MaRS HealthKick Invest is the largest early-stage health investment conference in Canada
Connecting health leaders and influencers with the Canadian and global investment community
MaRS HealthKick Invest brings together innovators in the therapeutic, diagnostic, medical device, digital health, and consumer health spaces and connects them to global venture capital funds, family offices, angel investors, and other capital partners interested in investing in the future of health.
The conference will feature talks by leading health investors and executives, one-on-one meetings between companies and investors, and the HealthKick Challenge pitch competition. MaRS HealthKick Invest takes place at MaRS Discovery District in Toronto.
We will be expecting
600+
attendees from 16 countries
300+
investors
50+
speakers
1,000+
one-on-one meetings
HealthKick Invest Advisory Committee
Keynote Speaker
Paul Desmarais III
Paul Desmarais III is the Chairman and CEO of Sagard Holdings, the Executive Chairman and co-Founder of Portag3 Ventures, and the Chairman and co-founder of Diagram. Within the investment portfolios of Portag3 Ventures and Sagard Holdings, he is the Chairman of Wealthsimple and Peak Achievement Athletics and a director of KOHO, Integrate.ai, and IntegraMed. Paul is also a Senior Vice President of Power Corporation of Canada and Power Financial of Canada. As a part of his responsibilities at the holdings, he sits on the boards of Great West Lifeco, IGM Financial, Pargesa, Groupe Bruxelles Lambert, and Imerys. Prior to his current role, Paul worked at Goldman Sachs in the Investment Banking Division, Investment Group, and Special Situations Group; Imerys in supply chain management and strategy; and Great West Lifeco in risk management. Paul is a recipient of a B.A. in economics from Harvard College and holds and an MBA from INSEAD in France.
Selected speakers
Jessica Chutter
Managing Director and Chair, Biotechnology Investment Banking
Morgan Stanley
Mark Schmehl
Portfolio Manager
Fidelity Investments
Sam Ifergan
Founder and Managing Partner
iGan Partners
Richard Osborn
Managing Partner
TELUS Ventures
Peter van der Velden
Managing General Partner
Lumira Ventures
Cedric Bisson
Partner
Teralys Capital
Damian Lamb
Managing Director
Genesys Capital
Bharat Srinivasa
Co-Founder & Associate
Amplitude Ventures
Shayn Diamond
Partner
Whitecap Venture Partners
Joel Finlayson
Partner
iGan Partners
Allyson Tighe
Co-Founder & Associate
Amplitude Ventures
Allan Miranda
Head of JLABS @ Canada
Johnson & Johnson Innovation
Donna Parr
President
Crimson Capital
James Hardiman
Partner
DCVC
Jacki Jenuth
Partner
Lumira Ventures
Kelly Holman
Managing Director
Genesys Capital
Elayne Wandler
Director, Partnerships & Programs
Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator
Billy Lai
Associate
iGan Partners
Nilay Thakar
Associate
ARCH Venture Partners
Gregg Michaelson
Partner
Edison Partners
Tanja Dowe
CEO
Debiopharm Innovation Fund
Russell Samuels
Partner
Whitecap Venture Partners
Erhan Soyer-Osman
Investor
Two Sigma Ventures
Jamie Stiff
Managing Director
Genesys Capital
Marc Weill
Senior Advisor
Two Sigma Ventures
Bill Carpou
CEO
OCTANe
Brenda Irwin
Managing Partner
Relentless Pursuit Partners
Cynthia Lavoie
Co-Founder & Managing Director
AllosteRx Capital
Jesse Bucksten
Associate
CPOINT Capital
Sally Daub
Founder and Managing Partner
Pool Global Partners
Kathryn Wortsman
Fund Manager
MaRS Catalyst Fund
Parimal Nathwani
Vice President
MaRS Innovation
Michael Gietl
Executive Director
JP Morgan
David MacNaughtan
Partner
Sagard Holdings
Scott Kaplanis
Partner
Epic Capital Management
Frederic Lemaitre Auger
Senior Director, Investments
Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator
Rob Scully
Director
MCV - Manulife Capital Ventures
Ricky Mehra
Founder and Managing Partner
Continuum Ventures
Vito Ciraco
Founder & President
Violico Investments Ltd.
