Blog

Canadian startup Wyvern only just announced a $4.5 million seed round (which itself nearly doubled close to the wire thanks to new commitments) and entry into Y Combinator, and now it’s revealing that it has landed another $4 million in funding via Canada’s Sustainable Development Technology (SDTC) program.

The SDTC program offers startups at seed, growth and scale-up stages funding for projects that can potentially move the needle on clean tech, through partnerships with agencies and companies across public and private sectors. The funding they provide does not require that the startup hand over any equity, nor is it a loan with repayment expectations. Instead, it’s essentially a contract with measurable outcomes and deliverables set out by the SDTC and its partners, with access to the funding reliant on meeting those goals.

In Wyvern’s case, SDTC is working with a consortium including cardio digital farming (a BASF subsidiary), Olds College, SkyWatch, MetaSpectral and Wild + Pine. It outlines a three-year project that involves testing Wyvern’s hyperspectral, satellite-based imaging using Olds College’s 2,800 acre “smart farm” facility.

Being flush with cash is incredibly important for Wyvern right now, as the company is working on actually getting its tech to space: The plan is to launch its first “DragonEye” observation satellite this year.