital and Paris-based Demeter. The fund invests in growth-stage companies from North America, Europe and Asia developing breakthrough new materials, circular packaging, recycling and waste innovations, logistics, as well as eco-efficient processes & design, and circular business models. For more information on the Circular Innovation Fund, visit: circularinnovationfund.com.
Cycle Capital Cycle Capital is an impact investor and leading private cleantech venture capital investment platform with $600 million under management. With offices in Montreal, Toronto and Qingdao, mainland China, and a presence in New York and Seattle, Cycle Capital invests across North America and China in growing and commercializing companies that have developed technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and optimizing resources and processes. Cycle Capital is the founder of Cycle Momentum Accelerator and Canadian co-chair of the Beyond the Billion initiative – an international campaign to mobilize a consortium of investors who support female founders. For more information on Cycle Capital, visit: www.cyclecapital.com .
Demeter
Demeter is a major European investment platform dedicated to ecological transition. Demeter has over €1 billion under management and carried out 200 investments since 2005. It invests €1m to €30m to support companies at all stages of development: innovative startups, high growth SMEs and infrastructure projects. Its team of 38 is based in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux, Grenoble, Metz, Madrid and Düsseldorf. Demeter is a responsible and committed investor, signatory of numerous initiatives such as PRI (Principle for Responsible Investment), CDP (Carbon Disclosure Project), iC20, The Shift Project, and initiatives for gender diversity. All new Demeter funds are classified “Article 9” under the framework of the new European Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR). For more information on Demeter, visit: www.demeter-im.com.
L’Oréal
For over 110 years, L’Oréal, the world’s leading beauty player, has devoted itself to one thing only: fulfilling the beauty aspirations of consumers around the world. Our purpose, to create the beauty that moves the world, defines our approach to beauty as inclusive, ethical, generous and committed to social and environmental sustainability. With our broad portfolio of 35 international brands and ambitious sustainability commitments in our L’Oréal for the Future program, we offer each and every person around the world the best in terms of quality, efficacy, safety, sincerity and responsibility, while celebrating beauty in its infinite plurality.
With 85,400 committed employees, a balanced geographical footprint and sales across all distribution networks (e-commerce, mass market, department stores, pharmacies, hair salons, branded and travel retail), in 2021 the Group generated sales amounting to 32.28 billion euros. With 20 research centers across 11 countries around the world and a dedicated Research and Innovation team of 4,000 scientists and over 3,000 tech professionals, L’Oréal is focused on inventing the future of beauty and becoming a Beauty Tech powerhouse. More information on L’Oréal, visit: loreal.com/en/mediaroom.
Montreal, April 6, 2022 – With excitement and open arms, Cycle Capital welcomes Benoit Forcier back to the Cycle Capital family, where he will be leading Where he will be leading a new international fund. Benoit brings 27 years of experience in corporate finance, venture capital and business development, including 15 years of technology and venture capital investing throughout Ontario, Quebec, Atlantic Canada, and the U.S.
Benoit returns to Cycle Capital after four years at BDC as part of the Cleantech Practice where he played an instrumental role in supporting high-impact cleantech companies to successfully scale and advised them on fundraising, operations and strategy.
Before joining BDC, Benoit was a Partner at Cycle Capital, where he was the investment lead and board member of six portfolio companies across three funds. Before that, he was VP of Investment at Innovacorp, Nova Scotia’s crown corporation in early-stage venture capital. In his role, Benoit managed the VC fund, sourced angel and institutional co-investors, and led the creation of a new early-stage regional venture capital fund. Benoit started his career in the telecom sector with BCE Inc., followed by Telesystem International Wireless. His responsibilities included business development, venture and corporate investment, strategic alliances and risk and treasury management.
