, , and participate in programs made possible with support from the Government of Canada to Queen鈥檚 University through the and the
For four Kingston-area startups, a (virtual) voyage to Boston is opening doors.
Creating a startup from scratch is tough. But so is growing one. This is especially true in a smaller centre, even one like Kingston that boasts a fairly developed innovation ecosystem. There comes a time when the fledgling company needs not to relocate, but to start looking beyond its local community or region to seek out advisors and potential partners, to tap into more money than it can raise locally.
For companies involved in the healthcare sector, that tends to lead them to Boston, Massachusetts. Thanks to the presence of major academic institutions such as MIT and Harvard, and numerous spin-offs from them, the city has become the world leader in the biotech sector. To help develop our own high-tech sector, the federal government has created the Canadian Technology Accelerators (CTA), located globally in areas identified as hotspots of innovations and developments such as San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong -- and Boston.
In the last few years, Queen鈥檚 Partnerships and Innovation (QPI) has been developing a relationship with the . This year in March, for the first time, four young Kingston tech companies that are part of Queen鈥檚 innovation ecosystem got the chance to gain some first-hand exposure (if only virtually) to the Boston entrepreneurial ecosystem and what it has to offer to startups through the CTA鈥檚 Market Testing Lab.
All four are active in the healthcare sector, which makes them a good fit for Boston. Nurenyx is pioneering an exciting AI-powered software platform that will help researchers to conduct decentralized clinical trials efficiently. Primarily involved with distributed computing, which allows people to harness their idle computing power in a way that gives them the power of the cloud for research but cheaply and more securely, Kings Distributed Systems is currently developing an AI-based system that will allow hospitals to better schedule surgeries. WaiveTheWait has created software that helps clinics provide patients with accurate wait times while reducing no-shows and controlling patient flow in their waiting rooms. Spectra Plasmonics has developed a portable drug analyzer that can detect trace amounts of chemicals, useful to police forces and on-site injection facilities.
As its name suggests, the idea behind the Market Testing Lab 鈥 is just that, a test, a way to dip a toe in the Boston waters, so to speak. Serban Georgescu, the Canadian Trade Commissioner who oversees the Lab program (although he is quick to share credit with the other Canadian Trade Commissioners in Boston), says the idea is to take these early-stage companies, 鈥渙nes that have an innovative technology and some proof of concept,鈥 and guide them on taking the first steps in making the connections that will help them later on. Some companies, he says, may discover that Boston isn鈥檛 a fit for them. That鈥檚 fine; they鈥檝e still learned something.
The week-long process involved a mixture of online seminars and one-to-one virtual mentoring that covers the fundamentals of doing business in Boston鈥檚 competitive environment. Local entrepreneur Bobbie Carlton provided participants with a virtual guided tour of the Boston innovation ecosystem, and the opportunities there. 鈥淏asically, why Boston is right for health-tech startups,鈥 says Salman Sohani, co-founder of WaiveTheWait. Participants were also lucky enough to have a two-part seminar with business professor and serial entrepreneur Kent Summers, who has created or had a hand in four successful startups in the Boston area. Summers teaches a similar business-to-business sales course for startups at MIT and knows what it takes for a startup to sell in the Boston area. 鈥淚鈥檝e been to a few sales workshops over the years,鈥 says Malcolm Eade of Spectra Plasmonics, 鈥渁nd quite frankly this was the best I have ever attended.鈥 鈥淚t was full of tidbits of gold,鈥 says Dan Desjardins of Kings Distributed Systems. 鈥淚t just made so much sense.鈥 To help them further on their scale-up journey, participants also worked individually with pitch coach Linda Plano, who has helped numerous startups (including many from Canada) to raise more than $1.3 billion in funds. While they worked together virtually, Plano reviewed and revamped their pitches, changing the focus, poring over their PowerPoint shows, dropping slides even creating new ones as they worked together. 鈥淥ver the course of three-four hours, she just completely reconstructed ours from the ground up,鈥 says Eade, 鈥淚t was really, really useful.鈥 John Okello of Nurenyx is equally enthusiastic. 鈥淪he鈥檚 a pro.鈥
Thanks to the connections the Canadian Trade Commissioners have developed over the years with the local entrepreneurial community, the Boston CTA also connects the fledgling companies in the Market Testing Lab program to people in their large pool of mentors who can give them advice and help them open doors. 鈥淲e have close to 100,鈥 says Georgescu. 鈥淭he vast majority are Canadian ex-pats. They鈥檙e successful serial entrepreneurs, investors, researchers who volunteer their time and their expertise鈥 to help Canadian startups break into the Boston market. With any luck, the participants develop relationships with mentors who understand their business that will endure after the end of the Lab.
The connections are already paying off. Nurenyx has been paired with Laurie Halloran of Halloran Consulting Group. 鈥淪he is excited to be mentoring us, says Okello, 鈥渁nd she has already made some valuable introductions.鈥 Spectra Plasmonics connected with Colin Brenan, a Boston-based, Canadian life-sciences entrepreneur. 鈥淗e has a lot of entrepreneurial experience in the biotech industry and also comes with an investor lens because he was an angel investor as well,鈥 says Eade. Brenan has asked to be kept in the loop about any of their future developments.
鈥淭his was our first experience with Queen鈥檚, and we feel it was successful,鈥 says Georgescu. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what we heard from the companies and the university, and we鈥檇 like to continue the relationship.鈥 Ultimately, he says, maybe these young companies will progress to the point where they can join the CTA鈥檚 global business development program, a six-month accelerator program that gives startups in-depth exposure to the Boston market.
鈥淔or our side,鈥 says Shreyansh Anand, co-founder of WaiveTheWait, 鈥淚t was a fantastic trip. Even if it was virtual.鈥