Welcome to this week's Sunday Briefing. In this edition:
Blackline Safety brings gas detection to Boston Dynamics' Spot
Kathairos hits a million-tonne CO2 milestone
General Fusion and Eavor make Time's cleantech list
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Women founders are getting $30 million from this Calgary venture firm
Shelley Kuipers and Lauren Robinson, The51’s general partners. Photo: The51
Originally published in the Calgary Citizen
A Calgary-based venture firm is putting serious money behind women entrepreneurs. The51, which invests in women-led companies across Canada, has reached the first close of its $30 million Fund III, with BMO signing on as the lead anchor investor alongside 17 women co-investors.
The fund focuses on three sectors — health, wealth, and work — where women are both the primary consumers and, historically, among the most underfunded founders. Women-led companies currently receive just two to four per cent of venture capital in Canada, despite consistently outperforming their peers, according to The51.
The co-anchor model itself is part of the point. By bringing together a group of women investors at the anchor level, The51 is deliberately shifting who holds decision-making power over where capital flows.
"The question is never whether that capital will move — it is where it will go," said Shelley Kuipers, co-founder and CEO of The51. "The51 exists to make sure it flows toward the women building what's next."
By 2028, Canadian women are projected to control nearly $4 trillion in financial assets. The51, which has already backed women founders through two previous funds, sees that as both an opportunity and a responsibility.
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🤝 Funding, Deals, and Partnerships
Blackline Safety brings gas detection to Boston Dynamics’ spot. The companies have integrated Blackline’s cloud-connected portable detector with Boston Dynamics’ Spot, the mobile industrial robot used to collect inspection data in hazardous environments. Calgary.Tech
Hanwha Ocean and Azure Sustainable Fuels announce MOU to explore investment and growth opportunities in Canada’s sustainable aviation fuel sector. The collaboration is intended to support the scaling and global competitiveness of high-potential Canadian technologies and businesses through potential future investment activities. Azure Sustainable Fuels
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📰 Need To Know
General Fusion and Eavor take top spots on Time Magazine cleantech list. Five Canadian companies are among 250 of the world’s “top-performing” cleantech companies. Betakit
Kathairos hits million-tonne milestone for CO2 reduction at oil and gas sites. Calgary-based company replaces methane-rich natural gas with liquid nitrogen to reduce emissions. Betakit
What's next for transportation and logistics in the Calgary region. To examine that question, Calgary’s business community — including its transportation and logistics sector — gathered at TELUS Spark Science Centre on June 11. Calgary Economic Development