Giving a boost to life sciences in Ontario

We’ve got $7-million for Ontario life sciences firms.

Got your attention? Since joining the Investment Accelerator Fund (IAF) in July, the most common question I’ve had from my contacts in the venture capital and angel investing world is: “Is the IAF going to be making new investments?” The answer I want everyone to hear is: “Yes!”

And now we’re in an even better position to boost Ontario-based private life sciences companies with this newly-announced fund.

It’s been a little over a month since I joined the IAF as Managing Director and it’s great to be back in my old early-stage investing network. I was a member of the IAF investment committee and always viewed the program as very important to early-stage investing in Ontario. Since joining the fund team and the MaRS organization I have come to appreciate the whole ecosystem we’re part of called the ONE. I’ve seen first-hand the energy that the IAF, MaRS and regional innovation centres bring when they work with together with early-stage companies. We’ve accelerated the business of several of our portfolio companies and provided the IAF a strong portfolio of investee companies. It’s my objective to continue to build on that foundation.

Our goal at the IAF is to help Ontario-based information technology, cleantech and life sciences firms bridge the early-stage funding gap. The capital is used to achieve meaningful milestones including market validation and revenue traction in order to attract follow-on financing or even acquisition interest. To date the majority of the IAF’s 34 investee companies have attracted additional capital to continue their growth paths. We hope to continue working with VCs and angels to help grow these exciting companies.

The new $7-million life sciences fund is a welcome addition to our funding capabilities and confirms again that the IAF is open for business.

Program information and eligibility criteria are detailed here and here (or download PDF-formats of the IAF and IAF for life sciences). If your company fits the criteria, fill out an application and let’s start talking!

It’s not news that good environmental practices make good economic sense—conserving energy and reducing waste are simply operationally sounds ways of doing business. Earlier this year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. delivered a dynamite keynote at Advertising Week 2010 (held at MaRS) on this very topic. He argued that Canada and US have the natural prowess to dominate the shift to green energy production and that, by going green, we can drive an economic resurgence.

Canadian entrepreneurs are among some of the biggest believers in environmental sustainability. At the onset of 2010, the Canadian Business Journal rounded up the ways Canada will have an economic edge in 2010. Number one on its list: We’re adapting to the new “green” economy.

“Although ten years ago many companies may have thought going green would cost them and that emerging clean technology enterprises were few and far between, Canadian business gurus are now seeing what’s clear: in order to improve the bottom line, you have to take care of the environment first, and it will immediately pay dividends.”

So what does this mean for an individual organization? It means that going green can save you and your organization money, resources and time.

At MaRS, we’re working to reduce our impact on the environment while improving the every day experiences of our staff, tenants and visitors. These are just some of the ways, from the simplest of ideas (like using green cleaning products) to bigger picture projects (a heat recovery wheel that recovers waste heat from building exhaust, for example) that we’re working on to shrink our environmental footprint:

• MaRS participates in car-sharing through AutoShare: employees of tenant companies are eligible for a discounted membership fee and a plug-in hybrid vehicle is available at MaRS.
• MaRS’ extensive recycling program includes tenant participation. Organics are separated at the source and cardboard, paper bottles and cans and laboratory plastics are all recycled. Food court retailers and catering contractors also recycle.
• MaRS is the lead developer of the Discovery District Energy Plan, a plan to significantly reduce energy consumption and source more efficient electricity through district-wide energy solutions.
• MaRS’ building automation and central air handling systems include a heat recovery wheel to recover waste heat from building exhaust.
• MaRS has an extensive lighting control system that automates lighting after hours and when suites are not in use. We are currently auditioning LED lighting in select areas to determine suitability for future retrofits.
• The MaRS Centre uses environmentally friendly cleaning products.
• MaRS uses rechargeable electric equipment for its summer landscaping program.
• MaRS does not use or serve bottled water.
• MaRS’ catering partners purchase carbon-offsets through CarbonZero for their entire vehicle fleets
• MaRS’ catering partners use local wines: Henry of Pelham, Mike Weir Wine, Chateau des Charmes, Peninula Ridge, Reif Winery
• MaRS supports and donates to Second Harvest
• MaRS’ kitchens are equipped with state-of-the-art energy efficient ventilation systems, quick recovery, low energy use hot water tanks and compact fluorescent lighting.
• MaRS’ Collaboration Centre meeting rooms, lower concourse and atrium feature natural light.
• MaRS uses an innovative carpet maintenance program that requires 319 percent less hydro and 95 percent less water consumption compared to extraction cleaning.

