MaRS Discovery District — Health Ventures Program

Amount

Varies

Non-dilutive advisory +

Deadline

Rolling

Odds

Not published

Effort

1–2 hours

Can you get this?

✓For biotech, medtech or digital health companies

✓Canadian health innovators focus

✓Must be high-potential, scaling ventures

✓Focus areas include AI, diagnostics, therapeutics, oncology

Your real odds

MaRS supports 300+ startups in its health portfolio, which signals active intake but tells you nothing about how many applicants they turn away.

Competitiveness is not publicly quantified, and MaRS has not disclosed acceptance rates, though the breadth of focus areas means a wider range of companies can qualify than a narrow-thesis funder would allow. Portfolio companies raised an estimated $450 million in 2023, so the outcomes are real once you are in.

What it takes

Review the MaRS Health Sciences sector page and confirm your focus area fits their priorities1–2 hours

Contact MaRS Health Sciences directly via their site to express interest or apply to a cohort program1–3 days

Engage with the team for an intake conversation or pitch session1–2 weeks

Worth knowing

The value here is ecosystem access, one-on-one expert advisory, wet lab space in Toronto, and warm introductions to VCs, not a direct cash grant from MaRS itself. If you want capital, that comes through the MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund, which takes equity, so go in knowing those are two separate things.

Apply on funder's site →

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