Organization: Industrial Research Assistance Program

BDC first up with FedDev funding for Southern Ontario

The Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) is investing $50 million in early stage firms and venture capital funds under the umbrella of the recently created federal economic development program for southern Ontario. The funding will provide $35 million for early-stage investments and $125 million for venture capital funds with BDC collaborating with the Ontario…

Nexterra receives $7.7 million for biomass energy system

Vancouver-based Nexterra Systems Corp has received $7.7 million to help commercialize a high-efficiency biomass power system in collaboration with GE Jenbacher and GE Energy. The funding is being provided by the BC Bioenergy Network (BCBN), Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) and the Industrial Research Assistance Program. BCBN’s funding follows from a memorandum of understanding signed…

ISTPCanada, CIIRDF and IRAP join forces

Three Canadian organizations are banding together to enhance the ability of small businesses to conduct joint R&D with firms in India, China, Brazil and India. The three-year agreement is intended to fully leverage the programs currently offered by International Science and Technology Partnerships Canada (ISTPCanada), the Canada-Israel Industrial Research and Development Foundation (CIIRDF) and the…

Nanowave honoured for achievements

Toronto’s Nanowave Technologies Inc has received the Industrial Research Assistance Program‘s (IRAP) Canadian Innovation Leader Certificate. Nanowave was selected for its success in designing and manufacturing components for communications and radar systems. It has launched several R&D projects with IRAP assistance and has experienced rapid growth….

Quest teams with AMC for hair removal prototype

Quest Pharma Tech Inc has contracted with AMC Technologies Corp to design and produce a prototype portable light delivery device intended for home-use hair removal. The two Edmonton-based companies were introduced by the Industrial Research Assistance Program (IRAP), which is also providing funding for the device’s R&D. Quest’s patented SonoLight technology is based on a…

Nexterra gasification technology receives funding

Vancouver’s Nexterra Energy Corp has received $720,000 in public assistance to support new applications for its gasification technology. Funding from the Industrial Research Assistance Program ($345,000), Natural Resources Canada ($300,000) and Ethanol BC ($75,000) will be used to further a development program that uses syngas produced from wood residue to fire boilers and lime kilns.…

NSERC opens third regional office in Vancouver

NSERC has opened an office in downtown Vancouver — the third in a planned series of five regional offices. The office will be managed by Rick Warner, a veteran research manager who was a director with the former Science Council of British Columbia and has worked in the post secondary and not-for-profit sectors. The NSERC-Pacific…

Variation Biotech lands US$37.5 million in financing

Ottawa-based Variation Biotechnologies Inc (VBI) has secured US$37.5 million in Series A financing to move its vaccine program into clinical development with an initial focus on influenza. Clarus Ventures is the lead investor in a syndicate including ARCH Venture Partners, 5AM Ventures and existing seed investors. Founded in 2001, the privately held firm has early-stage…

PainCeptor receives IRAP assistance

PainCeptor Pharma Corp has received $480,000 in funding from the Industrial Research Assistance Program to further develop its drug development program for pain-related conditions such as arthritis and cancer. The contribution agreement will be used to advance PainCeptor’s R&D for the design and synthesis of low molecular weight compounds as part of its ASIC 3…

Procyon Biopharma receives $980,000 from IRAP

Montreal’s Procyn Biopharma Inc has received a repayable contribution of $980,000 from the Industrial Research Assistance Program for the early clinical development of PPL-100, a protease inhibitor for the treatment of drug-resistant HIV. Procyon received Health Canada approval last December to initiate the first-in-human Phase I clinical trials for PPL-100, an anti-viral agent with a…