Pitch your cancer innovation to win the

$100,000 Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award

Hosted by FACIT, Falcons’ Fortunes is Canada’s only annual pitch competition targeting cancer innovations. FACIT invites entrepreneurs and scientists to pitch their Ontario-made cancer innovation to a panel of judges and in front of a live audience. The winner, based on the best pitch that convincingly tells a relatable story while sharing the commercial value of the innovation and how it will impact patients, is awarded the $100,000 investment grant. An Audience Choice award is also presented to the favourite pitch presentation as selected by attendees.

Now in its 12th year, Falcons’ Fortunes is FACIT’s premier event to celebrate and grow the entrepreneurial spirit within the cancer research community. Developing more experienced entrepreneurial scientists will drive a culture of commercialization where Ontario-based cancer research discoveries becomes Ontario-made solutions to benefit patients worldwide.

APPLY NOW to Pitch

submission deadline – January 10, 2025

“This award is huge for us. It will extend our runway and allow us to build even more value, which will in turn be fed back into the medical and research communities. An award like this allows us to accelerate our development ahead of schedule, and we deeply appreciate this support.  Thank you to the judges and to FACIT for believing in us. We’re honoured to have been chosen among so many worthy pitches.”

Dr. Darren Kraemer, Co-founder and CEO, Point Surgical, 2022 Falcons’ Fortunes Winner

Pitch Competition Details

Prizes 

  • $100,000 Ernsting Entrepreneurship Award (*see note below) + $400 cash prize, as selected by the judging panel.
  • Audience Choice Award is selected by the audience who votes for their favourite pitch presentation.

Winners of each award will be announced shortly after the competition during the evening networking event.

*Note: the $100K award is an investment grant managed through FACIT’s Prospects Fund and follows its terms and conditions. Funding is subject to further due diligence following the competition and approval by FACIT’s Board of Directors is required to finalize awarding the prize.

Eligibility

Falcons’ Fortunes pitch competition is open to any Ontario-based start-up or entrepreneurial researcher developing a cancer-related research idea or innovation with commercial potential.

To be considered for Falcons’ Fortunes pitch competition, please complete and submit the on-line Innovation Summary form by January 10, 2025.

Pitch Competition Format

Six finalists will be selected by FACIT based on the online Innovation Summary submissions. The finalists will appear at the Falcons’ Fortunes event to present a 10-minute pitch in front of a live audience and panel of judges, followed by 5-minutes of Q&A.

While the innovation must be novel and based on sound technological and scientific rigor, this competition is for the BEST PITCH presentation. The objective is to convincingly share the big picture idea by telling a relatable story and addressing the following questions:

  • What is the innovation and the scientific or technological basis?
  • What is the problem or unmet need?
  • Who is the target customer and what is the addressable market?
  • What is the key differentiator of your innovation and its commercial value?
  • How would you use the funds awarded ($100K) to advance the innovation towards patient benefit?

Other considerations for the presentation (i.e. for the Q&A) include an understanding of the intellectual property (IP) position and any potential challenges.

Judging Criteria

The judges will select the entrepreneur whose presentation best articulates the market value and patient impact of their cancer innovation and how the $100,000 investment prize would be used to advance the innovation towards benefiting patients. The following criteria will be used to evaluate the pitches:

  • Has the pitch clearly articulated the technical merits and value proposition?
  • Has the pitch demonstrated an addressable need and market opportunity?
  • Has the pitch demonstrated competitive differentiation?
  • Has the pitch described the use of proceeds towards commercialization?
  • How effective and convincing was the overall pitch?

Pitch Training Support 

FACIT will provide pitch preparation training and resources to help selected entrepreneurs refine their innovation story, pitch deck, and to polish the delivery of their pitch presentation.

Falcons’ Fortunes Event 

FACIT’s premier event including the live pitch competition and networking reception is attended by many in the health innovation and start-up ecosystems from across the province.

Date: March 20, 2025
Time: 3:00 pm – 6:00 pm keynote and pitches, followed by reception and awards
Location: Vantage Venues – 16th floor (150 King Street West at University Ave) in downtown Toronto
RSVP: Registration to attend Falcons’ Fortunes will open in February 2025

Selected finalists must be available to appear in-person to pitch at the Falcons’ Fortunes event. For those based outside of the Greater Toronto Area, FACIT will reimburse travel expenses to attend the in-person pitch event. Please inquire in advance.

