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The Communitech Fierce Founders Intensive Track welcomed 10 founders to its latest cohort. The program pairs founders with a lead growth coach who meets with them weekly to execute their personalized growth plans. If they need help with something outside their coach’s expertise, they can tap into Communitech's broader network of growth coaches.
PatientCompanion co-founder Christy Lee said her growth coach has helped her grow the startup and build a strong network.
“The fact that I’m part of the program, I think it gives me a lot of support in terms of being able to share my journey with other female founders, as well as mentorship and networking. It’s been amazing,” Lee said.
Communitech Fierce Founders is funded by the Federal Economic Development Agency of Southern Ontario, City of Kitchener, Google and the Province of Ontario.
No suits, no ties, just lederhosen. That was the vibe as Communitech Techtoberfest presented Investorhaus on Oct. 9, 2024, at The Walper Hotel in Downtown Kitchener. The annual event brings hundreds of founders and investors together for pitch competitions and Bavarian-inspired fun during Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest.
Investorhaus also featured a fireside chat and a panel discussion. The fireside chat featured Peter Vreeswyk, Chief Financial Officer, and Angelo Loberto, Chief Operating Officer at Magnet Forensics, discussing their experiences in scaling and preparing for an initial public offering (IPO).
The Women of Impact panel featured discussions on the fundraising landscape in Canada, moderated by Amber French, co-founder of Catalyst Ventures. The panellists included Ruth Casselman, CEO of the Accelerator Centre, Stephanie Porter, Deputy National Leader of Technology Consulting at EY, and Janet Bannister, Managing Partner at Staircase Ventures.
“During the pandemic, there was a real peak in fundraising and funds being deployed into technology companies for a few reasons, including the fact that tech adoption was accelerated due to COVID-19 and interest rates were low,” said Bannister. “While fundraising has been down significantly relative to those years, it’s actually been up since pre-COVID.”
In the latest episode of Tech About Town, KW Oktoberfest President Allan Cayenne and Ambassador Allie Steffler join us in the studio to discuss the festival's evolution, rich cultural heritage, and impact on the community.
Allan and Allie share insights into Oktoberfest traditions, their journeys into the festival and exciting new developments for this year's celebrations. They also dive into the best food to try, their favourite festival moments, and how the event brings people together. Whether you're a longtime festival-goer or a newcomer, this episode captures what makes Oktoberfest (and Techtoberfest) one of our favourite times of the year.
Grab a pretzel, raise a stein, and join us as we celebrate the spirit of Oktoberfest!
Shawn Mondoux’s journey from doctor to founder started with a simple question: “How do you really know if you’re good at what you do?”
Mondoux launched Prognostiq in 2021 to use electronic health record (EHR) data to offer clinicians valuable insights into their practices, optimize workflows, and improve health system profitability. In the same way that finance and retail businesses use data to track performance and customer satisfaction, Mondoux wants health care to adopt a data-driven approach to measuring patient outcomes.
“If you can, imagine we get millions of data points about physician practice every day and provide them with that data,” said Mondoux. “But we can also really try to spot trends across the entire population, which leads us to thinking about deeper applications of the technology.”
Prognostiq is one of eight medtech startups selected for the inaugural cohort of the Communitech MedTech Accelerator Program. Launched in September, this program supports founders as they revolutionize health care and scale their companies. Participants benefit from sessions with growth coaches, networking opportunities with health-care professionals and access to personalized action plans and resources.
MRI and CT scans are critical to helping physicians diagnose injuries, but they are expensive and bulky. AiimSense is working to change this with a portable scanning unit that could provide these lifesaving scans in ambulances and the field.
“It’s very exciting to work on something that is giving birth to a new imaging modality,” said CEO Atefeh (Ati) Zarabadi. “This technology can open up a promising future for brain health care by democratizing brain imaging.”
A portable imaging device could provide timely scans on-site, significantly reducing the risk of permanent brain damage, disability, or even death. Zarabadi also said this portable solution would be much more affordable—around one-twentieth the cost of a traditional MRI machine—making it accessible to a far greater number of hospitals.
“Taking this device from the lab to hospital and putting it in the hands of physicians and specialists, that is the driving force behind all the activities we are doing,” said Zarabadi. “It is very strong motivation.”
Kitchener-based Biomiq has partnered with the Canada-Ukraine Foundation to provide critical wound care support to Ukrainian hospitals by donating over 4,400 bottles of its PureCleanse STAT solution. Developed with biomimicry technology, this advanced wound cleanser utilizes hypochlorous acid to effectively kill pathogens without harming healthy tissue, making it ideal for treating severe injuries often resistant to antibiotics.
“The real need came from some of the challenges that have accelerated,” said Robert Fuller, co-founder and Managing Director of Biomiq. “We’ve been told by hospitals that they have a recurring problem with severe infections they can’t control. It’s become so serious that at some of the main hospitals with the worst cases, nurses are resigning with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) because they’re losing healthy young men.”
The donation comes at a critical time, as Ukrainian hospitals face an influx of patients with complex wounds exacerbated by limited resources. Biomiq's PureCleanse STAT is unique because it mimics the body's natural infection-fighting processes, making it an ideal choice for managing difficult-to-treat wounds.
“We understood the potential in what our product could do for patients,” said Ryan Hanes, Director of Product Marketing at Biomiq. “When we learned about the challenges faced by those wounded in Ukraine and their medical teams, we knew we had to act.”
Waterloo Region’s tech startups are leading innovation in manufacturing through substantial support from Next Generation Manufacturing Canada (NGen). Kitchener's KA Imaging and Waterloo’s ICSPI Corp. are part of 15 advanced projects with combined funding of $59 million to develop technologies crucial to sectors like electric vehicles (EV) and quantum computing.
KA Imaging is enhancing X-ray technology for quality control in EV battery production, while ICSPI is advancing atomic force microscopy to support quantum device metrology. These efforts are not only driving product innovation but also creating jobs in Canada’s high-tech manufacturing sector.
“It’s exciting to be part of this innovative project supported by NGen’s investment,” said Amol Karnick, CEO and President of KA Imaging. “Our imaging solutions combine high spatial resolution and detection efficiency with phase contrast technology, creating opportunities to support EV battery inspection for quality assurance.”
This edition of the Roundup was compiled by the Communitech News Team. Sign up to receive the Roundup each month by visiting communitech.ca/technews and scrolling to the bottom of the page.
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