Avatar Innovations announces the launch of the Avatar Leadership Fund I
Avatar Launches New Venture Capital Fund with Cenovus Energy as Lead Investor
Registrations now open for Avatar Program 2023 with program additions and Houston Expansion
CALGARY AB, November 30, 2022: Avatar Innovations (“Avatar”), a Calgary-based innovator in the global energy transition is pleased to announce the launch of the Avatar Leadership Fund I (“the Fund”) with a $750,000 lead investment from Cenovus Energy. The Fund – targeted at $3 million - will provide early-stage risk capital to emerging energy transition technologies developed through Avatar’s groundbreaking platform, The Avatar Program (“the Program”). Solving for the near absence of risk capital available to early-stage energy technologies in Canada, the Fund will unlock and catalyze investment in the multi-decade decarbonization theme, assisting the energy companies of today, lead in the energy world of tomorrow.
Additionally, Avatar is pleased to announce the opening of registrations for the 2023 Program, with the program commencing February 10th, 2023. Supporting this next cohort are the core founding partners of the Program - Cenovus, TC Energy, Suncor and Enbridge alongside key partners Spartan Controls, Emerson, Hitachi, Shaw, GHD and Fluor. Avatar is also welcoming new partners – Chevron and Keyera to the 2023 cohort, with more announcements coming soon. Also partnering with Avatar to jointly deliver the curriculum are leading subject matter experts, including the International CCS Knowledge Centre, Modern West Advisory, Energy Futures Lab, Young Pipeline Professionals USA, and the Clean Resource Innovation Network (CRIN).
In response to the growing – and global - demand for the Program, the 2023 Program is expanding to Houston, Texas. Not only will this link North America’s energy capitals – Houston and Calgary – it creates a North-South corridor where innovative energy transition technologies can be developed, scaled and financed, with the goal of ensuring a low carbon energy future.
To ensure globally leading energy transition research, validation and prototyping, Avatar is continuing its long-standing partnerships with the University of Calgary, Innovate Calgary and the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT).
In the less than 2 years since Avatar has been incorporated, it has generated nearly1600 applications from industry professionals to participate in its ground-breaking energy transition and technology entrepreneurship program, created 644 alumni of the program, generated 30 technologies sponsored by industry – 2 of which are finalists for the Elon Musk Foundation’s $100M XPRIZE – and created the Energy Transition Centre in downtown Calgary. This successful first closing of Avatar Fund I is the next exciting step as Avatar delivers its ambitious vision of building the new energy future.
All three phases of the 2023 Program - Avatar Ignite, Avatar Studio and Avatar Ventures - will be housed in the Calgary Energy Transition Centre with virtual accessibility available to participants across Canada and the United States and certain elements in-person in Houston.
About Avatar Ignite: Beginning February 10th, a 14-week energy transition and entrepreneurship curriculum will task hundreds of emerging leaders to generate solutions to complex technology challenges. Working together on semi-autonomous teams under the guidance of industry and academic experts they will have the chance to solve major energy transition challenges such as hydrogen, carbon capture, sustainable aviation and more. At the end of the curriculum, they will pitch their ideas to a Shark Tank of industry executives for potential implementation.
About Avatar Studio: At the completion of Avatar Ignite, the very best projects will be selected for admission to the Avatar Studio. The project team members admitted will work through a rigorous technology entrepreneurship and rapid prototyping curriculum. With support from SAIT, University of Calgary and Innovate Calgary and industry, the teams will attempt to build a minimum viable product and have the chance to pitch for investment from North America’s leading industry and financial energy transition investors.
About Avatar Ventures: At the completion of the Avatar Studio, the technologies and projects which have succeeded through this rigorous selection process will be supported for commercialization and scale through Avatar Ventures. Now providing early-stage capital investment through the Fund, Avatar Ventures will pair investment with expert mentorship, business strategy and technology development systems to ensure the best technologies generated benefit industry, society and meaningfully lower emissions.
Registrations are now open for the Avatar Program 2023 to interested applicants here. Registrations will close at 5:00pm MT on January 13th, 2023.
QUOTES
“In only 20 short months, Avatar Innovations has become an engine of value creation in the Canadian energy industry. With the launch of the Avatar Ventures Fund I, Avatar is able to continue delivering new technologies and leaders at record speeds, fill a major investment gap in Canada, and position the Canadian energy sector as a global leader in the energy transition.”
- Bryan Trudel, CFO, Avatar Innovations
“Innovation has always been key for the oil and gas industry and we share Avatar’s core belief that most significant challenges can be turned into opportunities while adding business value. The Avatar Leadership fund will attract the next generation of innovators to the energy sector and accelerate development of new and emerging energy technologies which will be central to Cenovus’s and our industry’s net zero ambitions.”
- Drew Zieglgansberger, Executive Vice-President Natural Gas & Technical Services, Cenovus Energy
“We are excited to be a returning partner of AVATAR in 2023, a program that empowers our people to collaborate with emerging innovators across the industry and develop new solutions to transform our shared energy future. At TC Energy, we are committed to supporting our people through the journey of innovation and continuous improvement - ensuring diverse, innovative minds are met with a high level of psychological safety to experiment.”
- Chris Foster, Chief Innovation Officer, TC Energy
“In order to continue to make progress on Canada’s climate goals an unprecedented level of collaboration will be required. Suncor is proud to partner with Avatar for another year and we look forward to amplifying and learning from the ideas and solutions of creative innovators from across multiple companies and sectors.”
