FACIT’s Compass Rose Fund helps Ontario’s cancer research innovators, arising from both public and private sectors, realize the commercial possibilities of their inventions by supporting early stage development projects. The Compass Rose Fund anchors and scales biotechs and attracts investments to Ontario, supporting the province’s competitive position as a destination for biotechnology.
Designed to address the funding gap between traditional public granting agencies and private investors, the Compass Rose Fund typically invests between $1M and $5M to support cancer-related, early stage commercialization activities. These include: proof-of-concept (POC), validation, standard operating procedures, market analyses, IP protection and acquisition, expert guidance and management.
“Support in the early years from FACIT and OICR were critical to getting our start and building the company in Ontario. These types of investments and this particular model help bolster commercialization and growth of the Ontario life sciences ecosystem.”
Rachel Bartholomew, Founder & CEO, Hyivy Health
Dr. John Valliant, CEO, Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc.
“There are not many sources of early seed capital for Ontario life sciences innovations and availability of follow-on financing sources are even more scarce. FACIT helps to fill this gap, and ensuring this capital is available for Ontario entrepreneurs is critical to advance translation so innovations can reach patients sooner.”
Compass Rose Fund Profile
Investment per start-up* | $1M to $5M, dispersed in tranches based on achieving pre-established milestones |
Funding Stage | Seed & follow-on |
Development Stage | Discovery to early clinical |
Type of Investment | FACIT will receive considerations on commercialization revenues and/or equity in start-up companies |
Eligibility | Intellectual Property for oncology development based in Ontario |
Preferred Investment Qualifications | Cutting edge technology – transformative not incremental; Significant business opportunity – differentiated, competitive technology; Defined market/technology vertical; Strong IP position – breadth, defensible, blocking ability, freedom to operate; Ability of funding to advance the technology to a value inflection point; Addresses an unmet need for cancer patients and/or cancer clinicians; Economic benefit to Ontario; Suitability of the team executing the work plan; Regulatory strategy – clarity of the path, territories, time and capital required. |
Main Goal of Investment | Achieve a value inflection point, positioning investees to attract additional funding from a wider investor network |
Recently Funded By The Compass Rose Fund
We are investing in Ontario’s innovation economy through these breakthrough start-ups.