Tatiana Estevez was celebrating her fog water collection company Permalution securing money in a fundraising round and garnering support for a drinking water project, when it was all placed in jeopardy. Because American president Donald Trump froze the U.S. Agency for International Development's spending, one of the humanitarian organization's biggest contractors had to put the funding it was set to send Permalution on hold. USAID was also due to back a drinking water project from Estevez's Sherbrooke, Que.-based business.
"The investment market in the U.S. is a lot more competitive, which pushes investors to move more quickly," said Corey Ellis, the co-founder and CEO of Growcer, an Ottawa-based company selling modular hydroponic farms.
"Because Canada is a smaller market, the Canadian investor scene is just much, much slower moving, and as an entrepreneur, time is really the currency. It's less about money and it's more about speed of execution."
His company's legal structure only allows it to take on domestic investors, which fund projects that help organizations such as food banks or community groups open vertical farms. A single farm unit can cost up to $300,000 but pays for itself within six years. Raising money for such climate tech projects is "very difficult on a good day," but Ellis said the recent trade tensions are spurring a shift.
Read more at The Canadian Press