“Benoit brings years of experience in venture capital and cleantech. We’re excited to have him come back to the organization to lead a new initiative very dear to us, which will be announced shortly.” – Andrée-Lise Méthot, founder & managing partner
Benoit holds a Bachelor of Commerce in Finance, and he also completed graduate studies in Finance in the Master of Science program at Concordia University. Dedicated to applying his experience gained across multiple industries to help strengthen the cleantech sector from its base in Canada, Cycle Capital is excited to, once again, count on Benoit in our mission of scaling impactful innovation.
As an impact investor and leading cleantech venture capital investment platform, we’re excited to share our 2020–2021 Impact and ESG report. This first report, which measures Cycle Capital portfolio companies’ impact, is a pivotal data asset in our mission to empower entrepreneurs, investors, and companies to find innovative solutions to the major ecological challenges facing humanity. Our efforts are a work in progress, but we hope that this report will have a snowball effect on our industry.
Read the full article on Mediumand consult our Impact and ESG Report on our impact page.
Cycle Capital – a leading cleantech venture capital platform – once again welcomes Claude Champagne to the team as Technology Lead.
Claude Champagne, an experienced entrepreneur, will be advising the investment team and its portfolio companies on strategy and business development. He re-joins Cycle Capital following a brilliant career in technology development and commercialization, and corporate leadership of high-tech companies. After 12 years at Nortel Networks, he joined Positron Industries as VP Engineering and Strategic Planning. He then founded PFS (Positron Fiber Systems Corp), a leading producer of fiber optic equipment for the telecommunication market. The business grew rapidly under Claude’s leadership and vision, reaching $100M in global annual sales in merely five years and successfully completing a cross-border IPO (NASDAQ, TSX and MSE). Through later acquisitions, he was named VP Transport Systems for RELTEC Corp. and then led the Optical Networks North America subsidiary for Marconi PLC.
In addition to serving on numerous boards and committees, he mentored countless high-tech startup companies, including LxDATA, for which he became CEO. In his function Claude transformed the company from a telecom components commodity supplier into a successfully integrated solution provider of downhole sensors for the Oil & Gas industry. He also previously worked with Cycle Capital as entrepreneur in residence.
“We are very pleased to welcome Claude back to our team. His experience in scaling technologies and his deep comprehension of the challenges faced by companies in the commercialization phase make him an invaluable resource for our portfolio companies and our team.” – Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder and Managing Partner at Cycle Capital
In recognition of his remarkable work, Claude was awarded Canada’s prestigious and inaugural National IWAY Award in 1996 for product development contributing to the country’s information highway. In 1999, he received the award for top 40 Canadians under 40 and was featured as a success story in the CVCA (Canadian Venture Capital Association) report. He graduated with Distinction in 1981 from McGill University with an Honors B. Electrical Engineering degree.
Cycle Capital, an impact investor and leading cleantech venture capital investment platform, welcomes Manuelle Côté to the team. As Project Manager, Communications & Marketing, she will lead Communications & Marketing efforts across the Cycle Capital platform.
Prior to joining Cycle Capital, Manuelle worked as a venture manager at the Creative Destruction Lab, a seed-stage program for massively scalable, science-based companies. She worked closely with startups that leverage artificial intelligence and data science to solve problems along supply chains. As a former alpine skier, she recognizes that personalized, targeted mentorship is equally valuable to entrepreneurs as it is to athletes.
Manuelle spent most of her early career dividing her time between Calgary, Vancouver, and Mountain View while working in tech. She worked for a global educational publisher and learning tech company before joining the leadership team at Filld, a VC-backed fuel startup based in Silicon Valley, in a marketing & partnership role.
“We are excited to welcome Manuelle to the great team at Cycle Capital. Her experience working closely with entrepreneurs will be valuable to our organizations.” – Andrée-Lise Méthot, Founder & Managing Partner at Cycle Capital
Manuelle studied Public Relations at the University of Calgary and Innovation & Entrepreneurship at Stanford University before completing an MBA from HEC Montréal, where she received a leadership scholarship for her work on diversity and sustainability in organizations.
