The HealthTech Times: Ontario Budget Allocates Funding to HealthTech Procurement

The creation of the $12-million Health Technology Accelerator Fund by the Government of Ontario is a significant step towards leveraging innovative technology to enhance patient care. It's encouraging to see initiatives aimed at supporting health technology companies and facilitating their integration into the provincial healthcare system. This fund has the potential to drive impactful advancements in healthcare delivery and improve outcomes for patients across Ontario.

Neuralink's decision to accept patient applications from Canadians marks a significant expansion of its reach beyond the U.S. However, this move comes amidst scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers regarding the FDA's oversight of the company's human trials. To qualify for consideration, Canadian applicants must be at least 18 years old and have specific medical conditions such as quadriplegia, paraplegia, vision loss, hearing loss, the inability to speak, or major limb amputation.Dialogue Health Technologies, a virtual healthcare platform, has announced its acquisition of assets from Toronto-based digital parenting platform Koble Care.

While the financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed, the acquisition encompasses Koble's entire suite of proprietary content, related software, and intellectual property. As part of the acquisition, Swati Matta, the founder and CEO of Koble, will join Dialogue in the capacity of head of women's health. Koble's platform specializes in offering personalized guidance and support for birthing parents, partners, and support figures, providing tailored assistance for each trimester and postpartum period. This acquisition reflects Dialogue's strategic expansion into women's health services, further enhancing its position in the virtual healthcare market.

Pelago Health, a telehealth company backed by Y Combinator, has announced the successful closure of a $58 million Series C funding round. Led by co-founder and CEO Yusuf Sherwani, Pelago intends to utilize the funding to expand its user base, enhance its clinical research initiatives, and further develop its product offerings. This latest funding round underscores Pelago's commitment to leveraging cognitive behavioral therapy to assist individuals struggling with tobacco, alcohol, and opioid addictions.

Montreal's startup hub, Notman House, is up for sale, prompting local real estate investment and rental startup Guiker to express interest in purchasing it with the support of community investors. The initiative arises following the default on debts owed by the OSMO Foundation to the Business Development Bank of Canada and Investissement Québec, which originally provided grants to finance Notman House. Gabriel Sundaram, co-founder of Mission.dev, emphasized the urgency of the situation, highlighting their proposal as the sole opportunity to sustain Notman's mission.Andrew Holmes founded Sleep Efficiency almost ten years ago while working as the head of the Queensway Carleton Hospital’s sleep laboratory. The company focuses on providing home-based sleep apnea testing and analysis.

During the pandemic, Sleep Efficiency experienced significant revenue growth. Executive chairman Jason Flick, known for building You.i TV into a major software firm in Kanata before its acquisition by WarnerMedia for US$100 million, has since joined the Sleep Efficiency team.C100 has initiated a new program to assist the advancement of later-stage Canadian technology firms. The Growth Program aims to tackle obstacles encountered by rapidly expanding tech companies in Canada, including the shortage of risk-tolerant capital, the absence of senior talent capable of aiding global expansion, and the lack of personalized mentoring for scaling firm founders.Verily, the life sciences group owned by Alphabet, underwent staff layoffs this week as part of a restructuring within its molecular sciences division, according to reports from Business Insider.

Verily spokesperson Steven Cooper confirmed the cuts in an email to BI, specifying that the affected employees were involved in Verily's Immune Profiler project, which focuses on studying the human immune system to enhance disease management.While Cooper declined to disclose the exact number of employees impacted, one source familiar with the situation suggested that approximately 35-40 individuals were affected.

The Government of Québec is investing nearly $42 million in AgTech incubator Zone AgTech to establish an innovation centre in L’Assomption, a city approximately 50 kilometres northeast of Montréal.The new innovation centre will feature laboratories, technological workshops, conference rooms, and training facilities to support innovative companies in Québec, according to a statement from Zone AgTech. Additionally, the centre will house specialized infrastructure and equipment for research and development purposes, including growth chambers, wet labs, and drones.

The shift from home workouts during the pandemic to a return to gyms has impacted investors in fitness companies. Both public and private company valuations have declined, with decreased investment and uncertainty in forecasting fitness-related consumer spending. This trend is evident in startup funding, as global seed through growth-stage funding in the Crunchbase fitness category reached its lowest point in years in 2023.