Toronto Innovation Acceleration Partners

Spero Analytics is an IoT startup which builds and deploys wireless mesh networks specifically designed for continuous environmental monitoring in remote facilities and off-grid areas. Our sensor arrays can scale up to 100 nodes for a single gateway, cover hundreds of square kilometers, adapt to any type of structural or gas sensor, and require no telecommunications infrastructure to operate. Most importantly, they reduce the burden on maintenance staff as the network is configured to reorganize itself in case any single node goes offline and it can operate in extremely cold climates given the adaptive power savings features built into the system. Our core focus is on automated greenhouse gas monitoring in landfills, having installed sensor arrays at two waste management sites in Ontario. As part of our push to expand to other sectors, we are currently collaborating with Environment Canada to adapt our network to carry out passive greenhouse gas monitoring in petroleum facilities with the aim of producing accurate emission inventories and precise leak detection. We will also be undertaking a Proof-of-Concept project to assess our network's suitability for underground geotechnical hazard monitoring in potash mines. To-date, we have raised $210,000, secured 4 design partners, made sales to Environment Canada and a rainwater harvesting developer in Mexico, and intend on expanding the size of our team to aggressively pursue market entry. Our mission is to become the industry standard for environmental monitoring in remote areas with limited infrastructure.

PhenoTips is a computer software company based in Ontario, Canada, founded in 2014. It specializes in providing solutions for clinical genetics, phenotyping, and human phenotype ontology. The company offers software designed for clinical use that integrates seamlessly with existing electronic health records. PhenoTips' technology aims to enhance diagnostic accuracy and standardize phenotype recording, facilitating the application of genomic medicine in clinical decision-making and diagnosis.

Phenomic AI Inc. is a biotechnology company based in Toronto, Canada, founded in 2017. The company specializes in developing artificial intelligence solutions to enhance drug discovery and the creation of therapies for cancer. Its innovative platform utilizes AI, computer vision, and high-content screening to analyze phenotypes in complex disease models, such as high-content co-culture and three-dimensional assays. By focusing on the tumor stroma, Phenomic AI aims to optimize the discovery and development of new medicines, streamlining the process for pharmaceutical companies to identify potential drug candidates more effectively.

Phycus Biotechnologies Inc. is a Toronto-based company founded in 2017 that specializes in producing ingredients for the cosmetics and personal care industries, including bioglycolic acid and AHA ferment products. Additionally, the company operates a bio-conversion platform that focuses on capturing and converting carbon dioxide from large-scale emitters into valuable chemical building blocks. By employing microbial technology and metabolic engineering techniques, Phycus aims to provide sustainable alternatives for recycling carbon dioxide into fuels and chemicals. This innovative approach not only supports various industrial applications but also contributes to reducing the overall greenhouse gas footprint, aligning with environmental sustainability goals.

Notch Therapeutics Inc. is an immune cell therapy company focused on developing gene-edited allogenic T cell therapies for cancer treatment. Based in Toronto, Canada, the company utilizes a proprietary platform for induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology that allows for precision control of Notch signaling, which is essential for T cell development. This innovative approach addresses critical limitations in cell therapy development, enabling the design and manufacture of a consistent and limitless supply of therapeutic T cells. Notch Therapeutics aims to provide targeted treatments for conditions such as non-Hodgkin lymphoma, leukemia, and multiple myeloma, facilitating advancements in the treatment of complex disease systems. Established in 2018, the company is positioned at the forefront of next-generation cancer therapies.

Dalriada Therapeutics Inc. is a Canadian company based in Mississauga, established in 2016. It specializes in the development of novel small molecule inhibitors targeting various medical conditions, including oncology, pain modulation, and neurodegenerative and neuroinflammatory disorders. The company employs a TURN-KEY model that integrates research and development with business strategy and intellectual property management, thereby supporting global innovators in the pharmaceutical industry.

Fibrocor Therapeutics L.P. is a biotechnology company based in Toronto, Canada, established in 2017. The company specializes in the development of tissue-specific therapeutics aimed at addressing the underlying causes of fibrotic diseases affecting the kidneys and other organs. Fibrocor focuses on identifying and targeting critical pathways involved in the fibrogenic process, utilizing patient-derived tissue samples to uncover novel disease targets. The company has advanced a lead program and has partnered with Evotec to facilitate the development of innovative therapeutic molecules.

