Our startups are revolutionizing healthcare with breakthrough innovations
Artificial intelligence
Harnessing AI, machine learning and computer vision to help healthcare providers make faster, more accurate decisions with the aim of delivering safer, more effective treatments.
Diagnostics
Advancing medical diagnosis, monitoring and treatment with breakthrough technologies that improve accuracy and patient outcomes.
Therapeutics
Accelerating the discovery and development of next-generation medicines that are safer and more effective than current options, as well as tailored to patient needs.
Women’s health
Breaking ground in disease prevention, diagnosis and treatment to close the gap in health outcomes for women.
Precision oncology
Developing highly personalized treatments based on genetics, lifestyle and environment to improve individual patient care.
Regenerative medicine
Pioneering discoveries that regenerate human cells, tissues and organs, reshaping the future of medicine.
MaRS Health sciences connects innovators with capital, industry expertise and networks, helping ventures scale faster and make global impact.
Being a part of MaRS as an early-stage biotech company has been crucial to NorthMiRs’ growth. Our primary mentor Rick has guided us in our product development and go-to-market strategy, which was necessary for us to change our mindset as we moved from an academic collaboration to a viable spin-out. We have also been able to take advantage of the extensive MaRS network for further networking and mentoring abilities. Other professional services such as pitch coaching and market analyses provided by MaRS has been instrumental in our fundraising thus far. We are glad to be part of the MaRS portfolio, as this support will continue to be valuable through all stages of our growth!
Samantha McWhirter
Co-founder and CEO, NorthMirs
How we help you grow
Here are the services and access MaRS provides for high-potential biotech, medtech or digital health companies:
- Expert advisory and support: One-on-one guidance from industry experts to navigate challenges and accelerate growth.
- Market intelligence: Access to specialized databases and insights to inform business strategy and market entry.
- State-of-the-art wet lab space: Wet lab facilities in the heart of Toronto’s Discovery District.
- Industry events and delegations: Exclusive access to biotech and health science networking events both local and international.
- Investor and capital connections: Introductions to venture capital, funding opportunities and strategic partners.
- Ecosystem access: Direct connections to hospitals, research institutions, investors and policy-makers.
- Talent and business support: Access to marketing, PR and HR and other specialized services to help businesses scale.
How we help you grow
What you get as an investor
Here are the services and access MaRS provides for biotech, medtech or digital health investors:
- Exclusive access to high-potential ventures: Connect with top biotech, medtech and digital health startups driving the future of healthcare innovation.
- Curated deal flow: Gain access to Canada’s most promising ventures, tailored to align with your unique investment thesis.
- Investment focused events and networking: Engage with other investors, founders and industry leaders through exclusive investment roundtables, pitch sessions and curated events.
- Strategic insights and market intelligence: Stay ahead with expert insights on emerging trends, sector opportunities and the evolving health innovation landscape.
What you get as an investor
Accelerate health innovation
Louise Pichette
Louise engages local and international communities to help the most promising Canadian Health Sciences startups achieve their greatest potential. Utilizing sector knowledge, the MaRS Health Sciences team builds investor forums, information, and capital relationships that bring value to ventures. Louise currently supports 300+ startups in the MaRS Health Sciences portfolio and broader health ecosystem. Previously, Louise led delivery of crowdsourced Innovation Challenges for MaRS including the MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge, the MaRS and CIBC Inclusive Design Challenge and the Spinal Cord Rehab Innovation Challenge. Louise holds an Honours BSc in Life Sciences, and a Master's degree in Innovation Management where she was valedictorian of her graduating class at U of T.
Misghana Kassa
Misghana works closely with ventures in the MaRS health portfolio, providing comprehensive operational support and connecting them to MaRS’ full range of services to help drive their growth and success. He collaborates with local and national community partners to identify and source new companies, while also working together on opportunities that create shared value. Misghana holds a BSc in Life Sciences and an MSc in Experimental Surgery, both from McGill University.
Richard Bozzato
Executive in Residence
Scale-up Experience: Head of Drug Development at Allelix Biopharmaceuticals
- Successful product development partnership with multinational Pharma
- Team member raising venture capital financing and eventual IPO
- Early-stage research through to clinical development
- Growth of drug development programs from 10 staff to over 200.
- Successful regulatory approval and marketing authorization
- Founder of Advanced Regenerative Medicine and Tissue Engineering Consortium - industry-academic partnership
- Integrated multi-site contract manufacturing and clinical development facilities
- Biotech strategic partnerships
- Therapeutics product development strategies
- VC interactions and financing
- Product licensing (in-/out)
Mayisha Sultana
Richard Li
Project Lead
Richard is a Senior Market Research Analyst focusing on Health start-ups. Richard holds a MSc. in Biotechnology from McGill University in Montreal and and has experience in academic research in human biology and preclinical drug development. Prior to joining MaRS Discovery District, Richard worked with MaRS Innovation, now known as TIAP, in assessing potential funding opportunities for drug development programs aimed at accelerating academic research discoveries and technologies from Toronto’s various biomedical research institutions.
Grace Suh
Supporting Analyst
Grace is a Junior Analyst part of the Market Intelligence team specializing in healthtech. Grace has a BSc in Genetics and BHSc in Health Sciences from Western University where she spent time focusing on computational life sciences in labs and as a thesis student. Prior to this role, she was the Startups Insights Coordinator on the MaRS Health Sciences Sector team. There she supported the team in driving high-quality connections between health tech ventures and VCs through data-driven analysis.