Canadian cleantech fund makes first investment
NGIF Cleantech Ventures, a Canadian venture capital fund created by NGIF Capital, said July 29 it had made its first investment, providing scale-up capital to Michigan-based ThermoLift.
The investment from the now C$50mn (US$39.9mn) venture capital fund will help accelerate the commercialisation of ThermoLift’s flagship natural gas and hydrogen enabled heat pump that can meet three energy needs – water heating, space heating and air conditioning – from a single unit.
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Its patented Hobauer Cycle thermal compression climate control (TC3) unit can provide up to a 50% reduction in HVAC cost of ownership and a “drastic” reduction in end-use energy consumption, NGIF Cleantech’s managing partner, John Adams, said.
“We were impressed by ThermoLift’s team members who bring decades of technical experience in the HVAC space, and a record of delivering satisfaction to customers where their residential units are currently deployed,” Adams said. “We believe that TC3 will greatly enhance the gas value proposition by showing how the fuel and the infrastructure can meet many energy demands – heating and cooling – while reducing costs and emissions.”
The TC3 is approved for installation in buildings across North America, and is positioned to capture market share in cold weather markets that require both heating in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. In 2020 alone, about 6mn HVAC units were sold across southern Canada and the northern US, ThermoLift’s prime target market for the TC3 technology.