LegUp Computing Inc. is a Toronto-based company that develops a cloud platform enabling software developers to program, deploy, scale, and manage field-programmable gate array (FPGA) devices. Founded in 2015 by a team including Dr. Andrew Canis and Professor Jason Anderson, the platform originated from research at the University of Toronto and focuses on providing a novel programming model for threaded C/C++ software. This model allows for efficient processing of low-latency database, real-time analytics, and machine learning workloads by leveraging FPGA devices connected to high-bandwidth networks. LegUp Computing aims to facilitate the acceleration of high-performance applications, thereby enhancing the capabilities of developers working with cloud-based and embedded compute systems. The company operates as a subsidiary of Microchip Technology Incorporated.

Zucara Therapeutics Inc. is a biotechnology company based in Toronto, Canada, with an additional office in Vancouver. Founded in 2014, the company focuses on developing innovative therapeutics aimed at preventing hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, in patients with diabetes. Its lead pre-clinical technology targets somatostatin type 2 receptors in the pancreas, which are inadequately regulated in individuals with Type 1 diabetes. By blocking these receptors, Zucara's treatment aims to prevent hypoglycemia and restore natural glucose levels in the bloodstream. This approach represents a significant advancement over existing therapies, which typically only address hypoglycemia after it has occurred, rather than preventing it from happening in the first place.

Advances in medical science have introduced the era of personalized medicine for organs. XOR Labs Toronto is a pioneer in this field. We are changing the face of organ transplantation by exponentially increasing the number of donated lungs available for transplantation around the world.

Knitt Labs is a Toronto-based technology start-up that aims to address energy waste by transforming how power is utilized and managed. The company has developed innovative technology that leverages big data to optimize electricity consumption, helping clients reduce energy waste and save on costs. By integrating Internet of Things (IoT) devices, Knitt Labs enables users to gain better insights into their energy usage, ultimately redefining individual power management practices.

PhenoTips is a computer software company based in Ontario, Canada, founded in 2014. It specializes in providing solutions for clinical genetics, phenotyping, and human phenotype ontology. The company offers software designed for clinical use that integrates seamlessly with existing electronic health records. PhenoTips' technology aims to enhance diagnostic accuracy and standardize phenotype recording, facilitating the application of genomic medicine in clinical decision-making and diagnosis.

AmacaThera Inc. is a clinical-stage biotechnology company based in Toronto, Canada, established in 2016. The company focuses on developing and commercializing an injectable hydrogel technology designed to enhance drug delivery for various medical applications. This innovative platform aims to improve patient outcomes in areas such as post-surgical pain management, cancer treatment, and other challenging therapeutic targets. AmacaThera's technology features a fast-gelling material that transitions from a liquid to a gel under force, combining hyaluronan and methylcellulose. This unique formulation allows for localized and sustained drug delivery, ultimately assisting healthcare providers in effectively managing patients' pain following surgery.

WaveCheck — a painless, non-surgical clinical technique developed by a Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre oncologist and a Ryerson University physicist and supported by MaRS Innovation — is poised to transform chemotherapy response monitoring for women with breast cancer. WaveCheck combines traditional ultrasound with new software to detect responses to chemotherapy in breast cancer tissues. By making better, more accurate information available about a woman's response to her chemotherapy treatment in weeks, rather than months, WaveCheck creates greater transparency through dialogue between a women and her doctors, empowering her to participate in discussions about whether a given chemotherapy treatment is effective.

Ardra is a startup based on technology developed at the University of Toronto. Their technology uses model-guided metabolic engineering and synthetic biology to develop biocatalysts for the production of specialty chemicals from renewable resources. Their current target is the cosmetics industry, which uses $2.6 billion worth of petroleum chemicals in a variety of products.

Encycle Therapeutics is a Toronto-based biotech company exploiting a unique platform technology that enables the rapid synthesis of drug-like macrocycles or membrane-permeable nacellins. Nacellins have enormous potential to target intracellular protein-protein interactions, which are largely intractable to small molecule and biologic modulation, and can represent cheaper, oral equivalents to existing biologics (e.g., monoclonal antibodies). Encycle has collaborated with several pharmaceutical companies to complete a screening library of nacellins, many of which are cell-permeable and possess other drug-like properties. The company is also pursuing independent development of nacellins against integrin alpha-4-beta-7 (IBD) and SMURF2 (fibrosis); its lead program seeks to develop orally bioavailable inhibitors of integrin alpha-4-beta-7, which are safer and less immunogenic than marketed and investigational biologics targeting the same protein.

