Portfolio company Cyclic Materials raises US$75M Series C
Rare-earth recycler with an R&D centre in Kingston, Ontario; ArcTern posted the release in its portfolio news (ArcTern's own participation is not itemised).
Venture Capital
Toronto-founded climate tech venture firm backing Series A/B companies in clean energy, clean compute and clean industry.
ArcTern Ventures is a Toronto-headquartered climate technology venture capital firm, founded in 2012, with further offices in San Francisco and Oslo. Its current thesis, which it calls sustainable intelligence, has three areas: clean energy, more energy-efficient computing, and using AI to cut emissions in heavy industry. Its third fund closed at US$335M (C$450M) in 2024 and is classified as an SFDR Article 9 fund. For Canadian candidates, it is a small, partner-heavy team with a few associates, and its Canadian portfolio includes Hydrostor, Cyclic Materials and the Ottawa-founded Hyperlume, which it has since exited.
0 open roles1 deals6 people20 sources
Companies supplying clean power for the economy and AI, e.g. long-duration storage developer Hydrostor.
Technologies that make computing much more energy-efficient across the stack, such as Hyperlume's low-energy data-centre interconnects.
Using AI and new technology to cut emissions in heavy-emitting industries.
Third fund, mainly Series A and B climate tech in North America and Europe with reserves for follow-ons; classified as Article 9 under EU SFDR.
| Toronto | ON | headquarters |
San Francisco · Oslo
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Reasons that work in interviews
3 reasons for ArcTern Ventures
Venture interviews test sourcing and judgement rather than technicals. Bring a company they have not invested in and explain why you would back it, then name a portfolio company of theirs you find interesting and why. That does more than any structural reason.
Climate technology specialist, so the thesis is explicit and technically demanding.
Global mandate from Toronto.
If your interest is decarbonisation rather than software generally, this is the most direct expression of it in Canadian venture.
Coming soon
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When they’re in, they’ll be part of BSO Pro, which already has candidate reports for dozens of firms.
Interviewing there sooner than that? Get in touch and we’ll help you prepare.
How juniors get in
Hires associates after several years in consulting or investment banking (e.g. BCG); no analyst or student roles are shown, so new graduates should build experience first.
Green: evidence it does. Struck through: evidence it doesn’t. Dashed: no public evidence either way.
Programs
Co-Founder and Managing Partner
Investment
Co-founded ArcTern after founding and growing several tech companies, including Spotnik Mobile (sold to TELUS), EnviroTower and Fluence Corporation. He was earlier a principal at Silicon Valley strategy firm the McKenna Group. Ivey MBA; competed for Canada at the 1992 Olympics.
Co-Founder and Partner
Investment
Co-founder who earlier founded Voice Courier Inc. and grew it to 100+ staff in three countries before its 2005 sale. He works on carbon mitigation through cleantech VC, commercialization and public advocacy, and has written three books. Waterloo BASc, London MSc, Toronto MA and PhD.
Managing Partner
Investment
Managing Partner who has worked as both founder and investor. He co-founded Unata, an e-commerce platform bought by Instacart in 2018, and was a partner at BlackBerry Partners Fund and Summerhill Venture Partners after roles at Ericsson and the McKenna Group. Waterloo Engineering; Ivey MBA.
Partner
Investment (Northern California)
Partner who spent over a decade building clean energy businesses at Dow Chemical (batteries), NRG Energy (solar and wind) and Shell, latterly as Shell's head of residential power. She received the US Department of Energy's 2019 C3E Award. Oberlin BS, Berkeley MBA.
Partner
Investment (UK / Europe)
Partner who was a Managing Director at BlackRock, where he helped build the US$1.4B Decarbonization Partners growth fund with Temasek. He was previously CEO of sustainability analytics firm AMEE and a venture partner at Extantia and Norrsken. Wharton MBA; Middlebury BA.
Partner
Investment
Partner with a background in R&D, management consulting and engineering. At McKinsey he worked with utilities on grid resilience and with startups on mobility electrification, and before that did spacecraft-shielding research with Georgia Tech and JPL. He focuses on compute and hard-tech/infrastructure.
Professional information only, drawn from official biographies and published reporting. BSO never lists private contact details.
Sep 29, 2025
Hyperlume
Selling shareholder (Series A co-lead investor) · Data-centre interconnects (microLED)
Buyer Credo Technology Group Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: CRDO) · Seller Hyperlume shareholders including ArcTern Ventures
Ottawa-founded Hyperlume, whose Series A ArcTern co-led in late 2024, was acquired by Credo. ArcTern said TD Securities acted as its financial advisor on the transaction.
Rare-earth recycler with an R&D centre in Kingston, Ontario; ArcTern posted the release in its portfolio news (ArcTern's own participation is not itemised).
Portfolio company Hyperlume, an Ottawa-founded data-centre interconnect startup, is acquired by Credo Technology.
BetaKit reports the Fund III final close, more than twice the size of Fund II, and the plan to back more Series A and B climate tech.
No sourced people moves for this firm. BSO publishes a fact only once it can attribute it to a named source, so these stay off the page rather than being filled in from inference. If you know something published that belongs here, it is the fastest way to get it added.
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ArcTern Ventures (reposted portfolio release) · Jun 9, 2026 · arcternventures.com
ArcTern Ventures (reposted portfolio release) · Jan 23, 2026 · arcternventures.com
ArcTern Ventures · Sep 29, 2025 · arcternventures.com
Business Wire · Jan 22, 2024 · businesswire.com
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ArcTern Ventures (Getro job board) · Date unavailable · careers.arcternventures.com
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BetaKit · Jan 22, 2024 · betakit.com
Bay Street Oracle · Oct 8, 2026 · intelligence.baystreetoracle.ca
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Get your planCo-op / Off-cycle intern · Canada
Seed funds take interns on a rolling basis rather than a cycle, and the work is sourcing and diligence rather than modelling. A company you would back, argued well, does more than a resume here. BSO has not confirmed a timetable for ArcTern Ventures on an official page: this records that the intake exists and what the category's cycle looks like, not a published date. Confirm with the firm before you plan around it.
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