Researchers receive $1.6M for startup companies

Kingston, ON – Researchers at Queen’s recently received a total of $1.6 million from the PARTEQ Venture Fund, a provincially sponsored investment fund set up by PARTEQ Innovations, the technology transfer office of Queen’s University. The funding enables the companies-spanning the pharmaceutical, biomedical and alternative energy sectors-to bring their innovations to market.

“These investments not only help to build Kingston’s knowledge economy; they are tangible recognition of the calibre of Queen’s University research,” says Kerry Rowe, vice-principal (research). “Thanks to the involvement of this fund and its investors, innovative technologies with the potential to improve health and the environment are moving closer to market.”

The recipients are:

BKIN Technologies – $500,000: BKIN, a Queen’s University startup company based on research by neuroscientist Stephen Scott, has developed the world’s first robotic tool for assessing the effects of brain injury and disease on sensory, motor and cognitive function.

SPARQ Systems Inc. – $500,000: SPARQ Systems, a startup company headed by Praveen Jain, Canada research chair in power electronics and director of Queen’s ePOWER Centre, is focused on photovoltaic converters suitable for use with solar panels.

Kalgene Diagnostics – $500,000: A Kingston-based spinoff of Kalgene Pharmaceuticals, Kalgene Diagnostics is focused on developing personalized cancer diagnostics and drugs for the treatment of various types of cancer. The company is reviewing a number of Queen’s technologies in related areas.

Precision Therapeutics – $100,000: Precision Therapeutics, a startup company that builds on research by Gabor Fichtinger of Queen’s School of Computing to automate and enhance the precision of brachytherapy, a prostate cancer treatment that involves implanting radioactive seeds into the prostate to kill cancer cells from the inside out.