Key Dates

Deadline to submit Innovation Summary form
Announcement of pitch finalists
Pitch preparation webinar
1:1 pitch coaching sessions
Falcons’ Fortunes event

January 10, 2025
January 31, 2025
February 19, 2025
February 26 or 27, 2025
March 20, 2025

APPLY NOW to Pitch

submission deadline – January 10, 2025.

Past Falcons’ Fortunes Winners

SEARCH FILTERS:

Innovation Type
Cancer Type
Current Funding Stage
FACIT Fund


Sort by:

Robarts Research Institute (3D ABUS device)
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Novel, wearable, cost-effective 3D automated breast ultrasound (ABUS) device as an alternative to supplemental imaging in women with dense breasts.

AI Vali Inc
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose
Cutting-edge artificial intelligence solutions and tools that can process and analyze large medical imaging datasets accurately and in real-time, leading to better decision-making and workflow efficiencies.

PrecisionXRT
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Brain
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Falcons’ Fortunes, Prospects
PrecisionXRT specializes in stereotactic radiotherapy and radiosurgery, offering its innovative StereoRay system to deliver cutting-edge treatments.

Yellowbird Diagnostics Inc
Innovation Type:
Diagnostics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Novel PET imaging tracer, NeuCaVis, is a radiofluorinated fructose molecule that provides higher sensitivity and specificity than fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG), the current clinical gold standard PET contrast agent.

Virano Therapeutics
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Virano is bringing improved and safer gene therapies to patients. They are developing a pipeline of the next generation of enhanced gene therapies using Vector Potentiators (VEPO) and vector therapeutics for high unmet need diseases through in-house discovery and partnerships with global gene therapy players.

DTPx Therapeutics (UHN)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Other
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Falcons’ Fortunes, Prospects
DTPx Therapeutics (University Health Network) is aiming to prevent relapse in colorectal cancer patients using a novel cell-based immunotherapy targeting a newly identified group of hibernating and drug tolerant cancer cells.

Point Surgical Inc.
Innovation Type:
Diagnostics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Falcons’ Fortunes, Prospects
Instant and accurate intra-surgical identification of cancer types or subtypes in under 10 seconds through combining laser vaporization and mass spectrometry

OICR (Target prioritization platform)
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Target Prioritization Platform – an interactive, web-based application to interrogate curated knowledge databases. It leverages genomic, ‘omics’, pathway annotations and clinical data that allows users to explore and view biologically related data.

Hyivy Health
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose, Prospects
Remote patient monitoring, pelvic rehab system for gynecological and colorectal cancer patients and their clinicians

HDAX Therapeutics
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Other
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose, Prospects
A blood-brain barrier permeable HDAC6 selective inhibitors for CNS cancers based on proprietary technology that unlocks novel binding mechanism for improved next-gen targeting.

OICR (QuAccel)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Innovative quantum computing based technology (QuAccel) to screen protein-ligand interactions with higher speed and accuracy for drug discovery projects

Air Microfluidic Systems Inc.
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Falcons’ Fortunes, Prospects
Air microfluidics-enabled active compression sleeve for treating breast cancer-related lymphedema

Tenomix
Innovation Type:
Diagnostics
Cancer Type:
Other
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose, Prospects
The first-ever automated, bench-top robotic scanning device for the detection of lymph nodes in surgically removed colorectal cancer tissue, making this step less labour intensive, less costly, and more reliable resulting in better patient care.

Sunnybrook Research Institute (Dr. H. Leong)
Innovation Type:
Diagnostics
Cancer Type:
Prostate
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
At-home semen-based screening test for prostate cancer that allows easy and fast specimen collection. It consists of a compact collection kit which preserves all genetic material and then is mailed to the lab for biomarker analysis.

doctalk
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
A virtual space for physicians to better collaborate with each other and with organizations around pharmaceutical information.

Bridge7 Oncology
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Falcons’ Fortunes, Prospects
Scaling clinical expertise with AI to automate and improve the delivery of cancer care

Replica Analytics (acquired by Aetion)
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Exit
Fund:
Prospects
Modeling software to generate synthetic data that protects the individual privacy of data subjects and maintains the statistical properties of real data. This enables easy, fast and effective access to high utility data that is made portable through data simulators

Multimagnetics Inc.
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Hand-held photoacoustic device to detect tumour margins and residual disease in the surgical cavity during breast-conserving surgery

University of Toronto (Dr. R. Laposa)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Development of small-molecule inhibitors of mitochondrial RNA polymerase (POLRMT) as an anticancer strategy

Radiant Biotherapeutics
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Series A
Fund:
Compass Rose
An antibody platform company developing multi-valent, multi-specific therapeutics, called Multabodies, to deliver transformative therapies for patients.

cTRL Therapeutics
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose
Harnessing the power of cTRLs (circulating tumor-reactive lymphocytes) in the blood to unlock the next generation of solid tumor cancer therapies.

