IDEATE is supported by a $2.1 million investment from PrairiesCan.
A new Alberta program aims to connect health tech startups, founders and technology developers with early adopters and investors.
Alberta Innovates’ Innovative Digital Engagement and Technology Assessment (IDEATE) is a digital platform aimed at enabling health tech startup founders and inventors to learn about their future target markets and ultimately de-risk and secure early stage investment. IDEATE has a special focus on digital health technologies such as mobile applications and wearables.
The program is supported by a $4.25 million investment from Alberta Innovation and Prairie Economic Development (PrairiesCan), the federal government’s prairie region development agency, which contributed $2.1 million.
To register as an “innovator” on the platform, founders, developers and entrepreneurs register on the IDEATE website and then connect with an Alberta Innovates program manager who checks whether the applicant’s technology meets the platform’s ethical and technical requirements. Innovators can then create a customized product page that can be viewed by investors and evaluators.
IDEATE also allows the public to participate in product development on the platform through testing, but according to the company’s website, the platform does not directly collect any personal health data.
One startup currently using the IDEATE platform is Edmonton-based Wound3, which plans to turn mobile devices into high-precision 3D medical scanners for wound management. Alberta Innovates said in a statement that the IDEATE program is helping co-founders Connor Povoledo and Jacob Damant find testers and validators for their wound-management product.
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According to a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, Canada lags behind other countries in adopting and commercializing new medical technologies, in part due to the country’s regulatory environment, which some founders say creates sourcing issues. Some Canadian medtech startups have chosen to launch their products south of the border, bypassing the Canadian health-care system altogether.
Several initiatives have been launched in recent years to address the problem of Canadian health tech startups’ often long time to market. One of these is the Coordinated Accessible National (CAN) Health Network, which became available nationwide last year. Similar to the structure of the IDEATE program, the CAN Health Network connects companies developing medical technologies with hospitals, healthcare providers, and other potential buyers.
“Through IDEATE, our government is enabling small and medium-sized technology companies in Alberta’s life sciences sector to meet regulatory requirements and validate digital health technologies in clinical settings, both of which are key to commercializing new medical applications and enhancing the sustainability and long-term competitiveness of the Prairie economy,” Dan Vandal, Minister of State for the Prairie Canons of Canada, said in a statement.
Feature image courtesy UnsplashPhoto from Testalize.me.
