Updates

December 7, 2021 - Congrats to Devesh Bharadwaj the founder of one of our portfolio companies Pani Energy. Devesh has been named a 30 under 30 Forbes Social Impact Entrepreneur in their 2022 cohort.

A big thank you to all our LPs who trust us to Do The Right Thing with their impact investments.

We expected great things from Devesh and his company Pani Energy and both continue to deliver.

At Humanitas, through our systems-based climate-change adaptation investment lens, beyond the immediate and long-term system-wide impact of a particular technology, we consider leadership, experience, and potential to contribute over a lifetime in terms of where and with whom we place our investment dollars.

It is wonderful to be in a position to recognize, encourage and support the development of such great entrepreneurial talent as they realize their dreams and contribute to a better more evolved version of humanity and a healthier planet.

October 23 - 2021 - Devesh Bharadwaj is the founder and CEO of Pani Energy A truly bright mind and a welcome addition to our Humanitas Smart Planet Fund founder’s circle.

Here Devish is speaking at WEFTEC about innovation 💡 & the growing water market 🌊 in Asia Pacific. Devesh stated that he was thrilled to have been on stage with Ralph from Suez who has supported Imagine H2O in accelerating deep water innovation in the Asia Pacific from Day 1! Imagine H2O SUEZ - Water Technologies & Solutions

Watch the video here

Pani Energy, with Devesh’s leadership, is positioned to catalyze a systems effect across the water industry and all the verticals and systems that the water industry touches.

Similarly, Pani is an exemplar of the Humanitas systems-based investment thesis. Like ehsAI our first investment (and successful exit) in the AI and environmental impact tech space, the value is clear through our investment lens. After conducting deep due diligence with both companies, we were happy to be the early VC cheque and lead the way to fully subscribed raises. Working closely with their leadership teams to accelerate them along their growth and development trajectories is always the best part.

With Blue Bear Capital closing Pani’s last round and now working with the leadership team, we know that Pani and Devesh are in good and highly capable company who see them through to a very bright global future.

We expect Pani, like ehsAI, to quickly garner the attention of significant international private and publically traded companies servicing the respective environmental verticals in which they are operating and provide a solid revenue stream growth trajectory.

We sense there are big things ahead for both Devesh and Pani Energy and this will be good for the planet, great for humanity and leave our Humanitas LPs with very big smiles on their faces and greater leverage for future impact investing.

October 14, 2021 - Pani Secures $8M to Scale Up AI Solution Improving Water & Energy Efficiency in Water Treatment Facilities: Today, Pani is announcing the completion of an oversubscribed $8M CAD capital raise.

“Water treatment is a multitrillion dollar industry, and one of the most important drivers of sustainable development, yet it has been slow to see effective AI solutions,” says Ernst Theodor Sack, founder and partner at Blue Bear Capital.

Funds include a seed equity round co-led by Blue Bear Capital and Blue Coast Partners, along with participation from Mazarine Ventures and Humanitas Smart Planet Systems, as well as contributions from Sustainable Development Technology Canada - Technologies du Développement Durable Canada (SDTC) and other government agencies.

Blue Bear Capital, a California firm that invests in high-growth AI technology companies across energy, infrastructure, and climate industries, also joins Pani’s board as part of the financing.

Full release at: https://lnkd.in/gEZmz-zc

September 27, 2021 - Towards a more resilient and relation-oriented regenerative global human culture. One Feather Technologies, one of our Humanitas Smart Planet Demonstration Fund portfolio companies steadfastly moves forward with a strategic technology deployment.

Our investment in One Feather reflects how a complex systems perspective when fully appreciated and applied to a highly focused venture capital investment prospect can shift the game and enable wide-reaching systemic impact across multiple verticals.
Read about it here:
https://news.onefeather.ca/onefeather-helps-to-ensure-indigenous-identity-will-never-expire

July 6, 2021 - OneFeather, one of the great BC-based game-changing tech companies in our investment portfolio using a pragmatic systems approach to Deep Social Change, just launched its dedicated Indigenous banking solutions with OneFeather APP and OneFeather PAY card.

Take note of the innovative use of blockchain tech in the OneFeather Box of Treasures Foundation, a non-profit founded by OneFeather to give back to Indigenous communities.

