We look forward to you joining us at the 11th annual Synapse Life Science Competition Pitch Showcase!
Thank you for joining us at the 11th annual Synapse Life Science Competition Pitch Showcase!
The Innovation Factory’s Synapse Competition is Ontario’s premier life science pitch competition. Designed to help move innovative life science products and services out of the lab and into the market, the competition pairs innovators with business and entrepreneurship students, and provides the training, mentorship, and resources to be successful.
Over 150 attendees from the Hamilton-Halton life science community helped us celebrate the innovators as we awarded OVER $100,000 in cash and prizes!
Special thanks to our title partner
Gowling WLG is an international law firm located in 19 cities around the world — including Hamilton. Harnessing the broad industry expertise of its 1,400 professionals, far-reaching global platform and forward-thinking partnerships with key local stakeholders, the firm connects Hamilton’s top innovators to a world of opportunity and provides the tools they need to accelerate their success.
Thank you to our keynote speaker
Amr Abdelgawad
COO & Co-Founder of FluidAI
It Truly Takes a Village
The showcase featured a keynote presentation from Amr, as he took us through a journey of co-founding, scaling and building a medtech startup from ideation to commercialization.
Stay tuned!
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Get your tickets now!
Get your tickets below to attend Innovation Factory’s Synapse Competition happening on October 20th, 2023!
Meet our judges
Derek Sheppard
Gowling WLG
Derek Sheppard is an associate in Gowling WLG’s Hamilton office, practising in the Intellectual Property Group. Derek’s practice focuses on drafting and prosecution of applications for patents before the Canadian Intellectual Property Office. He advises on patentability, patent validity, freedom-to-operate, and patent infringement issues. Derek also drafts and reviews IP related aspects of agreements (e.g., non-disclosure, employment, consulting, joint venture, purchase, license, and assignment), and performs due diligence on IP assets in support of transactions. Derek completed his JD at Western University, with a concentration in intellectual property, information, and technology. During law school, Derek was an active member of the Western Intellectual Property Association and served as vice-president, finance, during his second year.
Prior to law school, Derek completed a MSc at the University of Ottawa, where his research focused on joint cell regeneration. During his undergraduate studies, Derek was a research assistant at the Ottawa General Hospital, where his work concentrated on retinal regeneration in both in vivo and in vitro models. His research has been published in peer-reviewed journals. In his spare time, Derek enjoys hockey, golf, and reading.
Suman Rao
Lumira Ventures
Suman comes from a strong life science background, with special expertise in oncology and developing multi-targeted strategies to treat advanced cancers. Suman joined Lumira in 2021 as an Associate and focuses on conducting scientific and technical diligence of investment opportunities. She remains extremely passionate about understanding drivers of complex diseases and through her work at Lumira Ventures, hopes to bring novel therapies to patients by promoting cutting-edge technologies and medicines.
Prior to joining Lumira Ventures, Suman worked in healthcare consulting at L.E.K. Consulting in Boston as a Life Sciences Specialist. During her time at L.E.K., she provided strategic advice on growth opportunities, pipeline expansion, potential M&A partnerships and financial modeling. Her clients included start-ups, biotech and pharma companies developing cell & gene therapies, protein degraders, small molecules and RNA-based therapies within oncology, neurology, rare diseases and ophthalmology.
Lindsay Williams
Stryker Canada
Lindsay Williams has over 25 years’ experience, spanning the public, private and philanthropic sectors in Canada and in Europe. She works to make a difference – making communities and workplaces a better place to live, work and raise a family.
Meet our partners
Title Partner
Innovation Partners
Presenting Partners
Collaboration Partners
Event Partners
Funding Partners
