Three Western Canadian startups will get tens of thousands of dollars in investment, and at least six more will get smaller cheques, after pitching at Startup TNT's three sector-specific summits on March 23.
BioMimir, a regenerative medicine company that commercializes biomaterials to treat complex wounds, won the Life Sciences Investment Summit. The company is based in Sherbrooke, QC, but it also has a presence in Calgary.
"When I say I'm determined to do this, I mean it," said co-founder and CEO Fiona Simpson. "I want to see these products not just here in Calgary but all over the world in the next 10 years."
Two side deals were announced as well: one for Calgary's Qualisure Diagnostics, which helps oncologists personalize cancer treatment, and the other for Edmonton's Nanostics, which has developed a test for prostate cancer that it says is three times more accurate than the widely used PSA test.
Andrew MacIsaac, the CEO of Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation (API), told the crowd there was also investor interest in Alethea and Cohesic. "All is not said and done," he said during the live-streamed event at Platform Calgary.
The Cleantech Investment Summit, which was hosted at the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii), saw the big prize go to Calgary's Innervision Wellbore Technologies, with side deals announced for Litus and MissionNet.
The Life Sciences Investment Summit finale in Calgary was one of three sector summits put on simultaneously by Startup TNT on March 23, 2023. (API/Twitter)
"This investment will see us complete this project," said Tim Davies, chairman of Innervision, which helps clean up oil and gas wells by detecting cracks, perforations, and corrosion in underground wellbores.
Davies thanked Startup TNT's investors for their due diligence. "It was great to be scrutinized," he said. "You find out what's wrong with you … Criticism from seasoned investors is always welcome."
The first-ever Agtech Investment Summit, which took place in Regina, crowned FarmSimple, a Saskatchewan-based IoT company, with side deals announced for OneCup AI and Typha Co.
Stony Plain's Annelida Organics, which converts green waste into fertilizer via worms, was the only other Edmonton-area company to make the finals. It did not secure a deal. CEO Mike Launer said during his pitch that his company is working on a memorandum of understanding with Sacramento, CA, which has recently banned green waste from entering its landfill.
Next up for Startup TNT is Investment Summit VII. Applications are due April 17.