"OneFeather is decolonizing the financial sector by offering a banking solution for Indigenous Peoples in Canada – whether they are on-reserve or off-reserve. The OneFeather APP enables users to link a pre-existing bank account to load their OneFeather PAY card. OneFeather APP is also a banking solution for urban dwellers, such as young adults who have traveled off-reserve to live, work, or attend post-secondary institutions. Cash gifts can be transferred between family members now while living allowances and tuition will be transferable from Nation bands through the APP in the future."

Read more about it all here (Be sure to check out the video):

https://lnkd.in/gNu5HQV

and here: https://lnkd.in/gahQ7s7

June 22, 2021 - Our Humanitas SMART Planet Demonstration Fund has made its second successful exit. Our LPs are delighted to see how quickly we have been able to return their invested capital and faith in our team in terms of leveraged exit returns and global impact.

We are happy to have participated in enabling Graphene Manufacturing Group Ltd (GMG) to achieve its present measure of success across multiple industrial verticals. GMG recently listed on the TSX-V which has allowed retail impact investors to apply their investment dollars to positive change on an industrial level. Go team GMG!

The Humanitas team wishes the GMG team well as they push the boundaries of innovation towards incorporating their high-quality Graphene into planet-friendly industrial processes and products. We are excited to see retail investors now becoming involved in the GMG journey!

Thanks to our LPs for their deep commitment to impact investment and for trusting in the Humanitas' Small is Beautiful (and SMART) approach to non-incremental systems-based technology investment.

We are now starting to see evidence that our investment thesis proposing accelerated systems-based impact and leveraged financial returns on invested capital is not only possible but a highly effective and pragmatic methodology.

We intend to continue to cultivate and refine our carefully curated portfolio investment approach that incorporates how to leverage complexity and systems effects towards outstanding social and environmental impact. This in turn enables our companies to emerge as hot acquisition targets by global players or public market sweethearts to meet the growing demand of retail impact investors.

#investment #innovation #sustainability #technology #impactinvesting #environmental #systemschange

April 8, 2021 - Humanitas invests in Pani Energy and its leadership team.

Led by BC 30 under 30 founder Devesh Bhadrawaj, Pani Energy is made up of a young team of highly motivated individuals who share a mutual passion for high impact & meaningful work. Their mission is to accelerate the transition of the water sector to net zero. They have developed a web-based platform that enables the operators of water & wastewater treatment facilities to operate their plants more efficiently saving energy, consumables, and the environment. They are excited to tackle challenging problems for the betterment of society. While acknowledging that their vision is grand and challenging, this dedicated team of motivated individuals believes their mission is achievable.

Watch this video where Devesh, already a global thought leader in the Water Tech space, shares why and how Pani is contributing to catalyzing the change we need in the world.

https://lnkd.in/gRGrvj3

November 19, 2020 - Humanitas Smart Planet Demonstration Fund announces its first exit. Portfolio company ehsAI has been acquired by Intelex, a subsidiary of diversified industrial conglomerate Fortive. Intelex is a leading global provider of SaaS-based Environmental, Health, Safety and Quality (EHSQ) management software.

For Humanitas, ehsAI represented the largest single investment that we have made to date. We are proud to note that we have delivered a 4x return on the investment after a year of working with the team. Humanitas wrote ehsAI its first big and only venture capital investment cheque and that confidence in the potential of the investment opportunity provided other investors with additional confidence to enter the investment round.

Humanitas is honoured and pleased to have been an investor in ehsAI and to have served as advisors to the company during this early and critical phase of the company's growth and evolution. It was our pleasure to be in the position to provide support and guidance to such a responsive, dedicated and passionate team, to know that our efforts and expertise are well received, and to witness ehsAI's success in realizing their best ambitions.

A big part of the Humanitas mission is to enable first rate entrepreneurs to bring their progressive technologies to the world. Being founder friendly is important to us and when ehsAI had acquisition interest presented while working with the team in their Series A raise, we quickly moved to support them to successfully navigate and negotiate the acquisition process with Intelex-Fortive and with other ehsAI shareholders. The ehsAI team received premium compensation given their level of expertise and capability and will keep a great deal of autonomy while now having a large public partner who will provide ehsAI with access to to multiple divisions and a global client list in environmental health and safety compliance.