Xpan Inc
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose, Falcons’ Fortunes, Prospects
Xpan’s Universal Trocar System is a minimally invasive surgical innovation – a first of its kind, radially expanding trocar that can be tailored by surgeons during laparoscopic procedures to accommodate various sized instruments.

OICR (WD repeat platform)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
WD Repeat Platform – targeting multiple members of the essential scaffolding component of WD40 repeat domain (WDR) family with small molecules.

University of Toronto (Dr. I. Staglijar)
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
A unique system for detecting protein-protein interactions (PPI) in real time called the Split Intein-Mediated Protein Ligation (SIMPL).

Polumiros
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Falcons’ Fortunes, Prospects
ReFilx, a polymeric soft tissue filler for the permanent restoration of breast tissue defects following lumpectomy

Talon Pharmaceuticals
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Heme
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Developing a novel series of small molecule drugs to induce apoptosis and impede cancer cell proliferation

Notch Therapeutics
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Notch Therapeutics has developed best-in-class, off-the-shelf, iPSC-derived synthetic T cells of unprecedented scale and functionality to further the advancement of cellular immunotherapies for patients and their families.

OICR (ADC-linker platform)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
ADC-Linker Platform – developing novel cyclic and heterocyclic hydrazone-based linkers for antibody-drug-conjugates (ADC), allowing for “tuning” of the drug-release properties of the ADC and optimizing for desired applications,

QurCan Therapeutics (formerly Nanology Labs)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose, Prospects
QurCan Therapeutics is fostering scientific creativity and pioneering a proprietary nanoparticle drug delivery technology called TERP to accelerate ​advanced nanomedicine-based therapeutics.

16-Bit
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Prospects
Automatic analysis of screening mammograms for breast cancer

DNAstack
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose, Prospects
Development of a cloud platform for genomics data management, analysis and sharing

Dalriada Therapeutics
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Heme
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Prospects
Developing a DT-1 class of small molecules, for the treatment of leukemia, with selective cancer cell-killing activity and reduced toxicity due to a unique cloaking mechanism.

KA Imaging
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Other
Funding Stage:
Series A
Fund:
Compass Rose, Prospects
World’s first and only portable dual-energy detector, enabling bone and soft tissue differentiation in a single, highly sensitive x-ray exposure.

Radialis Medical
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Prospects
Radialis Medical is developing an advanced Positron Emission Mammography (PEM) system for highly sensitive molecular (or functional) imaging of small pre-invasive cancerous breast lesions independent of breast tissue density.

OICR (Anthracycline sensitivity diagnostic)
Innovation Type:
Diagnostics
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Molecular profiling for anthracycline sensitivity – A novel diagnostic gene test with a high degree of accuracy, to predict whether a patient would benefit from Anthracycline chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer.

Esphera SynBio
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose, Falcons’ Fortunes, Prospects
Exosome-based immunotherapies

Propellon Therapeutics
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Heme
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose
Developing potent and selective small molecule WDR5 inhibitors for the treatment of leukemias and solid tumours

Pattern Pharma (formerly Realist Pharma)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Prospects
Evaluation of survival benefit and preclinical proof of concept of a novel ganglioside-based cancer vaccine.

Queen’s University (Dr. M. Petkovich)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Heme
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Development of novel CYP26 inhibitors for the treatment of leukemia and myeloma with potential greater specificity and less toxicity than current inhibitors.

Fusion Pharmaceuticals (acquired by AstraZeneca)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Exit
Fund:
Compass Rose
Next-generation radiopharmaceuticals for precision medicine (antibody conjugate for lung cancer), providing a safer approach to targeted radiotherapy by helping the drug clear from normal, healthy tissues and reducing toxicity

Novera Therapeutics Inc.
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Heme
Funding Stage:
Seed
Fund:
Compass Rose
Development of BCL6 inhibitors for the treatment of hematological cancers

FocusOnCare
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Falcons’ Fortunes
ChemoTracker App – mobile health app to track patients’ treatment and side effects and merge with patient provider platform.

Capnostics (Acquired by PAVmed)
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Other
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
CellMate product for esophageal cell sampling for early detection in patients at high risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma

Sunnybrook Research Institute (Dr. G. Czarnota)
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Clinical low-frequency ultrasound to monitor tumor response to chemotherapy in breast cancer patients undergoing treatment.

