Four Kingston startup companies receive $1.6 million vote of confidence
PARTEQ venture fund’s investments help to advance discoveries in pharmaceutical, biomedical and alternative energy sectors
March 1, 2010
KINGSTON, ON -- Despite a frigid global investment climate, four early stage Kingston technology companies have been given a warm reception by a unique local investment fund.
The quartet of companies recently received a total of $1.6 million from the PARTEQ Venture Fund, a provincially sponsored investment fund set up by PARTEQ Innovations, the technology transfer office of Queen’s University. The fund manages investments made by institutional and private investors.
The funding enables the companies – spanning the pharmaceutical, biomedical and alternative energy sectors – to bring their innovations to market.
PARTEQ’s ability to develop funding mechanisms to commercialize promising research discoveries is unique, says John Molloy, President and CEO of PARTEQ Innovations. “We have leveraged a number of funding vehicles to offer very hard-to-find early stage capital,” he says.
“We used the Ontario Commercialization Investment Funds program to mitigate risk to the investors. This is a good example of how PARTEQ has developed creative models for addressing the funding gaps that stifle innovation. These investments also represent a very significant opportunity for local economic growth.”
“These investments not only help to build Kingston’s knowledge economy; they are tangible recognition of the calibre of Queen’s University research,” says Dr. Kerry Rowe, Vice-Principal (Research) at Queen’s. “Thanks to the involvement of this fund and its investors, innovative technologies with the potential to improve health and the environment are moving closer to market.”
The recipients are:
BKIN Technologies Ltd. - $500,000
BKIN, a Queen’s University startup company based on research by neuroscientist Dr. Stephen Scott, has developed the world’s first robotic tool for assessing the effects of brain injury and disease on sensory, motor and cognitive function. The investment enables BKIN to begin the process of transforming its KINARM™ robotic system, now used primarily in basic research, for use in clinical research settings such as research hospitals and rehabilitation centres. Currently KINARM™ Labs are being used by more than 20 research institutions worldwide to help scientists understand how people perform the smooth, purposeful movements of their upper limbs and how these movements are affected by disease such as stroke, cerebellar dysfunction, cerebral palsy and fetal alcohol syndrome.
Kalgene Diagnostics - $500,000
A Kingston-based spinoff of Kalgene Pharmaceuticals, Kalgene Diagnostics is focused on developing personalized cancer diagnostics and drugs for the treatment of various types of cancer. Their product platform focuses on diagnostics for the treatment of various cancers. The company is reviewing a number of Queen’s technologies in related areas.
Precision Therapeutics Inc. - $100,000
Precision Therapeutics, a Kingston-based startup company established by PARTEQ Innovations, is working in collaboration with Acoustic MedSystems of Illinois to develop technologies in ultrasound and other imaging sectors to improve image-guided treatments for early-stage cancers of the breast and prostate. The company is building on research by Dr. Gabor Fichtinger of Queen’s School of Computing to automate and enhance the precision of brachytherapy, a prostate cancer treatment that involves implanting radioactive seeds into the prostate to kill cancer cells from the inside out.
SPARQ Systems Inc. - $500,000
SPARQ Systems, a startup company headed by Dr. Praveen Jain, Canada Research Chair in Power Electronics at Queen’s University and Director of Queen’s ePOWER Centre, is focused on photovoltaic converters suitable for use with solar panels. His technology significantly improves the overall efficiency of solar systems under normal as well as adverse conditions such as shading or snow. His inverter is the only one to match the 25-year reliability of solar panels. The funding will be used to develop and test miniaturized converters, and to further refine the technology’s conversion efficiency.
Contact:
John Molloy
President & CEO
PARTEQ Innovations
P: 613. 533. 2342
E: jmolloy@parteqinnovations.com
About the PARTEQ Venture Fund:
The PARTEQ Venture Fund (1) is an OCIF (Ontario Commercialization Investment Fund) registered limited partnership formed to leverage the OCIF program under various scenarios. PARTEQ is the general partner and Queen’s is a limited partner.