Maha Katabi
Managing Partner
Oxalis Capital
Salim Teja
President
MaRS Venture Services
Craig Leonard
Director
MaRS Investment Accelerator Fund
Ying Tam
Managing Director
MaRS Health Venture Services
Debbie Lin
Executive Director Digital Health Venture Fund
Boehringer Ingelheim
Kelly Gauthier
Managing Director, Impact Advisory
Rally Assets
Alison Chick
Head, Health and Wellness Ventures
RBC Ventures
Jamie Kasuboski
Senior Director
Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund
Gordon McCauley
President and CEO
CDRD
Christopher Jones
Partner
Blakes
David O'Neill
President
FACIT
Imran Eba
Partner
Action Potential Ventures
Mark Goad
Associate
OMERS Ventures
Gerry Brunk
Managing Director
Lumira Ventures
Chris Garabedian
Chairman and CEO
Xontogeny
Annastasiah Mudiwa Mhaka
Co-Founder and President
AAIH
Henry Kay
Principal
HLH Associates
Dan Herman
Vice President, Strategy and Partnerships
Myant Inc.
Aaron Feierstein
Sr. Corporate Development Advisor
CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield
Karen Cross
CEO
Mimosa Diagnostics
Brian Bloom
Co-founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
Bloom Burton & Co
Agenda
DAY ONE: APRIL 2, 2019
Track 1 – Investing Panels
7:00 a.m.: Registration and Breakfast
8:30 a.m.: Welcome and Keynote
9:30 a.m.: Early-Stage Digital Health and Medical Device Investing
10:30 a.m.: AI and Big Data – Digital Health and Medical Device Investing
11:30 a.m.: Angels and Family Offices Investing in Health
12:30 p.m.: Lunch
1:30 p.m.: HealthKick Pitch Competition
3:00 p.m.: Early-Stage Therapeutics Investing
4:00 p.m.: AI and Big Data – Therapeutics Investing
5:00 p.m.: Announcement of HealthKick Pitch Finalists and Cocktail Reception
Track 2 – Fundraising Panels
7:00 a.m.: Registration and Breakfast
8:30 a.m.: Welcome and Keynote
9:30 a.m.: Why I Did the Deal
10:30 a.m.: Reverse Due Diligence
11:30 a.m.: Understanding How VC’s are Motivated to Invest
12:30 p.m.: Lunch
1:30 p.m.: HealthKick Pitch Competition
3:00 p.m.: What NOT to Do When Raising Capital
4:00 p.m.: Bootstrapping & Lean Capital Strategies
5:00 p.m.: Announcement of HealthKick Pitch Finalists and Cocktail Reception
DAY TWO: APRIL 3, 2019
Track 1
7:30 a.m.: Registration and Breakfast
8:30 a.m.: Welcome & HealthKick Pitch-Off
9:30 a.m.: Multinational Partnering and Corporate Venture Capital Investing
10:30 a.m.: Impact Investing in Health
11:30 a.m.: Why Invest in Canada
12:30 p.m.: Lunch and Announcement of HealthKick Pitch Winner
1:30 p.m.: 1:1 Partnering
Track 2
7:30 a.m.: Registration and Breakfast
8:30 a.m.: Welcome & HealthKick Pitch-Off
9:30 a.m.: VC’s Raising Too – Pitching is Not Just for Entrepreneurs
10:30 a.m.: After the Close
11:30 a.m.: How the Public Markets Affect Private Health Investing
12:30 p.m.: Lunch and Announcement of HealthKick Pitch Winner
1:30 p.m.: 1:1 Partnering
More details and speakers will be announced soon! Agenda subject to change
Pitch Competition
This year’s conference will feature the MaRS HealthKick Pitch Competition, which will spotlight and give 15 high-potential health technology companies a chance to compete for one final $25,000 cash and $10,000 in legal services provided by Blakes along with acceptance into their Nitro powered by Blakes (Blakes Nitro) program. The two runners up will receive acceptance into the Blakes Nitro program.