- Arlene Strom, Chief Sustainability Officer and General Counsel, Suncor
“The passion, ingenuity and innovation of young energy professionals is at the heart of the energy transition and will be the key to unlocking, and capitalizing on, opportunities that create a more sustainable future. Enbridge is proud to continue to support these opportunities through our partnership with Avatar as we work toward a shared goal of industry-driven, industry-built energy solutions.”
- Cathy Ward, Vice President Sustained Business Optimization, Enbridge
“Spartan Controls and Emerson Canada are excited to continue their partnership with Avatar Innovations in 2023. We value the opportunity to engage and collaborate with the energy sector, enabling us to create and deliver innovative technologies and solutions to help achieve Canada’s 2050 net zero goal. Avatar's focus aligns with our core vision of "Creating a sustainable modern world." Spartan and Emerson’s extensive experience in collaborating with industry to solve its toughest challenges supports Avatar’s mission of building a new energy future.”
- Terry Chmelyk, Vice President – Systems, Software and Solutions, Spartan Controls & Ryan Garrah, President, Emerson Canada
“Achieving a more sustainable future requires human ingenuity to solve problems and deliver solutions. We are proud to join Avatar and innovative global leaders in the 2023 Program and build new partnerships to scale energy transition solutions.”
- Chris Mazerolle, President, Chevron Canada Limited
“At Keyera, we believe there’s power in numbers and that a more sustainable energy future will depend on the efforts of many. That is why Keyera is thrilled to partner with Avatar to support our own, and other emerging leaders and innovators to successfully navigate the energy transition. By leveraging one another’s strengths and expertise, we are all stronger for it.”
- Jamie Urquhart, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Keyera
“National Bank is pleased to be a continuing partner with Avatar Innovations. Supporting sustainable development is an integral part of our mission and we are determined to pursue various initiatives to drive the energy transition. We are excited to support emerging energy leaders and bring our expertise to the table.”
- Arun Chandrasekaran, Co-Head, Energy Infrastructure Sustainability Impact Group, National Bank Financial
“Avatar’s growth over the past two years is nothing short of remarkable, with their success being an excellent example of what can be achieved when organizations from across the business landscape come together to achieve a worthwhile goal. We are proud to be one of Avatar’s founding partners and to continue lending our support and expertise to support the growth of a low-carbon energy future.”
- Chethan Lakshman, Vice President, External Affairs, Shaw Communications
“We’re proud to partner with Avatar Innovations. This initiative’s focus on collaboration and integration between academia and industry will truly accelerate the development of energy technologies. This transformational approach will lead to new energy solutions in months or years, instead of decades, while creating new jobs and a diversified economy.”
- John Wilson, CEO, Innovate Calgary
"We are excited to support Avatar and continue our long-standing efforts to advance innovation and technology in energy transformation. Bennett Jones has been at the forefront of Canada's energy industry throughout our 100 year history and we have deep connections in the Calgary-Houston energy corridor. We look forward to helping members of the 2023 Program understand the legal aspects of breaking new ground in energy innovation."
- Patrick Maguire, Vice Chair & Calgary Managing Partner, Bennett Jones LLP
“We are incredibly excited to partner with Avatar and the leading-edge technology innovators joining the 2023 program. There has never been a time when a commitment to energy transition was so important for the future of the planet, and Avatar’s approach and proven success will ensure that the ideas of today become the breakthrough technologies of tomorrow.”
- Dan Zuniga, Partner, Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP
“Solving the enormous energy transition puzzle requires strong partnerships, open collaboration and the powerful imagination of our young professionals. Avatar innovations enabled our staff to engage and become empowered leaders in the future of energy. We are proud to be a part of this initiative that’s moving industry-changing ideas from concept to commercialization while investing in the future of energy, our colleagues and GHD.”
- Dr. Tej Gidda, Vice-President and Global Leader – Future Energy, GHD
“Participating in the Avatar program has provided an opportunity for our employees to bring forward their innovative ideas and engage with a network of their peers in a way that breaks down the client/contractor relationship. This unique environment provides a space for them to not only promote their skills but also better understand the challenges that we face as an industry and how to best collaborate in delivering solutions.
Fluor’s purpose is to build a better world and through partnerships like the one we have with Avatar we are helping deliver on that.”
- Jeff Bonham, Director Project Operations, Fluor
“Joining Avatar and the other leading innovation firms at the Energy Transition Centre is a natural evolution of our organization as large-scale carbon capture and storage continues to gain momentum as a critical pillar for all heavy emitters — cement, steel and iron, mining and fertilizer, power, petrochemical, hydrogen and oil and gas — to meet their ambitious plans in addressing climate change. We are excited to bring the knowledge and lessons we have acquired from major CCS projects around the world to assist in getting the next generation of projects underway as soon as possible.”
- James Millar, President and CEO, International CCS Knowledge Centre
“Pipelines are an integral part of our energy future, and YPP USA is committed to building the next generation of leaders for the industry. We want to shape the future of the pipeline industry so that it can attract and retain top talent. Partnering with Avatar strongly supports our core objectives to prepare ourselves to accept the transfer of the duty of care for the pipeline industry, create leadership opportunities for the next generation of pipeline professionals, and foster relationships and build a network for the advancement of the industry.”
- Tyler Tunic, Chair – Young Pipeline Professionals (YPP) USA
"The Energy Futures Lab is delighted to be partnering with Avatar innovations to share the value of social innovation processes and systems-level collaboration as part of their 2023 program. says "Expanding participants' understanding that addressing climate change is as much a challenge of moving whole human systems to action as it is a technological one, is an exciting, new opportunity that we are proud to be part of."
- Alison Cretney, Managing Director, Energy Futures Lab
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