CDL-Rockies

#CDLAlumni Mangrove Lithium has been conditionally approved for nearly $22 million from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan). The funding comes from NRCan's Global Partnerships Initiative, and will support Mangrove's pilot of an end-to-end spodumene to battery grade lithium conversion process. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gqAwSfwF

Today we are wrapping up Session 3 with our AgriFood stream! We'd like to take a moment to thank our moderators, who are key to ensuring a successful session. They facilitate important conversations between our mentors and ventures, guide discussions to provide the most benefit for everyone in the room, and help keep us on schedule. Thank you to Alice Reimer, Heather Marshall, Mark Huson and Oleksiy ("Oleks") Osiyevskyy for joining us as moderators at Session 3!

The Haskayne School of Business is hosting a discussion on how Canada can strike a balance between economic development and decarbonization The Grand Bargain? The Future of Energy and Sustainability will feature speakers Conor Chell, Partner, National Leader – Sustainability, Environment & Regulatory Law, KPMG Law Canada and Sarah Thompson, Managing Director and Global Head of Sustainable Finance, RBC Capital Markets, who will share insights on the prospects and trade-offs Canada will have to make as it looks to become a global energy superpower while also meeting climate and sustainability goals. The conversation will be moderated by Yrjo Koskinen, Director of Research, Institute for Sustainable Finance; BMO Professor of Sustainable and Transition Finance, Haskayne School of Business and #CDLMentor. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gwJcpspw

Gavin Schneider, CEO and Co-Founder of #CDLAlumni Maia Farms joined Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois for The Food Professor Podcast. Schneider discusses Maia's role as primarily a B2B ingredient supplier, the company's scalable distributed manufacturing model and the concept of balanced proteins. Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gTAatXSJ

Carbon Alpha, which was co-founded by #CDLMentor Patrick Elliott, has been acquired by Svante. Carbon Alpha developed large-scale carbon dioxide removal and CCS projects to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and generate carbon removal credits. Svante provides makes nanoengineered filters and modular rotating contactor machines that capture and remove CO2 in an environmentally responsible way from industrial emissions and the air. “By bringing Carbon Alpha under the Svante umbrella, we’ve added a major CO2 storage hub and regional pipeline asset in development, as well as a full suite of geological storage capabilities,” says Claude Letourneau, Svante's president and CEO. The acquisition includes Carbon Alpha's subsidiaries and ownership interests in North Star Carbon Solutions. Read more: https://lnkd.in/guW65f-5

We are excited to share that CDL-Rockies has formalized its partnership with the Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta! This partnership, which began unofficially in 2018, provides MBA and EMBA students from both the Alberta School of Business and the Haskayne School of Business—where CDL-Rockies is based—a unique, hands-on experience of entrepreneurship. “Our partnership with the Alberta School of Business amplifies the impact we are making at the Haskayne School of Business with CDL-Rockies,” says Gina Grandy, dean of the Haskayne School of Business. “It exemplifies our shared commitment to fostering the development of exceptionally strong, resilient talent for Alberta’s future." Read more: https://lnkd.in/g2bFTFiB

We've kicked off Session 3 this week with our Prime and Energy streams! CDL-Rockies is a non-profit, and we do not charge fees or take equity. This means partner contributions are crucial to ensuring the sustainability of our programming. Thank you to our Founding, Corporate and Government partners, who support us not only financially, but through engagement, insights, and support for founders in our program. We are grateful for your continued support! Alison Sunstrum T. Chen Fong Mike Broadfoot Michael Kanovsky Sharon Siebens Roger Tang Threshold Impact John Harris Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG) Cassels Brock & Blackwell LLP Cenovus Energy Chevron Fasken FCC / FAC Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt LLP Plains Midstream Canada The Mancal Group

Creative Destruction Lab was recently received investment from the Government of Canada's Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario | Agence fédérale de ... program for its CDL Defence stream. This funding means founders in the program will have access to mentors who have built dual-use companies, operators who understand real deployment requirements, and procurement expertise to help close the gap from research to market. If you are a founder working on autonomy, space systems, advanced materials, energy, or medtech and interested in CDL, applications will open this fall. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/duiePAUk

CDL-Rockies is saddened to learn of the passing of alumni mentor Ray Kruck. Ray volunteered his time with CDL for nearly 10 years, from 2016 - 2025, generously sharing his time and insights in the CDL-Rockies Prime stream and the CDL-Vancouver Prime, Climate and Compute streams and supporting dozens of ventures. Ray was the co-founder of Nexgate, founder of Tugboat Logic, and co-founder of Pointgrey Partners. He was also an active mentor in Canada and the US, a devoted father and husband and a dedicated search and rescue volunteer. All of our mentors leave a lasting impact on the CDL community no matter the length of time they spend with us. Having someone with Ray's experience and values join CDL-Rockies in our early days was very impactful, and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to not only work with, but also get to know him. Our condolences go out to Ray's family, friends, and those who knew him during this difficult time. https://lnkd.in/gqkZJf84

Applications for the CDL course are now open! The course offers MBA and EMBA students at the Haskayne School of Business and Alberta School of Business, University of Alberta a combination of in-class and experiential learning, with students gaining insights into the world of entrepreneurship by working alongside founders and helping them meet their objectives. Apply now: https://lnkd.in/ds5d3kij For Monisha Vinod, a graduate of the Alberta School of Business MBA program, the CDL course reshaped how she thinks about strategy, leadership and risk. "CDL strengthened my ability to operate in high-stakes environments where funding, timelines and reputations are involved," she says. "Today, I approach complex initiatives the way we approached ventures: clarify the objective, pressure-test assumptions and define measurable progress. That mindset fundamentally changed how I lead today." Read more about Vinod's experience in the course: https://lnkd.in/g4hvhaDj