OBIO’s Capital Access Advisory Program (CAAP®) Reaches Milestone with $1 Billion Raised by High-Growth Life Sciences and Health Tech Ventures
OBIO® celebrates significant economic impact as it accelerates capital access for Canada’s leading health tech, medtech, and biotech innovators.
September 29, 2026 (Toronto, ON) – OBIO®, a not-for-profit, membership-based organization offering strategy, programming and infrastructure to support early-stage and venture-backed companies across the therapeutics, medtech, diagnostics and digital health sectors, is celebrating a major growth milestone: companies supported through its Capital Access Advisory Program (CAAP®) have now collectively raised over $1 billion in capital.
Building on support from the Government of Canada through the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario), this landmark achievement underscores the vital role of OBIO’s CAAP® as a catalyst for investment readiness in Canada’s life sciences sector. Building on early-stage entrepreneurship programs, CAAP® focuses on accelerating technology commercialization and empowers high potential life sciences & health tech companies to secure global venture capital and strategic partnerships, and bring transformative health solutions to market faster.
“Canada’s life sciences sector has the talent, innovation and ambition to compete with the best in the world. The challenge is turning more Canadian breakthroughs into Canadian companies that scale, attract investment and create jobs here at home,” said the Honourable Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario. “Congratulations to OBIO® on this milestone. Through programs like CAAP®, OBIO® is helping high-potential Canadian firms commercialize their innovations, secure capital and bring world-leading health technologies to market.”
Accelerating Canada’s Health Science Economy
Launched to address the critical capital gap faced by scaling health science ventures, OBIO’s CAAP® offers post-seed companies tailored advisory support, intensive investment readiness coaching, commercial strategy development, and direct introductions to an international network of venture capitalists, angel investors, and strategic corporate partners.
Impact Highlight: By the Numbers
Since the inception of OBIO’s CAAP®, its targeted advisory framework has delivered a proven track record of commercialization and investor conversion:
$1 Billion+ in total capital raised by CAAP® alumni following program engagement.
127 high-growth health science companies graduated from the CAAP® pipeline.
65% of alumni secured capital or strategic partnership within 18 months of program completion.
Building on this momentum, OBIO® is welcoming the 2026 cohort of innovative companies entering the program:
AI. Vali, located in Toronto, is a medical device company specializing in AI-driven real-time medical image analysis for improved diagnostic accuracy and workflow efficiency while providing seamless integration with EMRs for automated reporting and reimbursement.
Block Biosciences, located in Hamilton, is a biotech company developing a first-in-class precision medicine that will block metastatic spread before it reaches the brain. Guided by predictive biomarkers, this proactive treatment strategy could revolutionize the standard of care.
Hylid Diagnostics, located in Ottawa, is a medical device company using novel optical sensors to bring affordable, lab-quality blood testing to the home for patients suffering from chronic kidney disease and heart failure
Orb Therapeutics, located in Toronto, is a biotechnology company focused on developing innovative RNA-based therapies that boost protein expression to treat a broad range of protein-deficiency diseases.
RespirAct brain stress test developed by Thornhill Medical in Toronto, is a computer-controlled gas blender used to provide accurate, repeatable, non-invasive control of blood gases to stimulate vascular reactivity, enabling clinicians to objectively measure how the brain responds to physiological stress, much like a cardiac stress test does for the heart.
Synakis, located in Toronto, is a pre-clinical biotech start-up developing breakthrough biomaterial-based treatments for ocular diseases including retina detachment and glaucoma.
These six companies will benefit from customized strategic planning, advanced fundraising support, business development guidance, and warm introductions to venture investors, healthcare executives, business experts, and strategic partners. The companies will also have the opportunity to showcase their work and meet with global venture capital investors & strategic partners at the annual OBIO® Investment Summit on February 2-4, 2027, in Toronto, Ontario. Since 2018, companies that have presented at the Summit have collectively raised over $3.1 Billion in capital.
“As a founder of four spin-off companies, I am acutely aware of the challenges facing new ventures,” said Dr. Molly Shoichet, Professor, University of Toronto and Pamela & Paul Austin Chair in Precision & Regenerative Medicine. “OBIO® and its CAAP® program were a great boost in preparing AmacaThera for a significant VC round that closed in 2018. The company is now preparing to enter Phase 2 clinical trials and recently secured a landmark global licensing deal worth up to $230 million. I am excited that my newer venture Synakis will be able to benefit from OBIO’s CAAP® programming as we advance SNK-125, our vitreous replacement therapy for retinal detachment, into the clinic.”
“Reaching this $1-billion milestone is a testament to the world-class innovation emerging from Canada’s health science sector and to the effectiveness of OBIO’s targeted approach,” said Dr. Maura Campbell, President & CEO, OBIO®. “Through CAAP®, we not only equip founders with intensive coaching, but also provide actionable commercial strategies and direct access to global capital networks via our annual OBIO® Investment Summit. Every dollar raised by our program alumni contributes to the creation of new jobs, concrete clinical advancements, and the scaling of Canadian health technologies on the global stage.”
Supporting Canada’s Innovation Ecosystem
By supporting high-potential health science companies, OBIO’s CAAP® has made a lasting impact on Canada’s innovation ecosystem, helping companies reach critical value inflection milestones, generate new intellectual property, raise capital, and bring innovations to market for the benefit of all Canadians.
“Participating in OBIO’s CAAP® in 2019 was an important step in sharpening Vena Medical’s investment story and preparing us for meaningful conversations with investors,” said Michael Phillips, Co-Founder and CEO, Vena Medical, a medical device company providing physicians the world’s smallest camera capable of going inside veins and arteries, significantly advancing the treatment of vascular diseases. “The program helped us strengthen our financing strategy and connect with the right investor network at a critical stage for the company. Since then, OBIO® has remained a valued partner as Vena Medical has continued to grow and advance our technology.”
About OBIO®
Founded in 2009, OBIO® is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization engaged in strategy, programming, policy development and advocacy to address the needs of the next generation of companies developing innovative human health products. OBIO® supports early-stage and venture-backed life sciences and health tech companies enabling them to raise capital, hire and train industry-ready talent, facilitate the commercialization and market adoption of their technologies in health systems, and access infrastructure. OBIO® advances this goal through collaborative partnerships with industry, the investment community, academia, the healthcare system and government. For more information, please visit obio.ca and follow OBIO® on LinkedIn and X.
About FedDev Ontario
Since 2009, the Government of Canada, through FedDev Ontario, has worked to advance and diversify the southern Ontario economy through funding opportunities and business services that support innovation, growth and job creation in Canada’s most populous region. The Agency has delivered impressive results, which can be seen in southern Ontario businesses that are creating innovative technologies, improving productivity, growing revenues, creating jobs, and in the economic advancement of communities across the region. Learn more about the impact the Agency is having in southern Ontario by exploring our impact stories, our Southern Ontario Spotlight, and FedDev Ontario’s X, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn accounts.
Media Contacts:
Doriane Rey
Senior Manager, Marketing & Communications
OBIO®
dorianerey@obio.ca
Leela Polushin
Press Secretary
Office of the Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation and Minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario
leela.polushin@ised-isde.gc.ca
343-543-5391