A screenshot of Crowdmark’s two-stage exam interface.
TORONTO, Oct. 21, 2015 – Working with five leading universities in North America during 2014-15, Crowdmark Inc., a collaborative online grading and analytics platform, has demonstrated the benefits and advantages of using two-stage examinations in a number of undergraduate programs in post-secondary institutions across the world.
Crowdmark has worked with universities to introduce two-stage exams as a way to integrate collaborative learning and assessment into the traditional exam format. In a two-stage exam, students individually complete the exam and then, working in groups of three to four, immediately complete the exam again. This method provides students with immediate feedback through discussion with their peers as they deliberate the most correct response. The two-stage exam provides feedback on individual performance while increasing students’ engagement and comprehension of course content.
James Colliander, Crowdmark Founder/CEO and Professor of Mathematics at the University of British Columbia is encouraged by the reception two-stage exams have received at universities in North America.
“The experiments with two-stage exams last spring were very informative and helped shape our platform to support a new and emerging assessment scenario,” says Colliander. “Also with feedback from our customers, we made elegant improvements allowing Crowdmark to be used for other assessment types including lab reports and group projects.”
Win a pair of Generator tickets or a signed copy of a Hadfield book!
Today, MaRS Innovation’s launching our new WordPress website, built with feedback and input from our community (thanks to all who took the web survey back in June and please be patient with us as we make tweaks and adjustments this week).
We’re excited because our website is where we talk about our role in advancing Toronto’s innovation ecosystem. We share news from our portfolio of companies and technologies, which are all built on the world-class research happening across the Toronto innovation community that we represent:
Three universities: U of T, York and Ryerson
Nine research-driven teaching hospitals: Baycrest, CAMH, Holland Bloorview, Mount Sinai, SickKids, St. Michael’s, Sunnybrook, UHN and Women’s College
Two specialized research institutes: Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and Thunder Bay Regional Research Institute
Our sister organization: MaRS Discovery District
Enter the Generator Contest
Col. Chris Hadfield was the first Canadian to command the International Space Station.
To celebrate the web launch, we’ve partnered with Chris Hadfield’s Generator series.
Hosted by Commander Chris Hadfield, Generator is a science-based variety show that blends knowledge, perception, music and comedy.
The event takes place at Massey Hall on October 28, 2015 and MaRS Innovation is pleased to be among its sponsors.
TORONTO, ON (September 30, 2015) — Encycle Therapeutics, Inc., a University of Toronto spin-off company created in partnership with MaRS Innovation, announced today that it has completed a $2.85 million (CAD) financing led by Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd. through its venture capital arm, Takeda Ventures, Inc., with Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator, BDC Capital and MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund.
The funding will support ongoing development of Encycle’s unique nacellin platform chemistry and advance the company’s pipeline of novel therapeutics. It will also allow the company to build on research collaborations with several pharmaceutical companies and ultimately position it for a series A transaction and/or additional strategic partnerships.
“Our proprietary chemistry has the potential to unlock myriad therapeutic avenues, including via intracellular protein-protein interactions that cannot be targeted with conventional therapeutics,” said Dr. Jeffrey Coull, president and CEO of Encycle Therapeutics; upon the closing, Coull joined Encycle’s board of directions. “This funding is critical to enable the company to further explore the vast potential of our technology and to de-risk it to the extent that major transactions will be enabled.”
“Our goal is to make an impact on patients’ lives by turning science and technology into life-changing medicines. We are enthusiastic about Encycle’s technology and its potential in the context of ‘undruggable’ proteins,” said Dr. Ilan Zipkin, senior investment director at Takeda.
“Encycle’s growing momentum reflects MaRS Innovation’s efforts to shift the Canadian paradigm for technology transfer,” said Dr. Raphael Hofstein, chairman of the Encycle Therapeutics Board of Directors and president and CEO of MaRS Innovation. “This company began with promising research in Dr. Andrei Yudin’s laboratory at the University of Toronto. With crucial support from many players along the Ontario-Quebec life sciences corridor, MaRS Innovation collaborated with him to package and protect the technology, launch the company and hire experienced management. The success of this funding round bodes well for its future growth and success.”
Company plans future sports applications for tennis and golf for its Motion Marketplace
Swish by Onyx Motion “takes advantage of motion sensors to provide accurate tips and feedback to improve play,” wrote Robert Liwanag in “App for smartwatches helps users become better basketball players” for the Financial Post‘s “Entrepreneur” section on September 28, 2015.
