What Ecofuel Fund does

Ecofuel Fund (legal name: Fonds Ecofuel) is a Montreal-based private venture capital fund founded in 2017 and co-founded by Cycle Capital. The fund specializes in seed and pre-seed investments in clean technology companies based in Eastern Canada that own intellectual property on disruptive technologies with environmental added value. It manages approximately $40.6 million in assets under management and has reviewed 370+ investment opportunities, deploying capital into 16 portfolio companies across verticals including plastic recycling (Pyrowave), organic semiconductors (Brilliant Matters), ultra-low-power IoT/RF (HaiLa), soil analytics (ChrysaLabs), graphene membranes (Ora Graphene), mining AI (Rithmik), maritime AI (GSTS), textile supply chains (Tengiva), e-procurement (Axya), and market research (Potloc).

Ecofuel deploys up to $1.5 million per round and combines financial capital with active strategic support, drawing on a network anchored by five institutional sponsors — Investissement Québec (acting as mandatory of the Government of Quebec), BDC Capital, Fondaction, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, and CRIBIQ — plus recurring co-investors such as Real Ventures, Desjardins Capital, Inovia, Active Impact, TandemLaunch, Chrysalix, EDC, Anges Québec, and international strategics including Michelin, Sofinnova Partners, GSI Creos (Japan), and Murata Electronics. The fund's core team consists of six professionals led by Managing Partners Richard Cloutier and Johanne Sévigny.

Revenue is generated through standard VC fund economics — management fees on committed/invested capital and carried interest on successful exits — with two documented portfolio exits (Biotechnologies Ulysse in 2019 and Repowered Batteries in 2021) and several portfolio companies achieving Series A and Series B milestones. The fund's go-to-market is direct origination through its Quebec institutional network and bilingual (English/French) web presence at fondsecofuel.ca, with deal submission via an Investment Proposal form. The fund operates without a traditional software or hardware product; its offering is smart capital — investment coupled with sector-specific mentorship and a structured pathway to follow-on financing for cleantech founders.

Name

Ecofuel Fund

Legal name

Fonds Ecofuel

Website

https://fondsecofuel.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Ecofuel Fund is a Montreal-based seed-stage cleantech venture capital fund founded in 2017, managing $40.6M in AUM and investing up to $1.5M per round in Eastern Canadian startups developing disruptive clean technologies with proprietary IP.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Venture Capital / Cleantech Investment Management

NAICS

Other Investment Pools and Funds (5259), Funds, Trusts, and Other Financial Vehicles (525)

SIC

Investment Advice (6282), Finance Services (6199)

akta.pro primary industry

Climate / Clean Tech & Decarbonization Funds (FSANAJAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Renewable Energy & Energy Transition Funds (FSANAJAB), Water & Waste / Circular Economy Funds (FSANAJAF)

Keywords

• Cleantech venture capital
• Seed-stage cleantech investment
• Smart capital deployment
• Environmental technology funding
• Early-stage impact investing

Headquarters

HQ city

Montréal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Venture Capital Fund Management: Ecofuel Fund operates as a venture capital fund managing $40.6M in assets under management. Revenue is generated through management fees and carried interest (performance fees) from successful portfolio company exits. The fund deploys smart capital in seed and early-stage cleantech companies with the objective of generating returns through liquidity events.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Ecofuel Fund is a venture capital fund that invests smart capital (up to $1.5M per round) in pre-seed and seed-stage companies in Eastern Canada developing and commercializing clean technologies with high environmental impact. The fund focuses on startups that own intellectual property on disruptive technologies in energy, water and air, waste treatment, industrial processes, smart transportation, agriculture, and environmental biotechnology. Beyond capital, the fund provides strategic support, mentorship, and access to an extended network of institutional and corporate partners to help reduce technology and business risks for portfolio companies.

