Brett Henkel worked at QuestAir Technologies, a gas purification company, before leaving to start his own. In 2007 he co-founded Inventys, working from his garage in Vancouver.
Chevron Technology Ventures made its first investment in 2014. In 2019 Inventys was renamed Svante, after the Swedish scientist who modelled CO2 and temperature.
Svante raised a US$100 million Series D in 2021 with Suncor and Chrysalix among the investors. It broke ground on a manufacturing facility in Burnaby in June 2022, and in December 2022 it raised a US$318 million Series E led by Chevron New Energies.
In August 2024 the Canada Growth Fund committed up to C$100 million. Henkel's role at Svante is vice president of strategic accounts and government affairs.