“Using it is simple — you turn it on, press calibrate and lift your arms and hands as you would to shoot a basket,” wrote Liwanag. “The objective is to bring the circle hovering inside the target on the watch’s screen to go green. When it does, the user is in the right starting position and has the ability to achieve consistency shot after shot.”
Onyx Motion is a graduate of the UTEST program‘s third cohort (and is currently based in Ryerson’s Digital Media Zone). Their basketball app, which is scheduled to launch in November after a successful Indiegogo campaign, is the first of several sports-focused products planned by CEO Marissa Wu.
TORONTO and SAN DIEGO (September 25, 2015) —Triphase Accelerator Corporation, a private drug development company dedicated to advancing novel compounds through Phase 2 proof-of-concept, today announced that it has received approval from Health Canada to initiate its Phase 1 clinical study of marizomib in combination with bevacizumab (Avastin®) in patients with recurrent malignant glioma in Canada. Marizomib is a novel and highly potent proteasome inhibitor that readily penetrates the blood brain barrier. It prevents the breakdown of proteins involved in signal transduction, which inhibits tumor growth.
The study will be conducted in Canada at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto and led by principal investigator Warren Mason, M.D., medical director of the Brain Tumour Centre and Kirchmann Family Chair in Neuro-oncology Research at Princess Margaret Hospital.
“Malignant gliomas are rarely curable, and the prognosis for patients with high-grade gliomas is generally poor. One of the few treatment options currently available for recurrent gliomas is bevacizumab. As a result, new treatment options are urgently needed for patients suffering from this universally fatal disease,” said Dr. Mason. “Published literature indicates that targeting the proteasome in glioma cells has shown significant anti-tumor activity. Given that marizomib is a first-in-class pan-proteasome inhibitor that is brain penetrant, I am looking forward to evaluating this combination regimen in my patients.”
Prima IP co-sponsoring the Ryerson University and St. Michael’s Hospital event
When your business demands staying current with the newest inventions springing up across 15 academic members, keeping pace with what’s happening is half the challenge.
That’s part of the reason why MaRS Innovation andPrima IP are sponsoring winners of an Angels’ Den competition involving the Institute for Biomedical Engineering, Science and Technology (iBEST).
iBEST is a partnership between Ryerson University and St. Michael’s Hospital that brings together Ryerson’s engineering and science strengths with St. Michael’s biomedical research and clinical expertise. The contest, which took place on June 26, 2015, riffs on the popular Dragon’s Den format.
“As a guest judge for the iBEST trainee competition this year, I reviewed a lot of thought-provoking ideas and MaRS Innovation congratulates all of the 2015 award winners,” says Dr. Fazila Seker, director of physical sciences. “Many of our portfolio technologies have their origins in this type of collaboration between researchers and medical staff, which is why we’re so excited to sponsor this competition. Fostering these types of relationships is vital to Toronto’s commercialization ecosystem.”
For the 2015 award period, MaRS Innovation will provide the competition’s winners with upfront commercialization consultation services to help shorten the time it may take for their ideas to reach the market. These services will be offered in collaboration with the technology transfer offices within St. Michael’s Hospital and the Vice-President of Research and Innovation office at Ryerson University as appropriate. In partnership with Prima IP, MaRS Innovation will also cover the initial patent application preparation and filing for the top two awardees of the iBEST event. Future award winners will receive similar support.
“Canada’s future economy depends on programs that encourage and facilitate innovation allowing Canada to remain competitive in the global marketplace and attract foreign investment,” said Marcelo König Sarkis, principal, founder and senior patent agent at Prima IP. “We are passionate in our support for Canadian inventions from the initial research phase to start-up and beyond.”
Companies to collaborate on creating enhanced personalized mobile experiences for TD customers
TORONTO, Sept. 16, 2015 — TD Bank Group and Flybits today announced an exclusive agreement within the Canadian financial services industry to collaborate on providing TD customers with more personalized mobile banking experiences.
The Flybits cloud-based software program transforms mobile apps to deliver rich, contextual experiences to each user, including personalized financial advice—where and when they need it.
Flybits is a Ryerson University start-up created in partnership with MaRS Innovation. Read more about their growth and development in our news archive.
“A key focus for TD’s digital roadmap is to create more intuitive, personalized experiences that make customers’ lives simpler,” said Rizwan Khalfan, senior vice president and chief digital officer, TD. “Our agreement with Flybits is another example of TD demonstrating its commitment to enriching customers’ lives through innovation. We’re elevating our customer-centric approach by bringing in-the-moment experiences to each individual depending on their situation and needs.”
Dr. Raphael Hofstein, president & CEO, MaRS Innovation.
