The Toronto-based venture capital firm is rebranding as Climate Innovation Capital and has raised US$20 million so far. General partner Kevin Kimsa has tapped three high-profile executives to co-lead the fund: Paul Manias, OMERS Platform Investments’ former managing director; Nelson Switzer, Nestlé Waters’ former chief sustainability officer; and Paul Atkinson, an entrepreneur and managing partner of investment firm Southwest Sun. (The Globe and Mail)

Talking point: ScaleUp launched in 2016 with the goal of connecting Canada’s largest corporations to software startups. Its founders have differing opinions on whether it’s accomplished its goals. Former Rogers CEO Nadir Mohamed said the need it set out to meet “has largely been met,” while former Ryerson University president Sheldon Levy said the fund had “moderate success.” Kimsa told The Globe that ScaleUp’s portfolio generated four-year average returns of 9.2 per cent, with 14 of the 28 companies it backed striking 28 total commercial or M&A deals. The nascent cleantech sector has posed challenges for other Candian investors. In October 2019, The Logic reported that the federal government’s $600-million cleantech fund was losing money and struggling to find investments.