KINGSTON, ONTARIO (MAY 24, 2022) – Queen’s Partnerships and Innovation (QPI) is pleased to welcome the spring 2022 cohort of companies to the Wings Accelerator program, launched on May 9, 2022. The program provides early-stage founders with tools and guidance to help them assess the feasibility of their business idea, validate their proposed value proposition, and begin the development of a viable business model.
The Wings program is offered by Queen’s under the Scale-up Platform, an initiative led by Invest Ottawa in Eastern Ontario and in which QPI is a regional partner, and supported by the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario). Wings participants are also part of the Queen’s Startup Runway program, the WE-CAN Project at Queen’s University, and/or the Health Innovation Kingston Project where they have access to QPI’s curated resources and supports, also made available with support from FedDev Ontario.
Program facilitators Elza Seregelyi and Andrew Jackson are delivering the cohort program virtually and are also providing founders with support via 1:1 mentoring sessions, a key feature of the program which past participants have expressed was important to their progress.
“We like to start each cohort with a 1:1 introduction session,” says Elza Seregelyi. “It helps us to understand the companies and entrepreneurs that we are working with so that we can provide the best experience possible for the participants.”
QPI selected the following entrepreneurs with emerging or established companies to participate in the program, which will be delivered over the next two months and will conclude with a pitch day on July 18, 2022.
Adnan El Makdah – a highly modular and deployable micro-wind turbine array ideally for off-grid remote communities, industrial factories, farms and telecommunication industries
Dynamiris – the most advanced eye-tracking diagnostic for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson's disease, cerebrovascular disease, frontotemporal dementia and others, that can even discriminate diseases with similar symptomology, such as Parkinson’s and progressive supranuclear palsy
LenSense Inc. – a simple soft contact-lens based system that uses microfluidic technology and image capture using a smartphone to provide an accurate intraocular pressure monitoring for earlier diagnosis and to improve treatment efficacy for glaucoma.
mDETECT – a second-generation liquid biopsy that is based on the detection of cancer-specific methylation of tumour DNA in blood and is specifically aimed to provide clinical management of breast cancer
Nephron Health – a kidney care lifecycle management app which matches renal failure patients to relevant lived-experience coaches to guide them through a tailored curriculum.
Next Knowledge – a learning company dedicated to enabling deep learning and comprehension that remains out of reach for too many learners by improving the way individuals learn and process information
Ruthy’s Reading Room – a platform providing fun, educational and interactive story time videos, book reviews and recommendations, and author spotlights for Black-authored and diverse kids' books on YouTube
SharedCraft – a web-based platform for creators to collaborate on a creative project such as working together to write a novel
WEMA Inc: Women's Health Equity through Mobile Approaches – a platform enabling remote physicians or expert cervical cancer screening nurses to provide guidance and training for accurate diagnosis
With support from external funding, QPI offers numerous services, resources and programs to support entrepreneurs both from within Queen’s University and from the greater Kingston community, and to accelerate the growth of startups and small to medium-sized enterprises within Kingston and Eastern Ontario. To learn more about the QPI programs and services, please visit our website page for entrepreneurs, startups and SMEs.