From the industrial waterways of textile mills to the contaminated runoff of mining operations, three British Columbia startups have stepped forward with technologies that reframe waste as resource and pollution as opportunity. Selected through BC Tech's Dragons' Den Pitch Night, Lite-1 Bio, Tersa Critical Minerals, and Viridis will now carry their visions to the 2026 Technology Impact Awards Gala, where the Company of the Year – Startup Award awaits. Their emergence reflects a broader human reckoning with the environmental costs embedded in the materials and processes that sustain modern life
Three B.C. Cleantech Startups Advance to 2026 Technology Impact Awards
Transforming contaminated mine water into recoverable resources
Mark
What made these three stand out from the other four startups that pitched that night?
Mimi
The source doesn't say. We know seven companies presented, but only the selection criteria—or the judges' reasoning—would explain why these three advanced. That's a gap in the reporting.
Luke
Right. We have the finalists and their technologies, but not the decision-making process. That matters if you're trying to understand what BC Tech values in a cleantech startup.
Mark
So these are all solving real problems in their industries?
Mimi
Yes. Lite-1 Bio is targeting a known pain point—toxic dyes are expensive and environmentally costly to produce and dispose of. Tersa and Viridis are both addressing waste streams that mining and textile companies already struggle with. They're not inventing problems; they're solving ones that exist.
Luke
But we don't know if they're solving them at scale yet, or profitably. The source describes what the technologies do, not whether they work commercially. That's crucial context we're missing.
Mark
Is there a sense of how far along these companies are?
Mimi
Not really. We know they're startups competing for recognition, but not whether they're pre-revenue, generating pilot sales, or already working with customers. That would change how you think about their maturity.
Luke
Exactly. "Startup" covers a huge range—from idea to Series B. Without knowing their stage, it's hard to assess the actual risk or timeline to impact.
Mark
Why does BC Tech care about keeping these companies in the province?
Mimi
Tipping's quote suggests it's about economic development and talent retention. If you build recognition and support early, companies are more likely to scale here rather than moving to larger tech hubs.
Luke
That's a reasonable inference, but it's not stated directly. We're reading between the lines of a CEO quote. The source doesn't explain BC Tech's strategy or why they think early support matters for retention.
Il Polso
- Industries from textiles to mining carry deep environmental debts — toxic dyes, contaminated water, and discarded tailings represent decades of deferred consequence.
- Three B.C. startups have each identified a specific wound in the industrial system and engineered a targeted remedy, from bio-based pigments to metal recovery to electrochemical water treatment.
- BC Tech's Dragons' Den Pitch Night, held at Global Relay's Gastown office, served as the proving ground where seven startups competed before industry experts, with only three advancing.
- The finalists now face a live pitch at the 2026 Technology Impact Awards Gala, where recognition and resources could determine whether their technologies scale within British Columbia or drift elsewhere.
- BC Tech CEO Jill Tipping underscored that early visibility is not ceremonial — it is a structural tool for keeping promising companies rooted in the region where they were built.
From the industrial waterways of textile mills to the contaminated runoff of mining operations, three British Columbia startups have stepped forward with technologies that reframe waste as resource and pollution as opportunity. Selected through BC Tech's Dragons' Den Pitch Night, Lite-1 Bio, Tersa Critical Minerals, and Viridis will now carry their visions to the 2026 Technology Impact Awards Gala, where the Company of the Year – Startup Award awaits. Their emergence reflects a broader human reckoning with the environmental costs embedded in the materials and processes that sustain modern life.
Three British Columbia cleantech startups — Lite-1 Bio, Tersa Critical Minerals, and Viridis — have secured their spots at the 2026 Technology Impact Awards Gala after emerging from BC Tech's Dragons' Den Pitch Night, a competitive showcase held at Global Relay's Gastown office. Seven startups presented to a panel of industry experts; these three advanced to pitch live for the Company of the Year – Startup Award.
Lite-1 Bio, based in Vancouver, is targeting one of the colour industry's most entrenched problems: the reliance on toxic petrochemical dyes. The company is developing pigments from biological sources, beginning with black pigment — a technically demanding segment — with ambitions to reshape how dyes are produced across textiles, coatings, plastics, cosmetics, and food.
Tersa Critical Minerals approaches environmental harm from the mining sector's side. Its modular TersaClean system treats contaminated mine water and tailings not as waste to be managed, but as a source of recoverable high-purity metals like copper. The process simultaneously cleans the water and helps mining operations satisfy environmental regulations — turning liability into value.
Viridis addresses the textile industry's water crisis through electrochemical oxidation, a process that destroys persistent dyes and surfactants in wastewater. Mills using the technology can recover and reuse nearly all their water, eliminating the need for chemical treatments and the sludge they generate.
BC Tech CEO Jill Tipping framed the competition as more than recognition — she pointed to early-stage visibility as a practical mechanism for helping companies scale within British Columbia rather than being drawn away by opportunity elsewhere.
Three British Columbia cleantech startups have earned their place at the 2026 Technology Impact Awards Gala, where they will pitch live for the Company of the Year – Startup Award. The three finalists—Lite-1 Bio, Tersa Critical Minerals, and Viridis—emerged from BC Tech's annual Dragons' Den Pitch Night, a competition held at Global Relay's Gastown office where seven startups presented to a panel of industry experts.
Lite-1 Bio, based in Vancouver, is working to displace toxic petrochemical dyes with pigments derived from biological sources. The company's initial focus is black pigment, a segment of the global colour industry that remains both technically complex and environmentally damaging. If successful, the technology could reshape how dyes are manufactured for textiles, coatings, plastics, cosmetics, and food products—industries that currently rely on chemical processes with significant environmental costs.
Tersa Critical Minerals takes a different approach to environmental remediation. The company has developed a modular system called TersaClean that addresses a specific problem facing mining operations: contaminated water and mining tailings. Rather than treating these as waste, Tersa's technology recovers high-purity metals such as copper while simultaneously cleaning the water, allowing mining companies to meet environmental regulations while extracting value from what would otherwise be discarded material.
Viridis, also Vancouver-based, focuses on the textile industry's water pollution challenge. The company uses electrochemical oxidation technology to destroy persistent dyes and surfactants in wastewater. The process allows mills to recover and reuse nearly all their water without relying on chemical treatments or generating sludge—a significant operational and environmental advantage for facilities that currently cycle through enormous volumes of water in their production processes.
Jill Tipping, CEO of BC Tech, framed the selection as recognition of the region's growing cleantech sector. She noted that early-stage support and visibility can help companies scale operations within British Columbia rather than relocating elsewhere. The three finalists will now prepare to present their technologies and business cases at the gala, competing for the startup award that carries both recognition and resources to accelerate growth.
Citazioni salienti
By providing recognition and support early, we can help more companies scale up here in B.C.— Jill Tipping, BC Tech CEO
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