OICR (PRoTECT breast cancer test)
Innovation Type:
Diagnostics
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Ring Study to Evaluate the PRedicTive brEast Cancer Test (PRoTECT)

Sunnybrook Research Institute (Dr. J. Gariepy)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Development of anti-CEA vaccine, for the prevention of breast cancer metastases, that generates a mostly humoural response that has shown to “break” tolerance to CEA using common adjuvants.

Ziliomics
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Compass Rose, Prospects
Development of heliotrope bioinformatics software platform

Sunnybrook Research Institute (Dr. N. Matsuura)
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Falcons’ Fortunes
Ultra-Low dose microbubbles that are only responsive to the ultrasound frequency used in cancer treatment, enabling significantly lower volumes and costs while potentially improving safety.

OICR (Self-adjuvanting vaccines)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Prospects
Fully synthetic, self-adjuvanting vaccines based on proprietary synthetic peptidoglycans linked with tumor-associated antigenic epitopes for cancer immunotherapy.

Turnstone Biologics Inc
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Series A,B,C, IPO
Fund:
Compass Rose
Developing next-generation tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) therapies by selecting the most potent and tumor-reactive T cells for potential treatment across multiple solid tumors

Fluorinov Pharma (acquired by Trillium Therapeutics)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Heme
Funding Stage:
Exit
Fund:
Compass Rose
Breakthrough medicinal chemistry technology enabling fluorine atoms linked to drug candidates to improve therapeutic potency, stability and safety. The lead candidate, FV162, is an oral proteasome inhibitor for the treatment of blood cancers.

OICR (Cellax)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Compass Rose
Cellax is a self-assembling nanoparticle drug-polymer conjugate that selectively targets tumour cells for enhanced cancer treatment with fewer side effects.

XLV Diagnostics
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Breast
Funding Stage:
Series A,B,C
Fund:
Compass Rose
X-ray light valve (XLV) for low-cost digital mammography

Privacy Analytics (acquired by IQVIA)
Innovation Type:
Informatics & AI
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Exit
Fund:
Compass Rose
Software unlocking the vast potential of medical data without compromising individual privacy or causing unacceptable distortion of the data

Arrayus Technologies (formerly Harmonic Medical)
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Liver
Funding Stage:
Series A,B,C
Fund:
Compass Rose
A system using ultrasound to both detect and treat tumours in bone and liver for the relief of pain without surgery and without expensive imaging equipment.

McMaster University (Dr. J. Valliant)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Compass Rose
Radiolabeled Insulin Probe – Insulin-like growth factor receptor 1 molecule labelled with 99-Technicium for gamma scan as a functional replacement to costly 18-FDG PET scan for tumour metabolic activity.

Triphase Accelerator Corporation
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Series A,B,C
Fund:
Compass Rose
Triphase Accelerator is dedicated to advancing novel compounds from pre-IND through Phase 2 clinical proof-of-concept studies using a unique, science-based model that is faster and more cost-effective than traditional pharmaceutical industry approaches.

Kapplex (acquired by Miroculus)
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Exit
Fund:
Compass Rose
A digital microfluidics platform for high-throughput apoptosis screening.

Xagenic (acquired by General Atomics)
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Multiple
Funding Stage:
Exit
Fund:
Compass Rose
Point-of-care platform for decentralized, rapid molecular diagnostic testing including GenEplex platform for clinically accepted leukemia biomarkers.

DLVR Therapeutics
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Liver
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Compass Rose
Novel nanoparticle delivery technology

UHN (Dr. A. Schimmer)
Innovation Type:
Therapeutics
Cancer Type:
Heme
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Compass Rose
Development of novel chemical proteosome inhibitors

Sunnybrook Research Institute (Dr. J. Filmus)
Innovation Type:
Diagnostics
Cancer Type:
Liver
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Compass Rose
Glypican-3: a novel marker for the early diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma

UHN (Dr. M. Sherar)
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Liver
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Compass Rose
Novel radiofrequency ablation technology for minimally invasive treatment of solid tumours

ArcticDx
Innovation Type:
Diagnostics
Cancer Type:
Other
Funding Stage:
Proof of Concept
Fund:
Compass Rose
Development of a colon cancer risk prediction diagnostic tool

Profound Medical
Innovation Type:
Medical Technologies
Cancer Type:
Prostate
Funding Stage:
Exit
Fund:
Compass Rose
MRI-guided transurethral ultrasound therapy for localized prostate cancer

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.

    QUESTIONS?

    For more details about the competition, contact us for more information.