Cycle Capital’s 2022 Year in Review
2022 marked another pivotal year for Cycle Capital. As long-time backers of ClimateTech start-ups and entrepreneurs, Cycle Capital’s team is excited by the emerging opportunities to develop impactful solutions and transition to a net-zero economy.
Looking back: 2022 Activity at A Glance
A New Fund Focused Exclusively on Circular Innovation
Cycle Capital launched the Circular Innovation Fund (CIF) in partnership with Demeter. As part of CIF, 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.
In 2022, CIF invested US $7.5M in Closed Loop Ventures Fund II and EUR 5M in the European Circular Bioeconomy Fund. A direct investment has been completed, and more details will be coming soon.
Investment into 2 New ClimateTech Startups
In 2022, Cycle Capital invested in two new companies totally ~ CA $10M: Airex Energy and VueReal.
- Airex Energie is developing a proprietary CarbonFX torrefaction technology platform to transform biomass waste into a range of value-added carbonised products such as biocoal and biochar. Airex Energy has fundraised CA $20M in two equity rounds led by Cycle Capital, with Desjardins Investissement and Investissement Quebec participating as Co-Investors.
- VueReal is developing and commercializing a manufacturing platform that enables efficient, cost-effective, and scalable production and integration of micro- and nano- LED devices. VueReal has raised US$18.4M in equity with Cycle Capital joining GM Ventures, TDK Ventures, Vitro, EDC and BDC in the Series B round.
8 Follow-Up Investments
Across Cycle Capital’s Fund 1-IV, eight follow-up investments were conducted, totalling ~ CA $7M, which brings the total capital raised by our portfolio companies to ~CA $400M in 2022.
2 Exists
In July 2022, Rhombus Energy Solutions was acquired by BorgWarner for US $135M. The acquisition marks Cycle Capital’s 2nd exit within the past 12 months, following ESS Inc. (NYSE: GWH) listing via SPAC on the New York Stock Exchange in December 2021.
Behind the scenes at Cycle Capital
At Cycle Capital, our team is our strength. In 2022, we promoted 3 and welcomed six new employees to our team.
6 New members
- Ricardo Jordan, Associate (Investment)
- Ankit Mishra, Communication and Marketing
- Alexandria Papillo, Director of Finance
- Marie-Agnès Thiébaud, ESG Analyst
- Sandra Gabriela Benitez-Rivas, Accounting Assistant (Finance)
- Margot Lorphelin, Analyst (Investment)
3 Promotions
- Ariane Cloutier, Chief Financial Officer
- Gerd Goette, Venture Partner (Investment)
- Manuelle Côté, Director of Fundraising and Public Affairs
Making an Impact
At Cycle Capital, we have been working with our portfolio companies to implement ESG and impact metrics. In the past year, our team published an updated ESG/Impact Report for 2020–21 and has been working with our portfolio companies to integrate these metrics into quarterly reporting and recruited a new resource, Marie-Agnès Thiébaud, which, in collaboration with the investment team, supports our companies in monitoring their non-financial performance.
Alongside this, we believe diversity is a key 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.
Looking ahead to 2023
At Cycle Capital, we believe that climatetech and sustainability will be front and centre in 2023. As a result, Cycle Capital has established dedicated investment, platform service and operations teams to support our investors, entrepreneurs and partners. We look forward to continuing our collaboration in 2023. Check out the infographic below to learn more about our accomplishments this year.
About Cycle Capital
Cycle Capital is a leading private ClimateTech venture capital investment platform with offices in Montreal and Toronto, and a presence in the U.S., Europe and Asia. Cycle Capital invests across North America, Europe and Asia in growing and commercializing companies that have developed technologies that positively contribute to climate change mitigation by enabling a net-zero transition, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and optimizing resources and processes. Cycle Capital is the founder of Cycle Momentum Accelerator + Innovation Engine and co-manager of The Circular Innovation Fund (“CIF”), a global venture capital fund aimed at scaling growth stage circular innovations and business models across various sectors. 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.
Find out more about how we support climatetech companies at https://www.cyclecapital.com/en/ or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