Toronto General Hospital, 1895: Part of our heritage

In 2000, Toronto was the first North American city to launch a program designed to expose people to buildings in the city they didn’t normally see. Now in its eleventh year, Doors Open Toronto has expanded across the province into Doors Open Ontario. Other cities in North America such as New York and Denver have since started similar festivals.

This weekend, MaRS is opening its doors to the public for the fourth year in a row to give people at peek at what goes on in the labs and offices of 101 College. MaRS is well-placed for inclusion in the Doors Open mandate, which seeks to profile buildings of “architectural, historic or cultural and/or social significance.”  MaRS is all three.

Architecture

In March of this year, The Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) awarded Adamson Associates its 2010 award for “representing the best in Ontario architectural design, innovation and business” when they designed the MaRS Centre.

This is one of many awards Adamson has racked up for the design of the our building. Based on the shell of the old Toronto General Hospital (TGH), Adamson was able to open up the main atrium and use giant sheets of glass to meld the grandeur of the old building with the modern feel of the new tenant space.

While tenants fought over the exposed-brick suites in the Heritage Tower, 400,000 square feet of additional space was added through the construction of the Toronto Medical Discovery Tower, on the eastern flank of the building. Adamson replaced a large portion of the steel frame with aluminum so magnetic fields wouldn’t disrupt the medical imaging machines.

Historical

Where MaRS stands today, the first hospital in Upper Canada was erected in 1829. Called the York General Hospital, it was actually a permanent version of a medical shack on the same spot that had been used since the War of 1812.  In 1913, the building was expanded to include the grand façade we see today.

The strong medical tradition at the TGH continued with the discovery of insulin in 1922 by Frederick Banting and Charles Best. Banting’s desk is currently on display in the MaRS Collaboration Centre just past the atrium.

In 1950, TGH was the site of the first successful use of an artificial pacemaker, then only two years later, the first kidney transplant (read more here). This strong tradition of innovation continues today with tenants exploring the cutting edges fields of proteomics, genomics and stem cell research (never mind the cleantech, IT/ICT and social innovations that come through our doors every day).

Culture

The science magazine Seed says it best with its tag line: “science is culture.” Although scientists are often portrayed as objective and detached from everyday life, the truth is that what they discover in the lab has a tremendous impact on how we live our lives. This simple fact is at the heart of MaRS’ philosophy to create a hub of innovation where research, business and policy coexist.

Carl Schramm, the President & CEO of the Kaufmann Foundation wrote recently that the recent economic crisis must force us to rethink our culture of economic growth: “While we operate in an ecosystem currently composed of entrepreneurs, universities, large companies and government, I believe it is likely that a new form of institution will emerge that will accelerate growth, most likely by being a boundary-crossing organization that will fuse resources with a new mission.”

MaRS is just such as building, with a remarkable history as a hub of innovation in Canada. Join us this weekend and see for yourself.

The latest on some of our clients' news

At MaRS, we work with hundreds of early-stage companies to help them grow their businesses. Sometimes, some of those companies do great things: they win awards, secure financing, enter into partnerships or get great media coverage. Entrepreneurs in Action is a monthly (for the time being, anyway) round-up of our clients’ successes. If you’re a MaRS clients with news to share, email it to us!

Here’s what our clients have been up to:

• The Province of Ontario announced its support of Morgan Solar Inc. Ontario’s contribution, through the Innovation Demonstration Fund, will help Morgan Solar refine its prototypes, demonstrate its technology to customers and investors and help create up to 20 jobs. Read more.

