The Ontario government is supporting investments of more than $10 million by two Ontario companies with $5 million through the Ontario Together Fund.
These projects will help to grow local manufacturing capacity, accelerate the commercialization of domestic life sciences innovations, and strengthen the province’s pandemic preparedness while creating 22 new, local jobs.
“The Ontario Together Fund is helping Ontario businesses to fully develop their ideas and innovate in our diverse life sciences sector,” said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade.
“Our government is proud to partner with companies like Conavi Medical and ventureLAB as they help make Ontario the home for next-generation medical technologies.”
Conavi Medical is a Toronto-based medical device company that develops, manufactures, and sells innovative imaging guidance technologies to guide common minimally invasive heart procedures.
Its flagship product, the Novasight Hybrid System, is the first and only clinical device available on the market to combine ultrasound and optical imaging to help physicians visualize disease and deploy stents to open the arteries and restore blood flow to the heart.
The company, founded in 2007 by a team of physicians and scientists, is investing $6.7 million to make substantial enhancements to its existing facility and implement state-of-the-art IT systems. With these enhancements, Conavi Medical will scale up their manufacturing by at least tenfold to meet current sales commitments and forecasted future demand. With a $2.5 million grant from the Ontario government, this project is expected to create 16 new jobs.
ventureLAB, located in Markham, is a not-for-profit leading global founder community for hardware technology and enterprise software companies in Canada, enabling technology startups to accelerate the commercialization of transformational products on a global scale. The organization offers a combination of business, investment, and technical expertise, connections to a global network of industry partners, and access to their 50,000 square foot innovation space and world-class lab to drive innovations from prototype to product.
ventureLAB is investing $3.3 million to expand its Hardware Catalyst Initiative (HCI) – Canada’s only hardware and semiconductor-focused lab and incubator. With a grant of $2.5 million through the Ontario Together Fund, the company will create a medical technologies stream of the HCI. ventureLAB will invite innovative MedTech companies to use the services of the HCI to accelerate the commercialization of their products in Ontario.
“The Ontario government’s investment into ventureLAB’s Hardware Catalyst Initiative to create a MedTech-specific stream signifies the growing importance of hardware and semiconductors in the future of healthcare and life sciences, critical sectors for our economic recovery and growth by creating a new generation of IP-rich tech companies,” said Melissa Chee, President and CEO, ventureLAB.
“I have witnessed the incredible work they do on site in their Markham facility, from revolutionizing patient-care with new intelligent innovations to the development of new Markham-made healthcare hardware,” MPP Logan Kanapathi said. “ventureLAB will continue to pave the way for better healthcare across Ontario, Canada and the world with this $5 million investment from the Province of Ontario to best strengthen our province’s pandemic supply chain.”
These investments in Conavi Medical and ventureLAB align with the province’s recently announced Life Sciences Strategy, its plan to make Ontario a global hub for biomanufacturing and life sciences and improve our preparedness for future challenges.
Photo: “ventureLAB will continue to pave the way for better healthcare across Ontario, Canada and the world with this $5 million investment from the Province of Ontario to best strengthen our province’s pandemic supply chain,” MPP Logan Kanapathi said.
