Another huge raise in Montreal was just announced. This time GHGsat, which uses a network of satellites to monitor greenhouse gas emissions, has raised another $30 million US ($39 million CAD). This is on top of a $28 million grant the company received in June. The round was led by Investissement Québec, with participation from OGCI Climate Investments, Business Development Bank of Canada, Fonds de solidarité des travailleurs du Québec (FSTQ), Space Angels, and Schlumberger, a multinational specialize in equipment for the oil and gas sector.

The investment comes on the heels of the successful launch of the company’s second satellite, “Iris”, on 2nd September 2020 and means GHGSat can now fast-track the deployment of the rest of its constellation. A third satellite, “Hugo”, is currently in final testing and is due to launch by the end of the year, to be followed by further launches in the next two years. The company launched its first satellite over the course of this summer.

The additional funding will be used to build and launch 3 high-resolution satellites and a sensor, based on the company’s space technology but tailored for use in aircraft. It will also enable GHGSat to expand its analytics capability in Canada and open a new global intelligence centre in the UK. That facility will investigate man-made greenhouse emissions in territories outside of North America.

“The success of this round is built upon ongoing partnerships and we thank our investors for their enthusiasm and trust in GHGSat. Despite this year’s global pandemic and related economic setbacks, we continue to see growing demand from our target markets. Our team is fully engaged worldwide and focused on delivering global emission monitoring solutions for our customers.” said Stephane Germain, CEO at GHGSat.

Germain believes that demand for accurate, cost-effective monitoring is growing as awareness of the environmental impacts of methane increase. It has a global warming potential c. 84 times greater than that of carbon dioxide and is responsible for about 25% of man-made global warming. The company says its space-based data and analytics enables regulators and sectors such as oil and gas, waste management, mining, energy and agriculture to properly assess and track emissions and take prompt action to address emissions.

Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of the Economy and Development explained “Québec can count on its growing spatial industry, including a dynamic aerospace sector, where innovative new companies like GHGSat are making their mark globally. This investment represents the Government of Québec’s commitment to the export of our engineering expertise and contribution to a transition towards a greener economy. GHGSat provides an innovative high-precision solution that enables the detection of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. The Government supports forward-thinking projects like GHGSat’s as these opportunities are beneficial to both the economy and the environment.”

GHGSat is the only emissions monitoring company with its own satellites. These satellites can detect methane emissions from sources 100 times smaller than any other system, meaning it can image and identify methane emissions from point sources as small as individual oil & gas wells. No other commercial operator or state-funded space organisation claims to be able to do this.