What an incredible week at Web Summit Vancouver.
The Climate Innovation Zone – brought to life by NorthX in partnership with Foresight Canada, Alacrity Canada, CRIN, and Innovation UBC – was a high-energy, high-impact hub of ideas, pitches, and policy conversations focused on one thing: real climate solutions.
ICYMI, here’s a look back at some of the standout moments:
Power Pitches: Women leading in climate tech
We kicked things off with bold, diverse pitches from seven incredible female founders advancing concrete, seaweed, and AI-powered wildfire solutions. From EnviCore Inc. and Forge Climate to FireSwarm Solutions and Seacork Studio, each venture demonstrated not just potential, but tangible, scalable climate impact.
Power Pitches: Wildfire tech, where urgency meets ingenuity
Then, our Wildfire Power Pitches lit up the stage – from autonomous drone swarms to intelligent reforestation. Congratulations to Brittany Courvoisier-Nicol of CRWN.ai, who took home top pitch honours. Thank you to Rogers Communications for supporting the next generation of wildfire resilience technologies.
Climate Talks: Electrification, decarbonization, and collaboration
In this panel, leaders from YVR, the City of Vancouver, Fuse Power, and B.C. Hydro emphasized the need for collaboration. It’s no longer an option, it’s essential. However, achieving bold electrification goals will require shared vision, joint planning, and a willingness to rethink energy infrastructure to meet future demand.
Climate Talks: Scaling ventures, funding growth, and driving impact
Our panel on scaling early-stage climate ventures drove home the importance of blended finance, corporate partnerships, and smarter supply chains. BC innovators like Moment Energy, Fuse Power, and Arca were highlighted for showing the world how local tech can have global reach.
Climate Talks: Carbon dioxide removal – Canada’s trillion-dollar opportunity
This session explored how Canada can lead in carbon removal by leveraging its unique geological assets, strong mining and natural resource sectors, and world-class innovation ecosystem. Panelists emphasized the need for stronger policy tools (like a Canadian version of the U.S. 45Q tax credit), more investment in pilot projects, and deep, early engagement with Indigenous communities. With the global need for 10 billion tonnes of CDR by 2050, the message was clear: Canada has the potential to become a global hub for carbon removal. To achieve this, we need to move quickly with bold solutions.
Thank you to our community
We’re beyond grateful to everyone who made the Climate Innovation Zone such a success: our partners, our speakers and panelists, and the hundreds of attendees who showed up to each session throughout the week, engaged, and looking for meaningful dialogue.
At NorthX, our mission is to catalyze funding and investment to help local climate solutions scale globally. Web Summit was a powerful reminder that BC is home to some of the world’s most promising technologies. We have the community, talent, and momentum to lead.
If you’re excited about what you saw and want to connect with the ventures or collaborators building climate solutions here in BC, reach out! Let’s keep the conversation going.
This is where the future gets built.
