Grand Challenges Canada, an organization funded by the Government of Canada that invests in global health companies, announced that it’s made investments in six Canadian health companies.
The investments, detailed individually below, total $5 million.
The six companies receiving investment include:
Arbutus Drill Cover (Vancouver, BC | $1 million ), a sterile cover that turns a hardware store drill into a surgery tool
KA Imaging Digital X-ray (Waterloo, ON | $1 million), a high-resolution, low-dose and affordable X-ray imager,
McMaster Flocked Swab (Hamilton, ON | $475,000), a new diagnostic approach that could fundamentally change the management of childhood diarrhea
Clearwater ShoeBOX (Ottawa, ON | $1 million), an iPad audiometer making hearing screening simpler
Wema & Queen’s (Kingston, ON | $500,000), mobile phone apps to help screen and detect women’s cancers
HIVSmart! (Montreal, QC | $1 million), a mobile phone app that enables self-diagnosis of HIV/AIDS.
“These bold ideas with big impact show how innovation can accelerate international development to save and improve the lives of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people,” said Dr. Peter A. Singer, CEO of Grand Challenges Canada. “Canadians are an innovative people – as these Canadian innovators demonstrate.”
At the same time, Grand Challenges Canada worked with the companies through its transition-to-scale program, which facilitates connections with private partners and public resources to secure additional funding. After each company went through the program, the total investment reached $10 million.
Since launching in 2010, Grand Challenges Canada has supported a pipeline of over 700 innovations in more than 80 countries, including 70 “transition-to-scale” investments.