Smart Grid Innovation Network Canada and Energia Ventures jointly announce a Canada-wide Energy Innovation Business Competition 

November 15, 2023

Smart Grid Innovation Network Canada (SGIN) and Energia Ventures are excited to announce a national Energy Innovation Business Competition for aspiring entrepreneurs and early-stage companies looking to bring forward exciting ideas to the energy sector. SGIN wants to encourage innovative developments for utilities advancing our need for smart energy and responsive, resilient grids.   

This is a national competition and will culminate annually at SGIN’s Energy Innovation Forum Canada (EIF) conference, where the winners will be announced.  

The Program will be further outlined and presented in detail in the coming months. The suggested topics for the competition include the following: 

  1. The role of AI in the future grid operations
  2. Optimizing grid to building energy design
  3. Enabling tight interoperability
  4. Self-healing grids
  5. Smart energy designs of the future
  6. Regulator of the future
  7. Utility of the future
  8. Any other submission that has a tie to smart energy
“We are thrilled to team up with SGIN to host a business plan competition on such an important topic.  This is a great opportunity to work with founders keen to improve the methods of grid security, energy delivery and their visions for the grids of the future.” says Joe Allen, Managing Director of Energia Ventures.  “Today’s utilities need to adjust and adapt to an ever-changing world, and as demand grows for electricity, infrastructure and business models must keep pace.  We feel like such a competition is timely and I’m sure we will see some amazing ideas come from this competition.” 
Joe Allen
Managing Director, Energia Ventures
“If we’re to reach the goal of net-zero emissions of 2050 and beyond, we need to see new technologies coming online sooner than later and we need youth excited to engage in developing energy solutions for the future”, says Greg Robart, CEO of SGIN. “This competition provides a platform for these entrepreneurs to make a difference on the world stage, and we look forward to seeing all the great ideas proposed by these entrepreneurs. This will be an annual competition that drives new ideas into the energy industry and encourages early-stage SMEs, startups and young professionals to engage in the energy sector. We will continue to build this program out with supportive Partners and awards and encourage Member support to SGIN to help drive this as a pre-eminent energy pitch competition.”
Greg Robart
CEO, Smart Grid Innovation Network Canada

Energia Ventures is a business accelerator program focusing on start-ups in the verticals of smart-grid, energy, cleantech, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. Founded in 2016, EV has accelerated over 50 early-stage companies across 10 cohorts to date.  These companies have collectively raised over $100 million and there has been one exit to date. 

The Smart Grid Innovation Network Canada is a national non-profit organization that works to promote, identify, and enable smart energy solutions and enable energy implementation in Canada.  SGIN fosters Canada’s transition to clean energy and helps to build stronger, more resilient communities and a sustainable economy. 

For more information on the competition, please contact: Joe Allen at (506) 230-2231 or joe.allen@unb.ca

For more information on SGIN, please contact: Jennifer Bowes at (506) 627-9028 or jenn@sgin.ca