
Join us at the Falcons’ Fortunes Pitch Finals Event!
Watch six rising stars pitch their Breakthrough Cancer Innovation
Who will win the $100,000 Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award?
The annual Falcons’ Fortunes event features six Ontario entrepreneurs vying for the $100,000 award in the province’s only pitch competition specifically promoting cancer breakthroughs. Join us and put on your investor hat to vote for your favourite pitch presentation to win the Audience Choice award.
Now in its 12th year, Falcons’ Fortunes is FACIT’s premier event to celebrate and grow the entrepreneurial spirit within the cancer research community. FACIT is cultivating entrepreneurial scientists who will drive a culture of commercialization where Ontario-based cancer research becomes Ontario-made solutions to benefit patients worldwide.
Falcons’ Fortunes
March 20, 2025 | 3:00 PM – 8:00 PM
Vantage Venues, Garden Hall – 16th floor
150 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario
Agenda
2:30-3:00 pm Doors open
3:00-3:30 pm Opening remarks & Keynote
3:30-5:45 pm Pitch competition
5:45-6:00 pm Patient Partner reflections & Closing remarks
6:00-8:00 pm Networking reception & Announcement of winners
Master of Ceremonies

Brian Bloom
Co-founder, Chairman & CEO
Bloom Burton & Co.
Featuring
Keynote speaker
Thomas Hudson
Venture Partner, Versant Ventures

Tom joined Versant Ventures as a Venture Partner in September 2024, after retiring from his position as Senior Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer at AbbVie. During his 8-year tenure in AbbVie R&D, he led global teams of scientists and clinicians across therapeutic areas to identify potential new treatments for a variety of diseases.
Prior to joining AbbVie, Tom was the President & Scientific Director of the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research where he led the institute’s work in translational research for the prevention, detection, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.
A Canadian genome scientist, Tom was a leader in mapping the human genome and is internationally renowned for his work in genomics, human genome variation and genetic diseases.
Pitch Competition
Six Ontario entrepreneurs will each have 10 minutes to deliver their best pitch, followed by 5-minutes of Q&A with the judging panel.
Entrepreneur Finalists
- Stephen Basco, ESI Imaging
Next-generation breast cancer screening
- Ibukun Elebute, CELLECT Laboratories
Nanotechnology for non-invasive cancer diagnostics
- Wael Hanna, NodeAI Diagnostics
Augmenting lung cancer staging through AI
- Peter Lovrics, Clearview Solutions
Optimizing cancer surgery: the margin BEAR
- Jessie Medeiros, ApexiaBio
Molecular biomarker improves care for myelofibrosis patients
- Robert Verhagen, BiCova Therapeutics
Targeting macrophages against tumours
Judging panel

Maura Campbell
President & CEO, OBIO
FACIT Board Director

Vanessa Grant
Partner
Norton Rose Fulbright Canada

Joel Liederman
President
ELARAD Venture Management

Jason Burch
SVP, Head of Small Molecule Discovery
Versant Ventures
Prizes
- $100,000 Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award as selected by the judging panel for the best pitch.
- Audience Choice Award as voted by attendees for their favourite pitch presentation.
For additional details about the pitch competition, please click here.
Who should attend
Community members interested in supporting Ontario’s next-generation cancer innovations and entrepreneurial ecosystem, including entrepreneurs, investors, patient partners, and scientists.
RSVP for Falcons’ Fortunes
Seating is limited. All guests must RSVP. No walk-ins will be permitted.
To register directly on the Eventbrite site, click here.

Falcons’ Fortunes
March 20, 2025 | 3:00 – 8:00 PM
Vantage Venues, 16th floor (Garden Hall)
150 King Street West, Toronto, Ontario
Sponsor

Thank you to Norton Rose Fulbright Canada for sponsoring the
networking reception and Audience Choice Award.
Naming of the Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award
In 2016, the Falcons’ Fortunes prize was named the “Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award” in honour of Dr. Mark Ernsting, Senior Biomedical Engineer at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research whose life was tragically cut short in December 2015. Mark exemplified the entrepreneurial spirit that FACIT strives to build and support within Ontario.