Montréal-based urban beekeeping startup Alvéole, which helps organizations meet their sustainability goals with beekeeping, has closed $8.1 million CAD in Series A funding from Round13 Capital’s EarthTech Fund.
Founded in 2013, Alvéole is a certified B Corp that provides bee-focused education and nature-driven amenities for schools and companies. It helps organizations repurpose space on their properties into a welcoming environment for bees. Alvéole helps bring honey bee hives, pollinator habitats, and bee-friendly gardens to city buildings.
“This is why we’re shedding light on honey bees: so that citizens grow attached to them, and … to ensure a commitment to all living beings.”
Alvéole said Round13’s equity investment will go towards the development of MyHive, the company’s digital platform, which enables users to monitor their bees and assess their social and environmental impact. The startup aims to make MyHive available starting in 2023.
Alvéole also plans to use this latest capital infusion to support the growth of its data-driven platform, expand to new markets, and extend the reach of its services as it looks to help more companies around the world meet their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) targets.
According to Alvéole, the rise of the beekeeping movement is related to the resurgence of interest in local food production, and supported by general concern regarding the bee population, which is responsible for pollinating one-third of the food put into plates. In 2019, CBC reported that beekeeping schools in Greater Vancouver are reporting increases of 50 percent or more in beginner enrolment over the last 10 years.
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“Honey bees have become the unlikely ambassadors of something incredibly important and much larger than themselves: the rapid changes we must invoke to ensure our food systems become sustainable,” states Alvéole on the company’s website. “This is why we’re shedding light on honey bees: so that citizens grow attached to them, and … to ensure a commitment to all living beings.”
Alvéole has grown to 40 cities across six countries over the past decade. Starting in North America, with bee hives in Canada and the United States, Alvéole also has locations in European spots like Paris, Berlin, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt.
With this round, Alvéole has now raised over $9.3 million in funding to date. This total includes $150,000 in seed funding from Edō Capital and $1.2 million in debt financing from Capital Financière Agricole.
Feature image courtesy Alvéole.
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