Local Blue Economy Growth Fund – News
Water-Tech Startups Showcase Solutions to Municipal Water Challenges at Nexus H2O
June 8, 2026
As part of the Local Blue Economy Growth Fund’s (LBEGF) knowledge mobilization program, the Cities Initiative partnered with AquaAction to deliver Nexus H2O—an event designed to connect water-tech entrepreneurs directly with municipal governments to help solve critical stormwater, wastewater, and freshwater quality issues in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Region.
Nestled within Nexus H2O was PitcH2O—an interactive pitch competition for water-tech startups. Eight start-ups stood on the stage with only three minutes to pitch their solutions to the room. Solutions covered innovative approaches to harvesting energy from building wastewater, sustainable absorbents to help with PFAS removal, and modular, biochar filtration systems for treating contaminated water and soil. Several entrepreneurs presented new or advanced methods of capturing and analyzing data using citizen science, machine learning, and AI.
Crowd polling throughout the event confirmed these technologies are needed. Attendees cited data as the second biggest gap in advancing water system improvements, while contaminant capture technologies ranked highest in the polls. Perhaps unsurprisingly, funding was cited as the biggest gap in taking action to improve water quality.
This session highlighted the timeliness and importance of the LBEGF, as well as organizations like AquaAction. The LBEGF’s small grants and knowledge mobilization programs are needed to help advance improvements to Ontario’s freshwater quality—connecting municipalities with entrepreneurs advancing water quality solutions in Canada, while providing project-based funding to pilot, test, and de-risk new and innovative technologies in real-world conditions.
AquaAction helps make these connections possible by providing accelerator programs that seed, mentor, and support entrepreneurs in scaling new technologies and making them accessible to communities that need them. Together, these efforts are helping bridge the gap between innovation and implementation, and further opportunities to engage in similar knowledge-sharing and collaboration sessions will be announced in the coming months.
Discover a some of the innovators from PitcH2O
Capture Tech – An environmental restoration company focused on biochar-based solutions, like its Biochar Capture Packs (BCPs)–a modular filtration system for treating contaminated water and soil.
Sequestro – An advanced materials manufacturing company engineering sustainable adsorbents to remove PFAS from aqueous media.
Chembrains – A pioneer in effluent recycling and contaminant recovery, using a combination of advanced electrochemical, photocatalytic, filtration and oxidation processes to clarify, treat and disinfect water in a closed loop.
E2METRIX – A water treatment technology company specializing in the on-site destruction of PFAS and emerging contaminants by combining concentration, electrochemical destruction, and polishing technologies to mineralize PFAS into non-harmful end products, avoiding long-term disposal liabilities.
Myconaut – Taps into the capabilities of fungi, using Myco Recurrent Selective process and AI/ML to tailor effective and cost-efficient bioremediation solutions targeting PFAS-contaminated soils.
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Ontario Communities and Water-Tech Innovators Connect to Tackle Emerging Water Quality Challenges
June 5, 2026
At the first Local Blue Economy Growth Fund Municipal Innovation Exchange, municipal staff, mayors, and industry leaders gathered to discuss opportunities and solutions to some of the most pressing stormwater-wastewater management and freshwater pollution challenges facing Ontario communities.
Municipal representatives highlighted stormwater management as a shared priority, focusing on removing and capturing pollutants and contaminants from stormwater runoff, revitalizing stormwater infrastructure, and tackling emergent contaminants, like PFAS and microplastics.
Innovators from the AquaAction AquaEntrepreneur delegation responded with innovative ideas and technologies that could help municipalities address these rising challenges, such as engineered sustainable absorbents to remove PFAS, electrochemical, photocatalytic filtration and oxidation processes to treat and disinfect water, and even fungi used to target PFAS-contaminated soils.
The session made one thing clear: Canadian innovators are at the forefront of developing promising technologies for addressing pollutants and contaminants to improve freshwater quality. But municipalities cited limited funding and high cost to implement as the primary barriers to putting these solutions into practice.
The Local Blue Economy Growth Fund was designed to help bridge this gap. With up to $50,000 available per project, the Fund helps de-risk the adoption of innovative technologies by supporting pilot projects that allow municipalities to test, evaluate, and demonstrate solutions in real-world settings before making larger-scale investments. The first application intake closes June 19. Learn more about the fund and how your municipality can apply at https://glslcities.org/lbegf/.
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