COLLEGE PARK, Md. — The Maryland Energy Innovation Accelerator (MEIA) announced a $100,000 pre-seed investment from its Climate Technology Founders Fund into Canopy Minerals, a woman- and minority-owned Baltimore-based startup developing innovative technology for critical mineral exploration. The investment, which officially closed on June 30, 2026, marks a major milestone for Canopy Minerals following its successful participation in the Launchpad program MEIA, a Maryland Clean Energy Center initiative.
The Climate Technology Founders Fund invests in promising early-stage companies led by entrepreneurs who have historically faced barriers to accessing early-stage capital. By providing critical early-stage financing, the Fund helps diverse founders commercialize breakthrough technologies, create high-quality jobs, and strengthen Maryland’s innovation economy.
As demand for clean energy technologies continues to grow, so does the need for critical minerals such as copper and rare earth elements, which are essential components of electric vehicles, high-capacity batteries, wind turbines, and modernized power grids. However, traditional mineral exploration can be slow, expensive, and resource-intensive, often relying on heavy equipment, aircraft surveys, and exploratory drilling to identify promising deposits.
Canopy Minerals is developing a non-destructive alternative by analyzing the natural mineral content of plant leaves to identify underground mineral deposits. By using vegetation as a natural bioindicator, the company’s proprietary technology enables exploration companies to identify promising target areas with greater precision, reducing unnecessary drilling and minimizing land disturbance during the earliest stages of exploration.
“MEIA has been an exceptional partner to Canopy Minerals since we joined the Launchpad program last summer, supporting us as we refined our business model, advanced our early customer validation, and secured our first investment through the Climate Technology Founders Fund,” said Elizabeth Jeffers, CEO of Canopy Minerals. “Their support will help us automate the first key stages of our leaf mineral sensing platform and accelerate our work to make critical mineral exploration more precise, lower-impact, and aligned with the needs of a clean energy future.”
In addition to its environmental benefits, the investment will catalyze local economic growth. Headquartered in Baltimore City, Canopy Minerals plans to double its workforce from three to six employees by the end of 2027. The company also intends to establish its own specialized leaf mineral sensing laboratory in Baltimore, generating high-quality green jobs and anchoring Maryland as a leading hub for climate technology innovation.
“Investing in Canopy Minerals aligns perfectly with our mission to support minority-, women-, and veteran-owned businesses,” said Ben Margolis, Director of MEIA. “By supporting early-stage climate innovators like Canopy, we are helping to build a robust green economy right here in Baltimore while solving some of the global clean energy transition’s most pressing supply chain challenges.”
Canopy Minerals initially joined the MEIA Launchpad program on September 4, 2025, leveraging the accelerator’s mentorship, commercialization support, and network to prepare for this critical next phase of growth. The investment from the Climate Technology Founders Fund builds on that foundation by providing the early-stage capital needed to advance the company’s commercialization efforts, expand its technical capabilities, and accelerate deployment of its innovative mineral sensing technology.
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