• NIMTech Inc. won the Gowlings Outstanding Product Achievement in Clean Technology Award at the 25th Annual CATAAlliance Innovation Awards. NIMTech was also one of two finalists for the TSX Award for Emerging Technology Leadership. Read more.

• Profound Medical Inc. won the prestigious 2010 Ontario Premier’s Catalyst Award for “Start-up Company with the Best Innovation”– an award that comes with a commitment from the provincial government of $200,000 to invest further in developing the opportunity (read more). After the win, Profound was featured in a Toronto Star article. On a completely separate note: Profound has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Nanomotion of Israel to increase co-operation on technological and commercial development. Read more.
• Student entrepreneur Vincent Cheung, founder of Shape Collage Inc., won the Up-Start Competition (the spring conclusion to CIBC presents Entrepreneurship 101). Cheung walked away with a $10,000 prize. Read more.
  
• Verold Inc. took home two big awards: the TiEQuest Business Venture Competition and the $7,500 elevator pitch prize at OCE Discovery 2010. Verold was also selected for the very competitive “48 hours in the Valley” mentoring program. Read more.

Congratulations Morgan Solar, NIMTech, Profound Medical, Shape Collage and Verold!

Winners of the 2010 Up-Start Competition

Last week, 11 entrepreneurs had the opportunity to pitch their business plans to a panel of judges in the fifth annual Up-Start Competition. Designed as a culmination of CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101, entrepreneurs had 10 minutes to pitch their ideas, vying for a $10,000 prize.

The winner was Shape Collage, an online photo-collage application that has experienced remarkable success in the past year with over 1.5 million downloads. Founder Vincent Cheung was also honoured last week as the Student Entrepreneur National Champion in the Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship Expo in Calgary.

Vincent Cheung of Shape Collage pitches

“I’m doing my PhD in computer engineering,” Cheung says in a Calgary Herald story. “I had no business background. It’s great to win and I learned a lot about the business side.” Much of that business experience Cheung learned at MaRS through the CIBC Presents Entrepreneurship 101 course and working closely with MaRS Advisors.

Although the limelight is currently shining on Shape Collage, every year the Up-Start Competition launches many other growing businesses.

Janet Markle, CEO of Groundswell Innovations, was recently awarded a grant from the Government of Ontario to continue her work in developing a web platform for companies to crowd-source scientific problems to eager grad students.

In March, Herman Lo from ViewsIQ received $5,000 from the YORKbiotech’s sanofi pasteur Healthcare and Biotechnology Venture Challenge for his system which maps out what a pathologist sees through a microscope in real-time.

The social venture Well of Change has been getting a lot of attention for their web platform where buyers can purchase services from volunteers (everything from knitting lessons to tree-trimming) with all the money going to charity.

One of the strengths of the Up-Start Competition is the wide range of businesses represented. Other highlights included:

• Daniel Bida’s plan to kick-start biogas co-ops in rural Canada through his company, ReGenerate Biogas;

• Gopal Valsan’s one-camera motion capture system, perfect for physiotherapy and gaming applications;

• Armour Therapeutics’ Josh Silvertown is in the process of developing a new class of drugs to slow the development of prostate cancer;

• United Farms Organic has developed a system to turn the nutrients from your compost scraps into fertilizer for your house-plants;

• James Standen’s data analysis software nModal seeks to fill a gap in the market between smaller programs like Excel and giant data crunching machines like Oracle.

• MyWebVine is a system for businesses to manage their referral programs;

• Reel Work is a web platform for students to explore career options by watching videos and looking at stats from real world workers.

Start on your business plans for next year – the way things are going, the competition is going to be fierce for Up-Start 2011.

How can social innovators adopt strategic tech?

When it comes to social and mobile technology, the question is no longer whether or not we should be using it, but rather, how can we adopt it in a strategic way?  And how can social innovators use it to create greater impact?

Net Change 2010, powered by MaRS, is week-long series of events launching June 7^th. It will explore the intersection between technology and social change. And the opportunities this intersection presents.

