Merci, monsieur le président.
My name is Sailesh Thaker, and I'm the vice-president for industry relations at Sustainable Development Technology Canada, or SDTC.
I would like to thank the members of the Committee for the opportunity to take part in these consultations.
I would like to start by introducing SDTC--who we are, and what we do.
SDTC is a policy instrument created by Parliament that helps Canadian innovators and entrepreneurs commercialize their clean technology solutions. You may have heard a bit more than usual about us last week as we held here in Ottawa our first conference, entitled “Greening Canada's Economy: The SDTC Cleantech Summit”.
The summit brought together over 250 clean-tech players, including CEOs of Canada's leading clean-tech companies, private sector clean-tech investors, federal and provincial government officials and many other stakeholders in this emerging sector of the Canadian economy. The clean-tech companies at the summit told us about the arduous path they have had to follow in commercializing their intellectual property into clean technology products and the difficulties they face in raising capital for it.
An example of SDTC's unique role in filling this need was reported by one of the participating CEOs. His company originally received SDTC funding to undertake commercial demonstrations of their truck engine technology in the GTA. He began with a handful of people and almost zero revenue, while today, six years later, this company has a revenue stream of close to $100 million and markets in China and California.
This is one example of more than 170 projects we have across the country. During the question and answer period, I would be pleased to provide you with other examples.
SDTC operates in a manner akin to that of early-stage venture capitalists, or VCs, in order to provide not only funding but also innovative partnerships and capacity building primarily to small and medium-sized enterprises. SDTC manages two funds. The SD Tech Fund, which is the subject of this presentation, was established in 2002 and has been recapitalized twice since then. This fund operates beyond R and D funding sources and earlier than traditional lenders, such as the BDC and banks.
A second fund, the NextGen BioFuels Fund, was established in 2007 to focus on Canada's biomass advantage by helping establish first-of-kind near-commercial-scale plants for the production of ethanol and biodiesel from non-food sources.
Through the SD Tech Fund, SDTC has built a network of over 5,000 private sector companies and other entities that are involved with this new sector of the Canadian economy. Today the SD Tech Fund is the single largest clean technology portfolio in North America, with over 171 investments that have a total project value of $1.4 billion. These represent $425 million in federal government funds and over $1 billion leveraged, with 84% of it coming from the private sector.
What SDTC needs in order to continue its important work is a commitment in the 2010 budget for recapitalization of the SD Tech Fun by $90 million per year for seven years. This figure is based on the volume of applications that we have been seeing over the past several funding rounds. Such multi-year predictability of the SD Tech Fund will help ensure continued innovation and commercialization of clean technologies in Canada.
As was stated last week at our clean-tech summit by Mr. John Podesta, an adviser to President Obama, Canada has had an early start in clean technology development and a unique model through SDTC, but the U.S. and other jurisdictions are now jumping in with both feet. This is evident when one sees the many billions of dollars the U.S. is spending on clean technology development and deployment, or the U.K.'s indication that the clean technology sector will be a key driver in the country's emergence from the current recession.
The potential trillion-dollar clean-tech market in China alone creates a strong global clean-tech business opportunity. At this critical juncture, it is important that Canada remain a technology maker, capturing its share of an emerging and significant global clean-tech market. For Canada as an exporting and innovative nation, clean technology represents a scenario wherein its mark may be felt around the world.
I would be pleased to take your questions.
Thank you for your attention. Merci encore.