We look forward to celebrating ehsAI future successes as ehsAI continues on its way. We expect there will be many celebrations ahead. ehsAI will always be part of the Humanitas family and as our first successful exit, the ehsAI acquisition by Intelex-Fortive is a benchmark in our Smart Planet Fund's own history.

October 5, 2020 - BC Achievement names Humanitas Smart Planet Fund portfolio company OneFeather Technologies as the 2020 BC Indigenous Business of the Year. “Each year, the Indigenous Business Award program recognizes Indigenous enterprises that create and expand opportunities, relationships and communities, all with the goal of a more inclusive and prosperous future.” The Indigenous Business Award program is presented by BC Achievement in partnership with the Ministry of Indigenous Relations and Reconciliation. Click here to read the official media release.

September 14, 2020 - Humanitas Smart Planet Fund portfolio company Retreat Guru is looking to hire a Senior UX/UI Visual Designer.

Details here.

September 9, 2020 - Humanitas Smart Planet Fund portfolio company ehsAI is hiring.

Technical Product Manager
DevOps Engineer
Quality Assurance Developer
Machine Learning Developer (Intern)
Inside Sales Manager

ehsAI minimizes the cost associated with the translation of complex environmental, health and safety documents, like permits and regulations, into succinct compliance requirements by leveraging machine learning.

Click here for more info

September 3, 2020 - APTIM and ehsAI Team Up to Revolutionize Asset-Related Compliance Management Using Artificial Intelligence. APTIM is a leading global provider of environmental engineering and remediation, energy management, infrastructure EPC services, integrated maintenance services, program management, and disaster response and recovery for private sector and government customers.

Read about it here at Market Insider.

August 31, 2020 - Humanitas Smart Planet Fund portfolio company OneFeather Receives $100K Grant from Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
Read the full story here

August 29, 2020 - Humanitas Smart Planet Fund portfolio Graphene Manufacturing Group (GMG) is nearing the phase of potential scale up and acceleration of growth and has signed an Letter Of Intention with Cupis Capital (TSXV:CUSP) that will that enable it to have public market listing on the TSXV. GMG seeks to have access the funds through the public market should large sales and or new application area developments mature.

Details about the Cuspis Capital transaction can be read here.

July 23, 2020 - Humanitas nominates OneFeather the 2020 BC Indigenous Achievement Business Award. Awardees will be announced in early September.

For more information on the award click here.

July 21, 2020 - Humanitas nominates OneFeather Mobile Technologies for the Indigenomics 10 To Watch’ list. The Institute publishes an annual list as a demonstration of excellence, innovation, leadership and committed action towards the growth of the Indigenous economy. Read more about the Indigenomics Institute here.

July 19, 2020 - Humanitas nominates Lawrence Lewis, Founder of OneFeather, for the 2021 Indspire Awards.

The Indspire Awards represents the highest honour the Indigenous community bestows upon its own people. After 27 years, the Indspire Awards have honoured 373 First Nations, Inuit, and Métis individuals who demonstrate outstanding achievement. The show is a nationally broadcast celebration of culture showcasing the diversity of Indigenous peoples in Canada including performances by Canada’s biggest names in Indigenous entertainment.

Find out more about the awards here.

July 15, 2020 - "In partnership with accelerators across Canada, Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) announced funding for OneFeather and 16 other Canadian start-ups that are pushing the boundaries of technology to develop sustainable solutions that will drive our economy forward."

Read about it here at BC Technology.com

April 15, 2020 - Humanitas Smart Planet Fund portfolio companies Retreat Guru and ehsAI recognized as Ready to Rocket.

Retreat Guru made the ICT Ready to Rocket List 2020 and ehsAI made the ICT Emerging Rocket List 2020.

Ready To Rocket is a unique business recognition list that profiles BC technology companies with the greatest potential for revenue growth. Each year, based on analysis of trends that will drive growth in the information technology sector, Rocket Builders identifies the top private companies that are best positioned to capitalize on the trends for growth. This selection methodology has been an accurate predictor of growth with "Ready to Rocket" companies exceeding the industry growth rate and “Emerging Rocket” companies most likely to gain investment.

Read about Ready to Rocket here.