Monday through Wednesday, you can get dedicated training in online and mobile strategic communication. Thursday and Friday, challenge your thinking about how technology can be designed for positive social change in the future. Canadian and international digital media and technology experts will discuss the repercussions of speedy adoption of online technology along with critical observations about our current social context.

Over 2,000 people will attend the week’s events. How do you want to get involved?

1. Dynamic digital art show: Net Change will be an immersive experience with the help of digital art installations, with which participants can interact. Want to submit your work to be displayed at MaRS? Send us ideas!
2. Future lab: Three pre-selected project ideas will enter into the lab, where teams will have less than 48hrs to come up with game plans for how the ideas will be realized out in the world. Judges will pick the winning idea in front of a live audience. Do you have a wicked problem – or are you interested in solving one? Sign up here!
3. Roving reporters & Buzz builders: Net Change Agents will be capturing all the action through Live Tweeting, Blogging and with video cameras. Want to help us build the buzz? Let us know!
4. Digital Literacy Education: Last year, material captured at Net Change was re-purposed for TVO’s suite of digital literacy shorts.  We are committed to the ongoing use of our content for this purpose. Interested in our content? Be in touch!

You might just be interested in the all-star line-up of speakers, including:

• Professor Iqbal Quadir, founder of Grameenphone, is our distinguished keynote on Wednesday night for “Mobile Tech and the Global Threat Set”
• CBC’s Jesse Hirsh will moderate a discussion on Cybersecurity, featuring Dr. Ann Cavoukian, Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario and Ronald Deibert, Associate Professor of Political Science and Director of the Citizen Lab at UofT’s Munk Centre for International Studies
• Sounding off on the Future Panel: Dr. Gerri Sinclair, Director of BC’s Digital Media Centre, Dr. Lucy Bernholz, Founder and President of Blueprint Research and Design Inc., and John Thackara, Author of In The Bubble: Designing In A Complex World
• Don Tapscott, Author of Wikinomics, will discuss for the first time, his latest tome; MacroWikinomics
• Beth Kanter, named: “One of the most influential women in technology” by Fast Company Magazine, opens the My Charity Connects event

Whether you want to learn the skills and get the tools needed to build your own digital media strategy, hear from experts on how safe our information really is, or simply looking for networking opportunities in the social innovation space, there is something for everyone.  Don’t miss out!  Check the calendar here and register today!

You’re invited! Check out our digital short and pass it on!

Who comes to Net Change? This and other questions answered here.

Follow us on Twitter @Netchange and be in touch at info@netchangeweek.com.

Net Change 2010: You’re invited! from SiG @ MaRS on Vimeo.

News flash: It's time for a change

One of the most interesting developments in the Canadian media market we’ve seen in a while has just launched.  Toronto-based OpenFile announced they’re now open for business.

With many newspapers and news stations struggling for relevancy in this always-on world, the news industry has been the fodder of many articles, discussions and rants over the past 18 months.  Not surprisingly, traditional media outlets will have lots to say about these kinds of developments. One reporter’s reaction to OpenFile ran in the Globe and Mail over the weekend.
OpenFile is positioned as a collaborative newsroom–social media meets professional journalism – focusing on local news. It’s a newsroom that complements the current reality of news consumption in an increasingly digitally dominated world.  The team believes in participatory journalism (quite the term!) and no paywalls.  OpenFile gives you a reason to stick around and chat about news that means something to you with people who will seriously listen to you. Not only will you have a say in defining your own news, but you’ll also help collect and share that information.

OpenFile enables you to start a file about a local story you think is important. Professional journalists then begin reporting on your file upon approval from site editors. OpenFile readers can contribute to the conversation by submitting comments, links, photos and video to help tell the stories that affect the hundreds of neighborhoods that make up your city.

As a MaRS client, over the past eight months we’ve have had the pleasure of working with Wilf Dinnik, the Founding Editor and CEO of OpenFile. From our first meeting, Wilf’s knowledge, passion and energy has consistently come through.  It’s obvious that he’s been thinking about this new venture for some time, probably while he was on the road reporting internationally for ABC and CNN.

