Competition Overview
Innovation Factory’s Synapse Competition is Ontario’s premier life science pitch competition. Designed to help move your innovative life science products and services out of the lab and into the market, the competition pairs innovators with business and entrepreneurship students, and provides the training, mentorship, and resources to be successful.
Delivered by Innovation Factory, in collaboration with the Synapse Consortium, this competition assists innovators, scientists, and researchers to bring their ideas to market, increase revenues, leverage intellectual property, attract investment and create jobs.
Innovator finalists receive training, mentorship, a $5,000 grant and a chance to pitch and compete for OVER $100,000 cash prizes!

COMPETITION STATS SINCE 2013




115+ COMPANIES
$820K+ PRIZES AWARDED
$85M+ FUNDS RAISED
10+ GLOBAL MARKETS ACCESSED
The competition is separated into four phases, outlined below.




PHASE ONE
TEAM FORMATION
Interested participants will complete a short application and finalists will be notified in December of their acceptance into the competition. Innovators and students will form teams at our Meet & Greet in January 2023.
PHASE TWO
COMMERCIALIZATION PLAN
Teams will receive training and mentorship in order to submit a
10-15 page
Commercialization Plan, outlining detailed steps needed to commercialize their innovation, and a timeline to market in February, 2023.
PHASE THREE
INVESTOR PITCH
Teams will attend training to develop and deliver a 5-minute investor
pitch, including the components of a pitch, delivery methods, and
addressing questions in March 2023.
FINAL PHASE
FINAL PITCH & SHOWCASE
The top-ranked teams will deliver a business pitch, competing for cash and in-kind services from our generous partners. All finalists will present a poster and have the opportunity to network with top industry leaders in the life science sector on March 22, 2023.
KEY DATES
October 6, 2022: Applications open
November 6, 2022: Applications Close
December 2022: Finalists Notified
January 5, 2023: Networking & Team Formation
January 11+ 12, 2023: Commercialization Plan Training
January 19, 2023: Regulatory Training
Jan & Feb, 2023: Business Advisory Meetings
February 9, 2023: Commercialization Plan Due
February 16 2023: Investor Pitch Training
March 10, 2023: Elevator Pitch & Poster Due
March 22, 2023: SYNAPSE PITCH COMPETITION SHOWCASE
*Dates subject to change





