SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The California Mobility Center (CMC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Invest Alberta, an international investment attraction crown corporation, (IAC) and EnerTech Capital (EnerTech). The alliance sets the stage for continental collaboration on regulatory policy and investment strategies designed to advance the future mobility industry sector.
EnerTech, a Founding Partner of the CMC, is a venture capital firm with headquarters in Toronto, ON and Philadelphia, PA. Through their Global Strategic Mobility Fund (GSMF), they actively invest in early to growth-stage privately held companies working in the advanced mobility sector. EnerTech has a long history of building strategic partnerships and innovation ecosystems to provide insights and commercialization opportunities, with its core focus on future mobility.
“We have been investing in and partnering with innovative companies driving change across the energy landscape for over 25 years,” said Wally Hunter, managing director at EnerTech. “As a co-architect of the CMC, we saw how a relationship with IAC and Alberta would help expand the mobility ecosystem that we are building in Canada.”
“Alberta is quickly becoming a destination of choice for cleantech investment, while IAC continues to attract high-value investments to the province, including opportunities in advanced mobility solutions. Through our partnership with the CMC, Alberta can become a key player in the Canadian localization plan that EnerTech and the CMC are developing in Canada,” said Rick Christiaanse, CEO of Invest Alberta. “We plan to leverage Alberta’s expertise and leadership in hydrogen technologies to attract high-impact investment to the province and expand opportunities for Alberta companies in other markets.”
California occupies about 50% of the U.S.’s total electric vehicle (EV) market share and is the epicenter of climate regulation and policy. The MOU establishes a new intercontinental collaboration around regulatory policy and investment strategies. “The CMC’s strategic market location in California provides unparalleled access to the world’s largest EV market, behind China,” said Mark Rawson, COO for the CMC. “It is a competitive advantage, but our business model and strategic partnerships are not constrained by California’s borders.”
The CMC announced a similar collaboration last month with the Qatar Mobility Innovations Center (QMIC), based in Doha, Qatar. The QMIC partnership increases cross-collaboration in the Middle East in the fields of intelligent mobility and smart cities.
“Domestic and international alliances with entities like EnerTech, Invest Alberta, QMIC and others creates an incredibility rich and diverse partner network that allows us all to get further faster,” said Rawson. “Now EnerTech and the CMC are building a localization strategy in the Canadian market to leverage the significant ecosystem and international network that the CMC has built.”
Alectra Inc., a municipality-owned company with headquarters in Toronto, Canada became a Member of the CMC last October. Alectra’s CEO Brian Bentz joined the CMC board at the same time. “California is thought by many to be a policy leader in advanced mobility, thus becoming a bellwether for the direction of the overall market,” said Bentz. “Alectra made the decision to align with the CMC to help fast-track the creation of an Ontario based cross-industry ecosystem that can influence regulatory policy in Ontario.”
In addition, Linamar Corporation (TSX:LNR), a Canadian advanced manufacturing company specializing in industrial and mobility market applications, is an active participant in the Ontario Mobility Ecosystem being built out along with EnerTech, Alectra, and other key players. Linamar also signed on as a Member of the CMC in December last year with CEO Linda Hasenfratz holding a seat on the CMC board.
“Linamar has taken an active role on the EnerTech and CMC boards,” said Hasenfratz. “These partnerships allow us to play a leadership role in the electrified mobility space, acquire learnings and make connections more rapidly and find opportunities through collective action that can accelerate our own strategic priorities.”
About the California Mobility Center (CMC): The CMC is a nonprofit, public-private entity providing future mobility innovators and industry incumbents access to programs and resources that accelerate the pace of commercialization worldwide and aspires to be the leading innovation center for global mobility success. The CMC was founded by industry thought leaders in clean technology including California State University, Sacramento, EnerTech Capital, PEM Motion, Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) and the Greater Sacramento Economic Council (GSEC). The CMC is strategically located in Sacramento, CA. Its location puts the CMC in close proximity to California government, which leads the United States and the world in producing policies around green mobility and technology.