OpenFile meets consumers where they want to consume news.  So they’ve launched of a series of accounts on various social media sites. Check them out on Twitter or Facebook.   OpenFile is starting with Toronto but will be rapidly expanding to many other cities.

We look forward to working with OpenFile to see how it develops.  Their willingness to create something dramatically new instead of sitting back while their industry struggles is impressive.  While still in its early days, we just might see another major transformation in the local news industry happening right outside our window.

The giant colon: Raising awareness on a complex problem

In 1995, Barry Stein was handed a death sentence. Diagnosed with colorectal cancer that had spread to his liver and lungs, he was not expected to survive the decade. However, after nine surgeries and intensive rounds of drug treatment, for the last seven years, Stein has been given a clean bill of health.

As president of the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada (CCAC), Stein has turned his brush with death into a force for education, traveling the country spreading the message that colorectal cancer is “the only cancer that’s preventable.”

The hook Stein uses, however, is entirely unique: a 40-foot, inflatable colon that visitors walk through to get a sense for colorectal diseases. “The intention is to demystify the disease,” he says, “so we do it in a way that appeals to everybody.”

Indeed. The kids race through the Giant Colon listening to puppet doctor Dr. Preventino describe a healthy diet through flat-screen monitors, while older visitors are reminded of the importance of getting screened regularly.

The Giant Colon has traveled across Canada making pit stops at malls, hospitals and trade shows. Thousands of people have entered the colon, giving people a bizarre talking point to begin a serious conversation. “People are nervous talking about this,” says Stein. “We’re giving people the ability to start talking about it.”

The CCAC’s work doesn’t stop at the Giant Colon. They run the highly successful Cancer Coach program, which partners volunteers up with cancer victims who need support and advice.

They have also designed another campaign focused more on adults. “Get Your Butt Seen,” is a campaign that has appeared in subways in Toronto and Montreal.  Visitors go to the website and send pictures of bums to friends with a helpful reminder to get screened. “It’s pretty provocative,” says Stein, “but we need to get the message across. We’re a communications firm.”  Entrepreneurs working in the research should heed this advice; sharing the complex process of science with the public is difficult, yet integral to securing funding and raising awareness of your message.

As for the Giant Colon, you’ll be able to see it yourself this Saturday May 8 in the MaRS Atrium from 11 am to 4 pm in conjunction with city-wide science festival Science Rendezvous.  In addition, meet MaRS researchers and tour labs belonging to the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and the University Health Network. Bring your kids and let them experience the Giant Colon for themselves.

MaRS client wins award

The Intertraffic Innovation Awards are the traffic industry’s most important prizes—at the 20th annual Intertraffic Amsterdam conference on March 22-24, 2010, judges awarded the top prize to Skymeter Corp., a Canadian company, MaRS incubator tenant and client of MaRS advisory services. Skymeter received the ITS/Traffic Management Award and was recognized as the competition’s Overall Winner.

Skymeter’s innovative GNSS-based smart road use meter addresses and overcomes the issue of urban canyons and disseminates GPS data in a unique way, creating a system that is far more accurate than traditional GPS systems. Contest judges were impressed with the broad applications of Skymeter’s system: it’s GPS-based financial grade meter is designed for a variety of traffic-related applications, including road use charges, pay-as-you-drive insurance and parking.

MaRS client, Kalgene, sees some cash

Kalgene Diagnostics (a division of Kalgene Pharmaceuticals – a MaRS client company and incubator tenant) has just raised $500,ooo from the PARTEQ Venture Fund to develop novel diagnostic tests for cancer.  PARTEQ Venture Fund is a provincially sponsored investment fund set up by PARTEQ Innovations.  See the news release, “Four Kingston startup companies receive $1.6 million vote of confidence”.

According to Dr. Nathan Yoganathan (Kalgene CEO) the company raised a total of $1.5 million in 2009 from private investors – no mean feat in these challenging times.

Kalgene is an oncology company which develops cancer therapeutics and companion diagnostics with the goal of providing personalized treatments for cancer patients.  Kalgene’s lead therapeutic program is for bladder cancer (Phase III in EU).