MIX announces first cohort of MIX Knowledge Xchange funding recipients

Earlier this year the Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX) announced an innovative partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development called the MIX Knowledge Xchange (MIX-KX). The goal of the MIX-KX is to strengthen and grow talent for the provincial health innovation and MedTech ecosystem, build more successful domestic MedTech companies and ensure the talent, IP and solutions developed in Ontario can succeed while staying in Ontario.

MIX is pleased to announce that with the continued support of the Government of Ontario, it has awarded the first round of MIX-KX funding to three local medtech companies: Nicoya, Scispot and Tamvoes.

“Our government is on a mission to give workers the skills they need to find meaningful careers close to home and earn bigger paycheques for their families,” said Monte McNaughton, Minister of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. “This project will connect leading healthcare innovators with the skilled workers they need to grow their businesses and position Ontario as an industry leader for generations to come.”

Nicoya (www.nicoyalife.com), a Kitchener-based company with over 100 employees, designs and builds cutting-edge surface plasmon resonance technology, will receive up to $75,000 to deploy management and leadership training to its ever-growing emerging leaders and executives.

“The people at Nicoya are the main drivers of our growth and success, and we are always seeking new opportunities to invest back into their development,’ said Jeannie Barbu, Senior Director of People and Culture at Nicoya. “With professional advancement being a key priority across all levels of our organization, this training grant will enable us to elevate the managerial capabilities of our people managers, strengthen our internal skill set, and invest in individual contributors’ growth and development. We’re proud to be included in the first cohort of the MIX KX grant recipients and are grateful for the continued support provided by the MIX team.”

Scispot (www.scispot.com), an early-stage start-up also based in Kitchener is automating and digitizing lab processes to aid with productivity and resource management in the biotech industry have been awarded up to $15,000 to deploy advanced data analytics training to aid with product development, and also for skills development activities in investment strategies to help with employee and company growth.

“We’re thrilled to receive MIK-KX funding as it will allow us to invest more in upskilling our team and increase our product innovation, says Guru Singh, Founder & CEO of Scispot. “Scispot is continuously growing and has become a tech stack of many modern biotech companies across North America, and this funding can help us grow even faster.”

Tamvoes (www.tamvoes.com), also an early-stage start-up based in Waterloo, developed a health management platform for patients, caregivers and their care team will receive up to $25,000 to access blockchain, privacy and commercialization training across their growing team.

“We are so excited and grateful to receive MIX-KX funding. Tamvoes will be using this funding to complete knowledge exchange activities with industry experts so that we can be better prepared to be able to commercialize our product in the hospital sector. This is very exciting times for us as we are growing steadily and are seeing lots of traction,” says Jessica Lunshof, Co-Founder of Tamvoes.

“This important investment by the Province of Ontario helps to realize MIX’s vision of establishing Ontario as a world class destination for MedTech talent, product development and economic development” states Elliot Fung, MIX Executive Director. “Talent development and retention continues to be a challenge across all industries, however MedTech companies face unique issues in being able to develop and keep world-class employees. With the first cohort of companies beginning their training and development programs, more MedTech companies across the ecosystem will be able to advance their talent and product growth as a result of the Skills Development Fund.

MIX continues to accept applications for the MIX-KX until December 31st, 2022. Applications, and more information about MIX can be found at www.medicalinnovationxchange.com.

About the Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX)

MIX is Canada’s first industry-led hub dedicated to helping medical technology start-ups scale successfully in Canada. MIX was created to reduce the barriers and bridge the resource gap that medical technology start-ups face as they move from along the entrepreneurial journey from idea generation to commercialization. Our vision is a thriving ecosystem that develops, attracts and retains Canadian medical technology companies and establishes Waterloo Region as a leader in medical innovation. The mission behind MIX is to provide a collaborative environment for medical technology companies that supports their individual growth and adds to the overall success of the growing local ecosystem.