OBIO Investment Summit Showcases Canada’s Booming Health Science Industry on the World Stage

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--OBIO^® (Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization) is proud to announce the success of the 2021 OBIO Investment Summit, February 9-10, 2021, which showcased the strength and opportunity in Canada’s health science industry.

The OBIO Investment Summit featured over 50 of Canada’s most promising innovative health science companies and more than 80 US and global venture capitalists and strategic investors who engaged through company presentations, 1:1 meetings, panel discussions and keynote presentations.

Since 2018, Canadian companies that have presented at the OBIO Investment Summit have raised more than $515M.

“The 2021 OBIO Investment Summit was a tremendous stage to demonstrate the depth of Canada’s health science industry,” said Gail Garland, President and CEO of OBIO. “The innovative Canadian health science companies that showcased their leading-edge technologies connected with global investors to do the deals that will create Canadian health science anchor companies and the integrated health science economy that Canada deserves.”

“As a healthcare start-up, opportunities to connect with global investors are essential. The 2021 OBIO Investment Summit organizers have done an outstanding job fostering these connections from their thoughtful pre-conference support to the ease of communication via the OBIO virtual platform,” said Wendy Naimark, PhD, CTO Ripple Therapeutics. “We look forward to continuing the conversations that began at the Summit.”

As part of the 2021 OBIO Investment Summit, the Early Technology Showcase featured the most promising science Canada’s leading research institutions and health organizations have to offer, including exciting early spin-out companies.

“For health care and research institutions like UHN, the Early Technology Showcase at the OBIO Investment Summit is an invaluable opportunity to get exposed to the kinds of strategic investors and VCs that will help these companies flourish as they commercialize their technologies,” said Mark Taylor, Director, UHN Technology Development and Commercialization, University Health Network. “Creating a healthier world relies to a great extent on getting successful products commercialized and we need to all be globally competitive to achieve this important patient mission.”

As the Canadian health science industry continues to experience a boom, local investors know the value that the OBIO Investment Summit brings in shining a spotlight on Canada.

“The OBIO Investment Summit is a great venue for a preselected group of Canadian life sciences companies to showcase their technologies and connect to a diverse group of global investors and potential partners,” said Jacki Jenuth, Partner, Lumira Ventures. “We look forward each year to connecting with entrepreneurs at the Summit, learning of the opportunity for their business and being able to share some of our experience and insight from 20+ years of building great life sciences companies.”

The 2021 OBIO Investment Summit is supported by our sponsors – Norton Rose Fulbright, Lumira Ventures, Innovative Medicines Canada, Prolucid, Merck and TMX – and Early Technology Showcase partners – AGE-WELL, BC Cancer, IRICoR, McMaster University Industry Liaison Office, Stem Cell Network, University Health Network (UHN), University of Ottawa, University of Waterloo Centre for Bioengineering and Biotechnology, and VIDO.

The Ontario Bioscience Innovation Organization (OBIO^®) founded in 2009, is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization engaged in strategy, programming, policy development and advocacy to further the commercialization of Ontario’s human health technologies positioning Ontario as a leader in the international marketplace. OBIO advances this goal through collaborative partnerships with industry, the investment community, academia, the health system and government.

For more information, please visit www.obio.ca and follow OBIO on Twitter @OBIOscience.