By Matt Skynner (Managing Director, R-LABS Canada)
Steve Van Haren and Chris Godsall are sitting in the head office of NOAH Intelligence, looking out the window at Toronto’s Union Station across the street.
“The flooding last summer – and the flooding in 2013 and 2018 – was predictable,” says Van Haren, a former Principal Water Resources Engineer with WSP. He points to the train station that was shut down last July 16th by three hours of heavy rain from trailing thunderstorms. Flooding from the storms caused $990 million of property damage in the Toronto region.
The co-founders of NOAH have very different backgrounds, but you could easily assume they’ve known each other all their lives – and might comfortably finish the other’s sentences.
“Flooding obeys the laws of physics,” says Godsall, whose last venture, a physics-based simulation technology company, was acquired by Unity Technologies in San Francisco.
“When we properly model the physics of flooding,” says Van Haren, “Then accurate flood risk prediction for all of these buildings finally becomes possible.”
Van Haren finishes his sentence by panning from east to west in the direction of Sewershed 42, one of sixty-seven sewersheds in Toronto. The area contains property that NOAH estimates is worth over a trillion dollars. It was among the worst affected last summer when the sudden rain overwhelmed drainage systems. Van Haren knows that many of the buildings are vulnerable to climate risk and that most owners are deprived of accurate flood risk data.
Few, if any, have more experience understanding flood risk than Van Haren. As one of Canada’s leading stormwater engineers, he spent two and half decades analyzing and designing flood mitigation, enhanced flood modelling, flood defense, control and flood prevention systems for international corporations and municipalities, including some of the largest commercial real estate firms in Canada.
“Over 250,000 passengers use Union Station every day,” says Godsall, looking at the train station below.
Godsall likes to put things into context. It helps, he says, to motivate the vision needed to solve big problems. This is the fourth “big solution” company he’s started. Earlier efforts earned Godsall a Meritorious Service Medal from the Government of Canada, and prior customers for his ventures include Apple, Sony, IKEA, Rio Tinto, Bell Labs and NIKE. For his work, Maclean’s Magazine named Godsall as one of Canada’s 100 Leaders and Dreamers.
“Union Station survived the Great Fire of Toronto in 1904,” he says, still looking below. “But the building that stood where we are today didn’t. It was destroyed in the fire, along with over one hundred other buildings. One in forty people in Toronto were put out of work.”
“Water is the New Fire,” says Van Haren, then quickly clarifies that he didn’t make up the axiom.
It’s actually the title of a 2023 Weather Network original documentary by Shawney Cohen that highlights the alarming risks of climate change and flooding in cities. Van Haren adds – for context – that every big story has a beginning.
“When it comes to flood defense”, says Van Haren. “Most property owners are at the start of their journey. Unlike those fires from last century, we have the technology to implement resilience at scale. We can adapt.”
By simulating the physics of flooding, Van Haren and Godsall are taking a more advanced approach to understanding flood risk. In addition to technical improvements, there is something very different about NOAH – and it can be found in Van Haren’s words. The difference starts with a simple shift toward hope. Thanks to NOAH’s scalable solution, delivering physically-accurate flood scorecards for every property in Canada is now possible. But it’s more than that. NOAH is creating a company based on the idea that adaptation to climate change is feasible. They don’t just inform property owners, insurers and banks about flood risk. NOAH also provides realistic engineered solutions. The combination of accurate flood risk assessments with feasible adaptation solutions is what truly differentiates this ambitious Canadian climate technology company. We sat down to find out more about the founders and what motivated them to start NOAH.
What inspired you to start this company, and what problem are you trying to solve?
Steve: “I’ve been working on this problem for over twenty-five years. As an engineer, I was inspired to bring a new approach to a problem that can’t be completely solved with traditional flood modelling. This is a dynamic physical and hydrological problem. Solving challenges for large international clients gave me the experience to understand the complexities of flood risk data and envision dynamic flood resilience solutions.”
Chris: “For me, flooding was the obvious next chapter. It’s a huge problem facing almost all Canadians. And it affects people everywhere in the world. I’ve spent over half my career either running companies in marine engineering or physical simulation software. Applying physics-based simulation to flooding is incredibly exciting. It’s a big idea that makes a lot of sense and that can help a lot of people in Canada and around the world.”
What personal experiences shaped your vision for this business?
Steve: “If you have a viable solution to a problem that will affect your children – and their children – then it doesn’t take much to wake up in the morning and go to work. The world needs companies like NOAH to address climate risks. I don’t like to sound dramatic. But it’s true.”
Chris: “By the time I was in my mid-twenties, I was leading an organization that was both innovative and that created measurable social and environmental benefits. That’s a positive feedback loop that I’ve brought to all my businesses. It touches on how we recruit talented people, raise capital from high quality investors and how we work with clients that are starting their flood risk journey. It’s a great playbook for success”
How did you validate the need for your product or service before launching?
Steve: “We spent months interviewing commercial real estate managers across many departments and we met with senior executives for insurance and finance organizations. Not one was satisfied with their current tools for flood risk.”
Chris: “NOAH also developed a pilot program to allow customers from all four major segments – Real Estate, Insurance, Finance and Government – to easily test our Flood Risk Scorecards and our models.”
What challenges did you face in the early stages, and how did you overcome them?
Steve: “The biggest challenge was getting busy people to focus on a problem that seemed like tomorrow’s crisis. Early adopters of climate resilience now get the fact that these flood-causing storms are coming every year. Soon everyone will have to adjust to the new reality that the storms are not only coming every year – but they’re getting more intense.”
Chris: “The floods in 2024 occurred – and other climate events since. These events have focused people more on starting the process of understanding business risks associated with flooding.”
How has your mission evolved since you first started, and where do you see the company in the future?
Steve: “When we first started, the mission was more tactical. It was focused purely on technical solutions to the problem of flood risk accuracy and on the solutions associated with flood defense. Starting a new business has to start with the details of the core technology and product. Our details are complex, so NOAH’s mission started with our technical and flood modelling methodology.”
Chris: “To be honest, our mission has stayed very consistent. We are here to apply technology and physics to estimating flood risk. The one thing that changed is now we are more specific about how and when we’re going to deliver our solutions to all properties in Canada. Where do we see ourselves in the future? We’ve been clear that our goal is to first serve Canada, and then US and European markets, because they are facing the same problem as us. Every market deserves and needs accurate flood risk solutions.”