MaRS launches Canada's first-of-a-kind lab to scale cleantech champions

The five high-potential ventures selected for the program's cohort will be building out their first commercial-scale deployments. 

TORONTO, May 6, 2026 /CNW/ - Today marks the launch of the MaRS First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) Lab, a nine-month program designed to help Canadian cleantech ventures developing net-new technologies successfully build their first full commercial-scale deployments. 

Many Canadian climate tech ventures are approaching a critical inflection point: the transition from pilot to first-of-a-kind commercial deployment. By 2028, MaRS estimates that dozens of Canadian companies will be ready to implement projects in the $50-to $200-million range. They face a persistent gap, however, in terms of capital, technology risk tolerance and founder expertise. The novel projects they are commercializing require complex financing structures that often fall outside the mandates of traditional investors or government programs. This makes it particularly challenging to secure financing -- this critical stage of commercialization is often referred to as "the missing middle within the missing middle." 

Supported by Natural Resources Canada, Chisholm Thomson Family Foundation and the Schmidt Family Foundation, the MaRS FOAK Lab aims to bridge this gap. The program will connect high-growth ventures to domestic and international expertise, financing strategies and cross-sector partnerships to get their first commercial projects up and running.

"To reach our 2050 climate goals, Canada cannot just be a place that invents technology. We must be a place that builds it at commercial scale," says Grace Lee Reynolds, CEO of MaRS Discovery District. "The FOAK Lab ensures that Canada's most promising innovators have the financial engineering and ecosystem support to move past the demonstration stage and build the next generation of globally competitive solutions right here at home." 

"Canada is scaling up clean technology to achieve our climate ambition, improve our competitiveness and protect our economic sovereignty," says the Honourable Tim Hodgson, Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Canada. "By supporting the MaRS FOAK Lab, we are helping innovators overcome the final hurdle to commercial success, creating high-paying jobs and securing Canada's leadership in the global net-zero economy."

The MaRS FOAK Lab has selected five high-potential Canadian ventures, slated to complete development of their FOAK projects by early 2029. Participants will receive specialized project finance training from PwC, paired with dedicated advisory teams from the University of Toronto's Global Climate Finance Accelerator (GCFA), made up of graduate students from the University of Toronto and experienced business professionals to build fundable project models.

"PwC Canada is pleased to support the MaRS FOAK Lab by drawing on our 7–Axes framework," says Greg Oberti, partner at PwC Canada. "We look forward to supporting the selected cohort with navigating complexity, aligning stakeholders and progressing innovative ideas toward investable outcomes.

"The GCFA is proud to partner with the MaRS FOAK Lab to bridge the critical financing gap for Canada's most ambitious climate innovators," says Wendy Potomski, executive director of the Global Climate Finance Accelerator. "Our goal is to help these ventures develop the financial foundations required to implement their projects here in Canada, supporting the broader mission of scaling the next generation of industrial leaders."

"Deploying new technologies isn't easy, but we need them if we hope to achieve our climate objectives," says Kyle McEneaney, program director of the Climate Tech program at the Schmidt Family Foundation. "With the FOAK Lab, MaRS is concentrating resources and expertise on a particularly challenging part of the journey to scale."

The MaRS FOAK Lab ventures include: 

Carbonova
Calgary-based Carbonova has pioneered a cutting-edge chemical process using novel catalysts to produce high-purity carbon nanofibre (CNF) through advanced catalytic reactions.

Exterra Technologies
Exterra Technologies is a Montreal-based cleantech company developing next-generation sustainable mineral processing solutions that enable the efficient, low-carbon production of critical materials essential to the energy transition.

Green Graphite Technologies
Montreal-based Green Graphite Technologies (GGT) is commercializing its cost-effective and sustainable graphite processing platform to supply high-performance battery-grade graphite for electric vehicles.

Hyperion Global Energy
Hyperion Global Energy is an Ottawa-based startup developing a modular tandem carbon recycling system that captures waste industrial carbon dioxide emissions and converts them into high-value mineral commodities.

Planetary Technologies
Headquartered in Halifax, Planetary uses a process called ocean alkalinity enhancement to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

To read about the ventures in the accelerator, click here.

About MaRS Discovery District
MaRS Discovery District is a charitable organization and one of North America's largest urban innovation hubs, helping Canadian science and technology companies commercialize and scale. Building on a 25-year legacy of supporting founders, MaRS connects ventures with capital, customers, talent and expertise -- through venture programming and partnerships, MaRS IAF (one of Canada's most active seed-stage venture funds), MaRS Connect (a live digital marketplace linking commercially ready ventures with buyers, partners and sources of capital), and more than 1.5 million square feet of world-class lab, office and event space across the MaRS Centre and MaRS Waterfront in downtown Toronto. Since 2010, MaRS-supported ventures have generated $11.5 billion in cumulative revenue, raised $19 billion in funding and created and maintained more than 33,000 jobs. For more information, contact [email protected]. 

SOURCE MaRS Discovery District

For more information or to schedule an interview, please contact: Amanda Whalen, senior manager, media relations and corporate communications at MaRS, [email protected]