EDMONTON, AB, November 6, 2019 – Accelerate Fund II is pleased to announce its investment in G2V Optics, an Edmonton-based company providing smart lighting technology to produce optimal growth conditions for indoor farming and rigorous testing tools for solar-related products.
By reproducing the full dynamic spectral complexity of sunlight, G2V Optics is helping growers of high value vegetables, fruits, spices and medicines to improve plant chemistry and crop productivity while reducing the energy consumption and cost of their farming. G2V Optics lighting accurately mimics seasons, different geographies, and accelerates complex plant photobiology with LED-based technology that produces plant growth with ideal nutrition and taste, as well as optimal medicinal properties.
“A limiting factor for agriculture over the next 10 to 20 years is going to be water because we are already at about 85 per cent to 95 percent of fresh water utilization,” explained Mike Taschuk, CTO and Founder of G2V Optics. “As humanity scales, and as climate change threatens the output of traditional farming, we need alternative ways of producing more nutrition within greenhouses, indoor farms and vertical farms. Controlled environment agriculture reduces water usage by a factor of 20 and G2V Optics optimizes the nutritional efficiency of the crop while reducing the cost of production. That mission is a core motivation for our business.”
On the research side, the company’s clients include leaders in aerospace that use G2V Optics technology to test and refine the performance of photovoltaics, solar fuels and satellites.
“Providing precision testing tools to research labs like MIT, and to innovators in aerospace and other solar-related markets helps us to see into the future of the most technically complex and powerful requirements for lighting,” added Ryan Tucker, CEO of G2V Optics. “This insight continues to inform how we evolve our lighting solutions to best serve commercial markets including the world’s most advanced indoor growers.”
The investment from Alberta’s Accelerate Fund II will help G2V Optics to expand the data sensing and artificial intelligence capabilities of their lighting technology and invest in business development to attract additional innovative indoor farming and research clients worldwide.
“We have deep trust in the G2V Optics team because we have watched them build the business and expand the team over the past few years,” added Arden Tse, Investment Manager for Accelerate Fund II. “Their precise lighting technology addresses a very large market opportunity and has already attracted international clients. We anticipate the business will continue to perform well in the rapidly-expanding indoor horticulture and solar markets.”
G2V Optics technology was homegrown in Alberta. The core solar simulation capabilities were initially developed by Taschuk at the University of Alberta and NRC’s National Institute of Nanotechnology.
About G2V Optics
G2V Optics was founded to apply innovative technology and data-driven, collaborative design toward solutions for this generation’s global issues. Starting with the highest precision spectral replication ever produced, G2V now provides a suite of advanced lighting, monitoring, and data science products to push the boundaries of renewable energy research, material science, and modern horticulture.
Our continuous, software-controlled, adjustable-spectra LED solar simulators enable researchers to unlock the potential of tomorrow’s solar-powered devices. Our closed-loop horticulture systems maximize output and chemical content by replicating geographic conditions, monitoring, analyzing, and adjusting in real-time. When spectral precision matters for your research, let G2V Engineer the Sun™. www.g2voptics.com
About Accelerate Fund II
Accelerate Fund II is an early-stage angel co-investment fund in Alberta. We co-invest alongside angel investors in financing rounds and will typically invest up to $500,000 on the same terms and conditions as private investors. We work with formal angel groups, super-angels, family funds, and individual angel investors. Accelerate Fund II invests in private, early-stage Alberta companies in knowledge-based industries including: information and communications technology, clean and energy technology, as well as life sciences, including agriculture and biotech. Accelerate Fund II is managed by Yaletown Partners with the support of The A100. Alberta Enterprise Corporation is Accelerate Fund II’s Limited Partner. www.acceleratefund.ca
Media Inquiries:
Accelerate Fund II
Claudia Moore
Material Insight
403.703.0029
Claudia @ matertialinsight.com
G2V Optics
Ryan Tucker
CEO
1-877-428-0428
media @ g2voptics.com
