This special edition of Spring Activator’s Impact Investor Challenge, presented by the TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good, aims to connect healthcare founders with investors and support them in navigating the investment process and Canadian healthcare landscape
On a mission to champion investment within the impact investor and startup ecosystem, Spring Activator is announcing the launch of the second Health Impact Investor Challenge. In collaboration with the TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good, the challenge is set to run from April to June of 2023, and aims to connect healthcare founders with investors and support them in navigating the investment process and landscape. The Challenge will culminate in $200,000+ invested into a prominent Canadian healthcare startup from investors across the country.
Leveling up our healthcare ecosystem is necessary for the well-being of our citizens, especially in the face of an aging population, chronic diseases, inequitable access for underserved populations, and a host of other challenges. Innovative solutions can be found in a number of sub-sectors, including care delivery, diagnostics services, women’s health solutions, medical equipment and devices, and mental health. Alongside the public sector, private industry is a crucial source of innovation, delivery, and scale. Ideas and businesses are being born every day, and they need the support of early-stage capital to validate and provide acceleration support.
Last spring, the 2022 Health Impact Investor Challenge trained 33 angel investors, 15 healthcare companies, and culminated in $300,000 invested into UXV Inc., a device company that disinfects air and surfaces using a form of light that is safe for human exposure but kills pathogens in seconds, even while people are present. Other participating companies went on to raise $5+ million within six months of the program, with one healthcare finalist winning nearly $300,000 through the subsequent Spring Activator Women-led Impact Investor Challenge presented by the TELUS Pollinator Fund.
“Spring Activator is thrilled to continue collaborating with the TELUS Pollinator Fund to support the growing investor community, through collaborating with regional partners and empowering investors with a diversity of knowledge and networks in the sector, this program will be a unique opportunity for healthcare founders across Canada to not only access investment, but also tap into support and connection resources to scale their growth and impact.”
By working in collaboration with the TELUS Pollinator Fund, Spring Activator will facilitate more healthcare founders to improve health and care outcomes. The Health Impact Investor Challenge will place close emphasis on measurable, social and environmental impact in healthcare, in addition to financial return on investment for investors. The Challenge empowers, connects, and supports early-stage startups in the industry across Canada. Spring Activator and the TELUS Pollinator Fund will support healthcare founders and impact angel investors on a holistic level through:
- Guiding early-stage and impact-curious investors end-to-end through the impact investing process with the added benefit of deeper insights into the healthcare industry.
- Preparing Seed and Series A healthcare startup founders on investment-readiness.
- Educating a joint cohort of funders and founders about the investment process, from market analysis, to impact measurement, to negotiation and closing, all culminating in an equity investment into a winning company.
The Challenge will also help investors discover opportunities to get involved in impact investing by supporting those who do good for communities and connect their capital to mission-driven startups; which aligns with one of the TELUS Pollinator Fund’s goals to catalyze more impact investors.
The top 15 venture applicants will be selected to participate in an 11 week program to learn and pitch alongside a cohort of investors. The investors will vote for the top five companies to present at the Grand Finale pitch event, where they will have the chance to win at least $200,000 in equity investment from the cohort. Applications will be open to any venture based in Canada who is an early-stage socially or environmentally driven venture in the healthcare industry looking to raise Seed or Series A capital and scale their impact. Investors can also apply to be a part of the investor group and do not need to be accredited to participate.
“We are excited to partner again with Spring Activator to enable another Health Impact Investor Challenge to put exciting startups in front of investors to help scale their solutions. Transforming health outcomes is a core tenet of our investment thesis and we are excited that this program will equip a new cohort of investors to invest in innovative new solutions making healthcare more inclusive, accessible and affordable”
