Indiegogo campaign raised $53,390 from over 500 worldwide donors
CTV National News featured WaveCheck’s crowdfunding campaign on December 15 in a report by Avis Favaro. The report included an interview with MaRS Innovation’s President and CEO, Dr. Raphael Hofstein (at the 1:37 mark).
William Tran, a researcher associated with the project at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, was also interviewed on Canada AM on December 16.
WaveCheck, which closed its campaign December 4, was invented by Dr. Gregory Czarnota of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and Prof. Michael C. Kolios of Ryerson University. WaveCheck uses ultrasound technology to show people with breast cancer if their chemotherapy is working within weeks.
While the Indiegogo campaign has concluded, Sunnybrook Foundation is now accepting donations flagged “WaveCheck” on behalf of the researchers through its website.
At campaign close, WaveCheck ranked in the top 0.005 per cent of health-related campaigns on Indiegogo, and was covered by CBC television and Metro Morning, the Toronto Star, Sing-Tao and MedCity News.
In October and November, WaveCheck was named to the Globe and Mail’s Top 10 Canadian crowdfunding list for funds raised on both lading crowdfunding platforms, Kickstarter and Indiegogo. It was the only campaign listed that was raising funds for medical research.
On December 11, Dr. Czarnota was interviewed by eMed, a blog for the entrepreneurs in the life sciences and digital health run by the Kauffman Foundation. The article highlighted the difficulty researchers encounter as they delve into entrepreneurship and why innovation hubs like MaRS Innovation are useful in fueling their success.
“Commercial developers can have a lot of reach in the healthcare space,” said Dr. Czarnota. “They have experience with different target markets, granting agencies and research teams. They can give access to other industry partners that can assist with funding, intellectual property regulations, software developers and more experienced organizations.”
In November, the WaveCheck team held a reception at Sunnybrook to recognize the artists who donated paintings as perks to campaign supporters.
In 2014, WaveCheck will be part of Bell Fibe TV’s “Crowded,” a documentary program showing an in-depth look at Toronto-based crowdfunding campaigns.
By Kailee Travis, writer and communications assistant.