Six-person Ottawa cleantech startup is one of nine companies from around the world that’s taking part in a three-month accelerator program in Oslo, Norway, backed by international investment firm Techstars and Norwegian energy company Equinor.
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As Canada, the United States and other countries ramp up their investments in green technologies, a fledgling Ottawa enterprise has caught the eye of one of the world’s largest energy companies for its platform that helps predict the power output of solar farms.
Incorporated in late December, Enurgen is a spinoff of the University of Ottawa’s SUNLAB Solar Research Lab.
The six-person startup is one of nine companies from around the world that’s taking part in a three-month accelerator program in Oslo, Norway, backed by international investment firm Techstars and Norwegian energy giant Equinor.
Enurgen’s software was developed by Kibby Pollak and Christopher Valdivia, electrical engineers who conducted their pioneering research at uOttawa’s SUNLAB facility.
The proprietary technology uses algorithms that mine data on factors such as weather patterns, climate and environmental conditions to project the power-generating potential of large-scale solar farms that convert the sun’s energy into electric power.
The company has already landed $250,000 in funding from New York-based 2048 Ventures for the platform, which Pollak likens to “an operating system” that underpins solar farm technology similar to the way an iPhone runs on Apple’s iOS.
Pollak previously founded a startup called MyPitboard, which provided real-time analytics such as lap times to motocross racers and landed a spot in the University of Ottawa’s Scaleup Garage accelerator program in 2019.
But Pollak believes his latest venture will have “a broader impact on people.” He is now taking the lessons he learned from his first foray into entrepreneurship and applying them to his new company.
“There’s good maturity in the actual software – it’s just about productization,” he says.
Among the youngest members of Ottawa’s growing crop of cleantech ventures, Enurgen appears to be in the right space at the right time.
Green energy is currently one of the hottest fields in tech – as evidenced by the U.S. government’s decision to commit upwards of US$369 billion in clean growth incentives for U.S. industries in the Inflation Reduction Act and the $21 billion worth of tax credits and other inducements for cleantech enterprises in the Canadian federal government’s 2023 budget.
Meanwhile, energy powerhouses like Equinor are also stepping up their investments in green energy. While in Norway, Enurgen’s co-founders are helping Equinor set up the operating system for the petroleum producer’s new solar plants, which are expected to be up and running soon.
“It’s a very exciting time to be a part of this industry,” Pollak says. “All of these oil and gas companies are now transforming.”
For the next three months, Pollak and Valdivia will work alongside Equinor’s engineers and will also consult with members of the multinational company’s ventures arm in an effort to fine-tune their financing strategy.
Buoyed by the contribution from 2048 Ventures, the Ottawa startup says it’s on track to close a $1-million pre-seed round in the coming weeks. If all goes well over the next few months, Pollak says he’s hoping Enurgen’s burgeoning business relationship with Equinor will culminate in a long-term agreement to supply its technology to the energy giant.
“If we were able to close a potential paid pilot (project), that would really put the company on a different trajectory,” he says. “We’re really excited to see what happens this next quarter.”
Pollak says a deal with the likes of Equinor would be “transformative” for the startup, which expects to hire at least a couple additional employees before the year is out.
“It would definitely set us up on the hypergrowth stage,” he explains. “In the energy sector, you always want to de-risk everything. So having backing like this essentially gives us that stamp of approval in the energy industry. That will allow us to open up a lot of new doors into other big energy companies.”
