Are you the next Steve Jobs?
MaRS Innovation, the Toronto innovation hub helping entrepreneurs kick start their ideas
MaRS Innovation is a non-profit organization located in downtown Toronto and has created 60 companies and helped kick start 100 technologies. The organization was created in 2008 as a Centre of Excellence for Commercialization and Research (CECR) by the Networks of Centres of Excellence. The team at MaRS Innovation is comprised of 15 members from Toronto’s top Universities, institutions, research institutes, and the MaRS Discovery District. The members include; UHN, University of Toronto, Ryerson University, York University, CAMH, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sick Kids, St. Michael’s Hospital, MaRS, Mount Sinai Hospital, Holland and Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Baycrest Health Sciences, Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Women’s College Hospital, and Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute. Their portfolio is built from over 1,400 intellectual property disclosures from researchers and they receive over $1.47 billion in Canadian research funding each year. MaRS Innovation works with inventors and their teams to bring their ideas to the global market through partnerships, licensing or start up companies.
In order for your idea to be supported by MaRS Innovation it must be a technology emerging within or connected to their members. Their funding programs are only open to researchers, students, or other affiliated staff within MaRS Innovation’s membership. The UTEST Program is one of the funding opportunities MaRS Innovation offers. The University of Toronto’s Early Stage Technology Program is a part of U of T’s incubators and commercialization support services. They accept companies who are in the beginning stage of idea generation and offer startup funding, mentoring, business strategy and office space at MaRS Discovery District, as well as, $30,000 in startup funds. MaRS Innovation Industry Access Program (MI-IAP), is another funding program. They help researchers who have developed therapeutic, diagnostic, medical device or health IT related technologies affiliated with MaRS Innovation’s 15 members and find funding for early stage technologies. The technologies must be within the areas of interested chosen for each round of the program. Another program that is offered is the technology transfer and scouting department run by; Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, St. Michael’s Hospital, Women’s College Hospital, and York University.
MaRS is very unique in the way that they foster innovation and the programs they provide for entrepreneurs. This can be replicated elsewhere by focusing on a niche area of focus, as MaRS does with health sciences and technology. MaRS also works with a lot of partners within the industries they focus in which I think is important in order for entrepreneurs to gain that specific insight and expertise.
The best time to be an entrepreneur is now! Go out there and take risks