Evok Innovations (Evok), a venture firm committed to developing and deploying cutting-edge clean energy technology, announced a first close of its $300 million Fund II, with half the capital committed by a group of strategic investors.
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Fund II includes significant participation by Export Development Canada (EDC), Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) and The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD), alongside returning investors Suncor and Cenovus.
The fund will target early-stage investments across North America in key industrial decarbonization verticals, including carbon capture use and storage (CCUS), low-carbon fuels, clean energy and grid innovations, mobility, and advanced materials and circularity.
Launched in 2016 through a partnership between Suncor, Cenovus and the BC Cleantech CEO Alliance, Evok’s inaugural $100 million CAD fund aimed to accelerate the development of critical energy transition technologies across North America. The fund has made 16 investments in critical decarbonization technologies ranging from clean hydrogen and carbon-to-value to long-duration energy storage.
“We are pleased to have our founding investors returning to participate in our second fund, which we see as a testament to our approach and their confidence in our ability to drive large-scale industrial decarbonization while generating market-leading returns,” said Marty Reed, Founding Partner of Evok. “Alongside our returning investors, the addition of EDC, RBC and TD will bring new strategic strength to our fund.”
Many of Evok’s portfolio companies from the first fund have been recognized for their impact. One such example is Twelve, an innovative company developing carbon transformation technologies. Twelve was recently named one of Fast Company’s three most innovative companies in the world, and the first in the energy sector. Several companies in the portfolio, including Twelve and Quidnet Energy, a long-duration energy storage company, have recently signed major commercial contracts that signal strong market demand for viable decarbonization solutions.
Evok Fund II is led by Mike Biddle, Naynika Chaubey, Jane Kearns and Marty Reed, entrepreneurs and climate investors with decades of experience scaling cleantech companies.
“As a founding partner of Evok Fund I, Suncor is pleased to continue working alongside Cenovus on our joint commitment to fund innovation in the low carbon technology space,” said Kris Smith, Executive Vice President – Downstream, Suncor. “Major drivers of Evok’s success to date include their leadership’s experience in low carbon technology, their ability to collaborate with industry, and their capacity to partner closely with founders as they de-risk and scale their technologies.”
To date, Evok’s portfolio companies have raised more than $500 million CAD to scale and commercialize their technologies, from investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Microsoft, OGCI, Capricorn, MIT’s The Engine, and DCVC.