Breakthrough, a U.S. venture firm focused on environmental tech, granted US$40 million to the Montreal-based company, which is run by Fred Lalonde, an entrepreneur and founder of  online travel service Hopper. (The Logic)

Talking point: This marks Deep Sky’s first major investment from a U.S. firm, according to PitchBook data, adding to a crop of Canadian VCs including Brightspark Ventures, Panache Ventures and Whitecap Venture Partners that have also invested in the firm. Deep Sky aims to test a range of carbon removal technologies that would draw carbon dioxide directly out of the atmosphere as a way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The company unveiled plans for an Alberta-based testing facility in August, and Lalonde has ambitious plans to aggressively scale up carbon removal capacity. In November, RBC and Microsoft agreed to purchase 10,000 carbon credits from Deep Sky should the company manage to successfully sequester CO2.