Product overview

Ecofuel Fund is a venture capital fund (not a product company) that invests smart capital in pre-seed and seed stage companies developing and commercializing clean technologies with high environmental impact. The fund manages $40.6M in assets and focuses on Eastern Canadian startups with intellectual property on disruptive technologies. Ecofuel Fund does not offer a product platform in the traditional SaaS sense; its core offering is investment capital combined with strategic support through its network of partners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Ecofuel Fund Investment Services Seed and early-stage venture capital investment (up to $1.5M per round) in clean technology companies from Eastern Canada developing disruptive technologies in energy, water and air, waste treatment, industrial processes, smart transportation, agriculture, and environmental biotechnology. Combines capital deployment with strategic support and access to an extended network of institutional partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• Invested in 16 portfolio companies across diverse cleantech sectors
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered strategic and flagship.

• GSI Creos CorporationstrategicStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic Japanese partner that co-invested with Ecofuel in Brilliant Matters ($3.5M seed in 2021 and $5.1M Series A in 2023). GSI Creos is an international trading company based in Japan focused on industrial and textile sectors, contributing to Brilliant Matters' global supply chain and commercialization.
• MichelinflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed Pyrowave's Series B investment alongside Sofinnova Partners in April 2020. Michelin has an ongoing strategic collaboration with Pyrowave for recycled styrene integration in tires and elastomer products, producing prototype batches using 100% Pyrowave-recycled styrene in France.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Cycle Capital: Cycle Capital is a leading Canadian cleantech venture capital platform that co-founded Ecofuel Fund. It operates a comparable early- and growth-stage cleantech investment thesis in Quebec, making it the closest analogue and the most directly overlapping peer.
• Active Impact Investments: Active Impact Investments describes itself as Canada's largest climate tech seed fund. It is a direct peer to Ecofuel, operating a seed-stage climate mandate with co-investment relationships (e.g., Tengiva) that materially overlap with Ecofuel's deal universe.
• Chrysalix Venture Capital: Chrysalix is a Vancouver-based VC focused on early-stage industrial cleantech and resource innovation. It has co-invested with Ecofuel in Rithmik Solutions and HaiLa, sharing a comparable early-stage cleantech investment approach.
• Real Ventures: Real Ventures is a Montreal-based seed-stage VC active across the Quebec startup ecosystem. It has co-invested with Ecofuel in Axya and Potloc, making it a closely overlapping local peer in early-stage Quebec deals.
• ArcTern Ventures: ArcTern Ventures is a Canadian venture fund focused exclusively on early-stage climate tech startups. Its mandate and stage focus closely mirror Ecofuel's cleantech seed thesis across Canada.
• Inovia Capital: Inovia is a Montreal-based venture capital firm investing across software and tech-enabled businesses. It has co-invested with Ecofuel (e.g., Tengiva), sharing deal flow in the Quebec early-stage ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• BDC Capital: BDC Capital is the investment arm of Canada's Business Development Bank and a flagship sponsor of Ecofuel Fund. It is a much broader incumbent, deploying capital across venture, growth, and private equity, but is a key peer given its role in the same cleantech ecosystem.
• Desjardins Capital: Desjardins Capital manages roughly $3B and invests in Quebec SMEs and growth companies. It has co-invested with Ecofuel in Axya, Brilliant Matters, and Potloc, making it a broad incumbent peer in the Quebec capital stack.

Emerging players

• TandemLaunch: TandemLaunch is a Montreal-based deep-tech incubator and investor that co-invested with Ecofuel in Ora Graphene and HaiLa. It is an emerging player focused on commercializing university-derived technology, overlapping at the seed-stage cleantech interface.

Regional players

• Anges Québec: Anges Québec is a network of 230+ Quebec angel investors that has co-invested with Ecofuel in Tengiva, Brilliant Matters, and ChrysaLabs. It is a regional player providing seed capital to Quebec-based startups with a comparable geographic mandate.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments22 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Ecofuel Fund