Business View Magazine | Volume 9, Issue 3

59 BUSINESS VIEW MAGAZINE VOLUME 9, ISSUE 3 ONTAR IO CLEAN TECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY ASSOC I AT ION 90 members – our membership has grown a lot, even through COVID. We have an Evergreen Membership that has replaced the Founding membership; a Sustaining Membership and a Corporate Membership – the fee here depends on the size of the company; we also have a very affordable Start-up Membership at $100 for the first year to really give cleantech start-ups the opportunity to benefit from the services we offer, to find potential partners and to network. For example, we host pitch sessions for that group to allow them to showcase their technologies. ” BVM: What unique services do you provide? Althaus: “One of the key challenges the cleantech sector across Canada is facing, is access to capital, markets and customers. Those are, of course, interconnected. So matching breadth of the Ontario cleantech sector, which is very diverse. This is reflected in our membership. For example, there are companies with innovative water and waste management or EV technologies, some are producing hydrogen and clean fuels, other specialize in energy efficiency and storage, in Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) or in circular economy solutions. Some have innovative solar applications and others are producing alternative plastics and clean chemicals – so the spectrum is really broad. “The founding members had conversations with various stakeholders in the ecosystem to determine if there was really a need or if they were duplicating something that was already there. The answer was yes and OCTIA was founded subsequently, in 2019. It has now about