2021 was a pivotal year for Cycle Capital Management from all fronts. Cycle Capital is starting the new year with a fresh look that reflects our professionalism in the financial sector, our commitment to actions against climate change, and ultimately, our ambitious endeavour to scale impactful innovation.
Ringing the IPO Bell with ESS Inc. (NYSE: GWH)
One of the proudest moments in venture capital is helping a startup through its early growing pains to an initial public offering. The team completed the going public transaction of ESS Inc. via SPAC on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker GWH with investors such as Fidelity, Breakthrough Energy Ventures, SoftBank Energy and BASF.
We’ve also finalized the exit of Laboratoire M2 in 2021. Lab M2 sells biodegradable, high-performance and safe antimicrobial products for the animal health, agricultural crop protection and surface cleaning.
New Investments
In 2021, Cycle Capital’s portfolio companies raised eight rounds of financing totaling $260M. Notable rounds include a round of $150M US in Gan Systems led by Fidelity, Vitesco, BDC, and numerous other partners who took part.
We’ve added Mysa, a new company from the Maritimes to the portfolio with a $20.3M round led by Cycle Capital and joined by Round13, EDC and BDC. The Canadian smart-thermostat venture received growth financing to support its goal of decarbonizing domestic heating and cooling globally.
At Cycle Capital, our team is our strength. In 2021, we promoted three of our valued team members, and we welcomed eight new employees to our diverse and gender-neutral team of 27.
Promotions
Dan Pinault promoted to Partner
Gary Berdowski promoted to Associate
Catherine Bérubé, now also leading Cycle Central
New members
Alia Drouin, Director, Impact Investment and Public Affairs
Maya Hassa, Analyst
Christine Forget, Executive Strategic Advisor
Vincent Lamontagne-Lafrenaye, Open Innovation Program Manager
Gabriel Samson, Analyst
Hans Rogg Desormeaux, Analyst Open Innovation and acceleration
Odette Diouf, Accounting assistant
Marie Bonneval, Accounting assistant (interim)
And most recently, Manuelle Côté, Project Manager, Communications & Marketing
Making an Impact
At Cycle Capital, we don’t believe in half measures, which is why we have invested in implementing tools to monitor ESG and impact metrics. To this effect, we’ve integrated the impact evaluation in the quarterly reporting of our most recent fund. We have also recruited a new resource, Alia Drouin, which, in collaboration with the investment team, supports our companies in monitoring their non-financial performance.
Diversity is important at Cycle Capital as a driver for creativity and innovation. Our portfolio companies count 29% women at the senior management level and 22% at the employee level, including senior management and 31% of visible minorities.
Cycle Momentum
This year, Cycle Momentum tripled its team and doubled the number of companies accelerated, moving from 10 to 20, totalingto more than 75 ventures accelerated since 2015. Graduated companies have raised, altogether, $78M in dilutive and dilutive financing in 2021.
Cycle Momentum also launched its first Open Innovation platform in collaboration with InnovHQ in the greenhouse sector. The accelerator also launched two other impact programs in partnerships with ZoneAgtech and L’esplanade, because together, we can make They also forged ten corporate partnerships to grow the cleantech ecosystem actively and launched the Circle of Partner Funds, which now regroups 15 members that are investing in cleantech.
Bleu Impact Fund
2021 also marks the inception of the BleuImpact Fund — a $20M fund dedicated to innovative water technologies lead by our Senior Partner Simon Olivier.
Cycle Central
We launched Cycle Central, a non-profit entity to create an Innovation Zone dedicated to clean technologies. Based in Montreal, Cycle Central is an innovation hub and community of entrepreneurs, researchers, investors and industrial partners dedicated to deploying innovative solutions to the major environmental challenges facing humanity.
Cycle Capital, an impact investor and leading cleantech venture capital investment platform, welcomes Manuelle Côté to the team. As Project Manager, Communications & Marketing, she will lead Communications & Marketing efforts across the Cycle Capital platform.