Vancouver engineer earns Changemakers award for leading the way towards renewable energy
By Amy Hodgson
Vancouver entrepreneur, Sumreen Rattan has been awarded a 2022 Globe and Mail Changemakers award for her significant demonstrations of innovation and contributions to the clean energy sector with her business, Moment Energy. The Report on Business Magazine at the Globe and Mail launched this award in 2021 to showcase emerging leaders like Rattan who are transforming the Canadian business landscape. Only 50 bold, up-and-coming individuals are selected each year amongst hundreds of nominations.
Moment Energy is a cleantech venture born out of Rattan’s undergraduate years in SFU’s mechatronics program. She and her co-founders, Gabriel Soares, Gurmesh Sidhu and Edward Chiang, brought their idea to life in the university incubator called Coast Capital Venture Connection. After achieving remarkable milestones like closing a $3.5M seed round, Moment Energy graduated to SFU’s science and tech business accelerator, SFU VentureLabs. SFU VentureLabs helps growth stage companies scale up effectively through mentorship, marketing services, venture curriculum on capital attraction, and more.
Rattan is recognized as a Changemaker for the impact Moment Energy has on reducing diesel consumption by repurposing used electric vehicle (EV) batteries into hybrid generator systems that can store solar and wind power. Their solutions have been installed at off-grid sites to provide access to affordable, sustainable, zero emission electricity while keeping batteries out of landfills.
Moment Energy is also the only Canadian company that works directly with major automotive companies, like Nissan, to repurpose old EV batteries which is central to their core mission of accelerating the world’s transition to renewable energy.
“You can have a positive impact on the environment and a successful business. You don’t have to sacrifice one for the other,” says Rattan. Her unwavering vision for renewable energy is key to her success as an innovator and for her company as a whole.
Rattan continues to make her mark as a woman in STEM. Just last year Rattan was accepted into the RBC Women in Cleantech Accelerator and was recognized as one of 20 emerging leaders selected by Clean50 which profiles innovators and disruptors in the cleantech space.
Follow Sumreen Rattan and Moment Energy’s journey here.