Vasomune Therapeutics is a private biotechnology company developing therapies to target diseases associated with blood vessel (vascular) dysfunction and destabilization. The inner most layer of blood vessels is made up of individual endothelial cells that regulate the passage of immune and inflammatory cells to a site of injury. In many different disease states, dysfunctional vasculature results in an exaggerated inflammatory response. Vascular dysfunction can lead to, or exacerbate many different diseases such as cardiovascular, renal, pulmonary and oncology. The company’s lead compound is Vasculotide, a Tie2 receptor agonist that has demonstrated positive therapeutic effect in many different diseases associated with vascular dysfunction. Vasomune Therapeutics, spun out of MaRS Innovation, Sunnybrook Hospital and Health Sciences Centre at the University of Toronto in 2012, is translating a strong foundation of academic science into clinical practice. Vasomune’s initial programs focus on targeting acute and chronic diseases of the kidney. The lead development program takes aim at treating Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), a significant unmet medical need. While several distinct clinical paths exist for the development of Vasculotide, the decision to pursue AKI is based on a strong, third-party validated preclinical data set and converging evidence that vascular dysfunction lies at the core of AKI.

WaveCheck — a painless, non-surgical clinical technique developed by a Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre oncologist and a Ryerson University physicist and supported by MaRS Innovation — is poised to transform chemotherapy response monitoring for women with breast cancer. WaveCheck combines traditional ultrasound with new software to detect responses to chemotherapy in breast cancer tissues. By making better, more accurate information available about a woman's response to her chemotherapy treatment in weeks, rather than months, WaveCheck creates greater transparency through dialogue between a women and her doctors, empowering her to participate in discussions about whether a given chemotherapy treatment is effective.

BlueDot Inc. is a data analytics company based in Toronto, Canada, specializing in infectious disease monitoring and response. Founded in 2008 and formerly known as BioDiaspora Inc., BlueDot employs a combination of artificial intelligence and human expertise to analyze over 190 infectious diseases worldwide. The company provides critical insights by integrating various datasets, including disease outbreaks, healthcare facilities, local mobility patterns, animal populations, and climate data. Its early warning system helps public and private organizations identify potential infectious disease threats, allowing them to respond effectively without overreacting or underreacting. By delivering comprehensive data analytics solutions, BlueDot aims to enhance global preparedness against infectious diseases.

Treata Smart Solutions is a company based in Toronto, Ontario, that specializes in caregiving technology for memory-impaired adults. Founded in 2012, it offers three innovative products: The Smart Lost Item Finder, The Smart Wandering Assistant, and The Smart Reminder. These devices leverage existing smartphone technology, enhanced with patent-pending hardware and software, to assist caregivers in monitoring the well-being of elderly individuals. The company's solutions aim to improve safety by providing real-time location information and alerts, ensuring that caregivers are promptly informed if a loved one with memory difficulties becomes lost or encounters any issues.

Crowdmark, Inc. is an education technology company based in Toronto, Canada, founded in 2012. It provides a web-based application that enhances the grading and assessment process for educators by bridging paper-based and digital formats. The platform is designed to facilitate both online and in-class assessments, allowing teachers to grade assignments more efficiently while offering constructive feedback to students. By leveraging artificial intelligence, Crowdmark aims to improve learning outcomes and redefine assessment as a constructive dialogue between educators and students. The service is utilized by instructors across various educational levels, including primary, secondary, and tertiary institutions, both in Canada and internationally. Additionally, Crowdmark's system generates valuable insights into grading and learning performance, contributing to an enhanced educational experience.

Kapplex Inc. is a Toronto-based company that designs, develops, manufactures, and markets point-of-care diagnostic platforms aimed at diagnosing common infectious diseases and cancer. Established in 2012, Kapplex specializes in providing instruments and consumables for use in retail clinics, doctors' offices, urgent care units, and emergency rooms. The company's innovative technology is built on a proprietary Digital Microfluidic (DMF) platform, which simplifies and automates traditional sample preparations and analyses on a single, cost-effective chip. This advancement allows clinicians to rapidly and accurately diagnose diseases during a patient's first visit, thereby improving treatment outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

Xagenic Inc., a Toronto, Canada-based molecular diagnostics company developing new technology for decentralized, rapid diagnostic testing, and a true point-of-care platform. Our aim is to enable on-demand, near-patient molecular testing, empowering clinicians in making treatment decisions for their patients at the time of the first consultation. This will dramatically improve patient care and reduce health care costs. Xagenic has adapted this technology to permit rapid, enzyme-free detection of nucleic acids from clinical samples. We are commercializing a simple and fully automated technology platform that will enable widespread decentralized diagnostic testing to be performed outside of clinical laboratories. Our team is developing infectious disease tests that will allow the detection of a variety of analytes in situations where rapid test turnaround will provide clinically actionable results.