Medical innovators in Atlantic Canada snag funding

HALIFAX – Startups play an important role in driving innovation, creating jobs and fostering economic growth and prosperity across Atlantic Canada. The Government of Canada recognizes this potential and is investing $4 million to help 10 companies led by diverse innovators seize new growth opportunities. Companies in tech and life sciences will streamline, scale-up, expand, and access new markets through the investments.

Nine of the projects received repayable funding through ACOA’s Regional Economic Growth through Innovation (REGI) program and one received non-repayable funding through the REGI Strategic Growth Initiative (SGI) stream.

Three of the companies are working in the field of health I.T and medical devices. They include:

• MIMOSA Diagnostics Inc., a medical technology company, which has developed a groundbreaking handheld tissue imaging device capable of detecting skin injuries before they are visible to the naked eye. This novel tool has the potential to significantly reduce the risk of wounds, infections, amputations, and even death in patients.

MIMOSA received $500,000 to expand its team and commercialize the US market, marking a significant step towards elevating the standard of care for tissue injury assessment and prevention.

“MIMOSA has grown, enabling us to rapidly expand manufacturing and deliver our product to the US market. Our clinicians are making a tangible difference in the lives of their patients, and we are proud to be contributing to a higher standard of care. This success has been made possible thanks to the support of ACOA,” said Dr. Karen Cross (pictured), CEO and co-founder, MIMOSA Diagnostics.

• UpBeing Inc. is a behavioural health data analytics and technology company. Its main product is a wellbeing tracking and insights application that helps individuals improve their health and wellbeing through research-backed, AI-driven guidance and through users’ existing social support and communities.

UpBeing received $494,000 to accelerate the development and commercialization of the Social Features component of the company’s consumer app. Social Features will offer users a deeper daily understanding of themselves by helping them understand how their loved ones and communities affect their wellbeing. By enhancing their wellbeing tracking and insights platform with social features, UpBeing is helping to combat loneliness and improve health outcomes.

“Through ACOA’s support, we have been able to accelerate the development of our social features, which has been critical to our growth. UpBeing’s prosocial wellbeing tracker is now released publicly and helps individuals across Canada engage with and support each other’s wellbeing, every day in a digital format,” said Samuel Daviau, CEO and co-founder, UpBeing.

• Swiftsure Innovations Inc.’ s CEO is a critical care nurse who developed a tool to simultaneously flush and suction the mouth, enabling an essential last step in oral care for patients on life support. The Halifax company’s disposable design enables nurses to elevate oral care for the most vulnerable patients by rinsing organic debris from the oral cavity, which wasn’t possible with previous tools.

Swiftsure received $324,750 to help launch its medical oral care device, coined SwishKit, into the United States. Swiftsure will use the investment to develop clinical literature, produce inventory for pilots with early adopters, and build high-performance teams.

“The financial support from ACOA has been instrumental in supporting our limited market release of the SwishKit in the United States. This funding has provided the financial means to collaborate with clinical champions, who are passionate about oral care due to its association with pneumonia reduction and improved patient outcomes,” said Deanne McCarthy, CEO, Swiftsure Innovations.