Launchit: A new way of fostering health-tech companies

HAMILTON, Ont. – Launchit Ventures, a new healthtech venture studio, announced today the start of a new model of bringing innovations from idea to the commercialization. Launchit Ventures, as a venture studio, helps entrepreneurs build a team, obtain funding and necessary licenses, and will help arrange pilots and tests.

“The venture studio model is different than a traditional accelerator,” said Launchit Ventures CEO Jamie Harsevoort (pictured), who previously founded Webility Solutions Inc. and Lumedi Inc. “Most accelerators subsidize a young entrepreneur to assist them in building a new business; a venture studio will often build the entire business on behalf of a partner.”

He added, “It is designed to be more attractive to senior healthcare people who do not want to leave their established careers – or at least don’t want to leave until the venture has proven to be successful. We will partner with these individuals, and generally we will do most or all of the work to create the new business. We believe this model has far less risk than traditional VC methods.”

Harsevoort said the Launchit Ventures team and its partners bridge the gap between a founder with an idea and the actual reality of getting a healthtech startup product or service into the market.

“The world needs big, audacious solutions, and technology entrepreneurs are leading the way in advancing equitable, sustainable, and meaningful change. For the healthtech sector, this means a new era of thinking about innovation and commercial opportunities that make great ideas come to life,” said Harsevoort.

“As a healthtech founder, I saw firsthand the challenges of creating and growing a new business in the healthcare space,” he asserted. “You can’t build these companies alone, and we will save entrepreneurs years of execution challenges by helping them navigate through critical technical, regulatory, legal, procurement, and funding issues. Especially now, when travel restrictions make it difficult to network, having access to critical partners and experts is immensely valuable.”

Harsevoort said that venture studios have seen a lot of success in the US, but there are not a lot established yet in Canada, and none that are specific to healthtech companies. “We will be investing into multiple new startups as quickly as possible.”

Interested partners can now apply to have Launchit Ventures validate their business idea, fund the development of the product or service, and bring it to market. Launchit Ventures’ intent is to co-found the new business with the selected partners. More information can be found at https://launchitventures.com/