MaRS Innovation’s “model solves the two weakest points in tech transfer: the lack of dealflow and the ability to match public funding,” writes Thierry Heles in, “MaRS Innovation: A Unique Model for Tech Transfer,” for Global University Venturing.
The article, which includes an interview with Dr. Rafi Hofstein, president and CEO of MaRS Innovation, was published September 14, 2015.
Here’s an excerpt exploring the range of MI’s portfolio and Hofstein’s strategy for addressing technologies emerging in new areas:
In the beginning, Mars received primarily discoveries in the medical sector, but the balance has since shifted to 60% medically-oriented research and 40% for other areas. The medically-oriented discoveries, Hofstein elaborated, are a diverse set of technologies and include everything from drug development and molecular diagnostics to medical devices and healthcare IT.
The remaining 40% meanwhile cover “a smörgåsbord all the way from alternative energies and solar energy, and water reclamation to all sorts of mobile apps”.
Partners for JLABS @ Toronto include Janssen Inc., MaRS Innovation and seven of MI’s 15 member institutions
Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure Brad Duguid announces the arrival of JLABS @ Toronto in the MaRS Discovery District. First row, left to right: Chris Halyk, president of Janssen Inc.; Melinda Richter, head of JLABS, Johnson & Johnson; Dr. Meric Gertler, president, University of Toronto; Minister Duguid; Dr. Ilse Treuricht, CEO MaRS Discovery District; Dr. Raphael (Rafi) Hofstein, president and CEO MaRS Innovation, and Robert Urban, head of Johnson & Johnson Innovation Boston. Second row: Dr. Robert Howard, president and CEO St. Michael’s Hospital; Dr. Catherine Zahn, president and CEO CAMH; Dr. Barry McLellan, president and CEO Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre; Dr. Peter Pisters, president & CEO University Health Network; Dr. Jim Woddgett, director of research, Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital; and Dr. Michael Apkon, president and CEO, The Hospital for Sick Children.
TORONTO, Sept. 8, 2015 — The Ontario Government, University of Toronto, and MaRS Discovery District (MaRS) today announced a collaboration with Janssen Inc. to launch the successful Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS incubator model in Toronto.
The new facility, called JLABS @ Toronto, will open in spring of 2016 at MaRS Discovery District and will support start-ups with lab space, programs, and potential investment partners as they work to build important, successful early-stage companies.
“The arrival of the Johnson & Johnson Innovation, JLABS model to MaRS’ West Tower reinforces Ontario’s position as one of the world’s leading life sciences clusters,” said Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development, Employment and Infrastructure. “JLABS @ Toronto will support researchers and entrepreneurs across the province and accelerate the development of Ontario companies while connecting Toronto to potential Johnson & Johnson collaborators and investors.”
“Research and innovation are fundamental to the mission of the University of Toronto,” said Dr. Meric S. Gertler, President, University of Toronto. “We host a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem featuring nine campus-led accelerators under the umbrella of our Banting & Best Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The addition of JLABS to this ecosystem will further propel the creation of new companies and new jobs, and ultimately new healthcare solutions that will benefit individuals and our society for years to come.”
“Toronto is home to a vibrant and prolific healthcare and life sciences community led by academic hospitals, world-class research institutions, top scientists, and a strong start-up ecosystem. For these reasons, Toronto is a natural choice for our first international expansion of JLABS,” said Melinda Richter, Head of JLABS. “The Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies has long been active within the Toronto Ontario community, forming many important collaborations. Today we are pleased to begin an even deeper relationship with this important community. Our new location, within a University of Toronto site, close to our hospital collaborators, and neighbouring the financial centre of Canada, will deliver great opportunities and impact for emerging biomedical technology entrepreneurs.”
“Over the past few weeks, a few members of our investment team took the seopportunity to map out FinTech companies from coast-to-coast, focusing on those that are developing next generation technologies or technology enabled services,” wrote the OMERS Venture team in a blog post accompanying a new #fintech infographic that lists 89 Canadian businesses operating in the financial start-up sector.
Nvest, part of the third UTEST cohort, in included in the graphic (see below). The infographic’s release was also covered in BetaKit in a story by Doug Soltys noting the sector’s growth in just six months:
What a difference six months makes. Today, Canadian VC giant OMERS Ventures released a similar infographic, tracking 89 different Canadian FinTech startups from Vancouver to St. John’s, essentially a 40 per cent increase. OMERS also noted that these 89 companies have attracted over $1 billion in capital since 2010.
Here’s where OMERS Ventures’ take on where the sector going:
