Prospects Oncology Fund

FACIT’s Prospects Fund is designed to support early stage proof-of-concept (POC) studies within Ontario academic institutions and start-ups that fit with FACIT’s Ontario First investment strategy and have the potential to act as deal flow for the Compass Rose Fund. Prospects funding typically ranges between $50,000 and $200,000.

The submission deadline for the March round is March 31, 2024

Prospects Fund Profile:

Typical Funding per Project$50k to $200k, one-time payment
Project DurationUp to one year
EligibilityOntario-based academic researchers and start-ups in the oncology space
Type of Investment*Grant-like with certain rights for FACIT
Qualifying Investment ProfileInnovative technology not incremental advance; A clear path forward for commercialization; A discrete project with quantifiable outcomes tied to funding; Oncology-related and located in Ontario; Has Ontario IP or is likely to create it
Main Goal of InvestmentFunds should enable development and/or market research to advance the technology and support or ascertain proof-of-concept
*Funding is governed by a contract which grants certain rights to FACIT. FACIT receives no financial consideration on Prospects awards of $50,000 or less. On all other awards, FACIT receives an option to make an investment at the Compass Rose level and act as the agent for commercialization, if mutually agreed.  If the option is exercised, funding received from the Prospects Fund will be credited towards FACIT’s Compass Rose investment.

“We are at a pivotal moment in our company’s development and are fortunate to benefit from FACIT’s continued support and resources which are fuelling Xpan’s growth and accelerating our journey to commercialization”

Mr. Zaid Atto, Founder and CEO of Xpan. (2020)

How to apply:

The Prospects Fund has two independent application rounds per year, with pre-submission forms accepted by:

  • March 31  
  • September 30

Late applications will not be considered. Selected applicants will then be invited to prepare a Prospects funding package, which is subject to due diligence by FACIT and final approval by FACIT’s Board of Directors.

Download a sample copy of the Prospects Fund Submission Form to preview the questions and information requested. Please do not use this sample form to submit your application. Only online submission forms using the link below will be accepted.

The submission deadline for the March round is March 31, 2024

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    Learn more about how we are driving made-in-Ontario oncology innovations reach the market.

    Projects Recently Funded By The Prospects Oncology Fund

    SEARCH FILTERS:

    Innovation Type
    Cancer Type
    Current Funding Stage
    FACIT Fund


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    OICR

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    Enhanced Target Screening for WD Repeat Platform

    Sunnybrook Research Institute

    Innovation Type:
    Diagnostics
    Cancer Type:
    Prostate
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    At-home prostate cancer screening kit

    Hyivy Health

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

    Virano Therapeutics

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    Developing the next generation of enhanced gene therapies using Vector Potentiators (VEPO)

    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 secons through combining laser vaporization and mass spectrometry

    OICR

    Innovation Type:
    Informatics & AI
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    OICR Target Prioritization Platform

    HDAX Therapeutics

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Other
    Funding Stage:
    Proof Of Concept
    Fund:
    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

    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:
    Proof of Concept
    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.

    doctalk

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

    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 (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

    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:
    Proof of Concept
    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

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    WD Repeat Platform

    Sunnybrook Research Institute

    Innovation Type:
    Diagnostics
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    Algorithm to predict breast cancer patient response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy

    University of Toronto (Perturba)

    Innovation Type:
    Medical Technologies
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    Split Intein-Mediated Protein Ligation (SIMPL): a unique and disruptive system for detecting PPIs in real time

    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

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    ADC-Linker Platform

    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:
    Seed
    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.

    Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    pancreas
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Falcons’ Fortunes
    Development of a Multi-mechanistic Vaccinia Virus-based Platform for the Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer

    OICR

    Innovation Type:
    Diagnostics
    Cancer Type:
    Breast
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    Molecular Profiling for Anthracycline Sensitivity in Patients receiving Chemo for Breast Cancer

    Propellon Therapeutics Inc. (Triphase Accelerator)

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Heme
    Funding Stage:
    Exit
    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

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Heme
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    Development of Novel CYP26 Inhibitors for the treatment of AML

    Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc

    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 Development

    Capnostics

    Innovation Type:
    Medical Technologies
    Cancer Type:
    Other
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    CellMate product for esophageal cell sampling. Acquired by PAVmed.

    Sunnybrook Research Institute

    Innovation Type:
    Medical Technologies
    Cancer Type:
    Breast
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    External Clinical Validation Study of a Quantitative Ultrasound Spectral Analysis Platform For Monitoring Tumor Response In Women Receiving Neoadjuvent Chemotherapy for Locally Advanced Breast Cancer

    OICR

    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

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Breast
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    Evaluation of immune responses engendered in CEA transgenic mice by a vaccine formulation composed of a recombinant CEA N domain antigen and GSK AS15 adjuvant

    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

    Innovation Type:
    Medical Technologies
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Falcons’ Fortunes
    Ultra-Low Dose Microbubbles for Cancer

    OICR

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Prospects
    Fully synthetic, self-adjuvanting vaccines incorporating tumor-associated antigenic epitopes for cancer immunotherapy

    Turnstone Biologics Inc

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Series A,B,C
    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 (Trillium)

    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 (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

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Compass Rose
    Development of Radiolabeled Insulin Probe

    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

    Innovation Type:
    Medical Technologies
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Exit
    Fund:
    Compass Rose
    A Digital Microfluidics Platform for High-Throughput Apoptosis Screening

    Xagenic

    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

    University of Toronto (Receptor-OncoTek)

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Other
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Compass Rose
    Preclinical development of PoLi-PTX, Intraperitoneal Ovarian Cancer Therapy

    DVS Sciences (Fluidigm/Standard BioTools)

    Innovation Type:
    Medical Technologies
    Cancer Type:
    Multiple
    Funding Stage:
    Exit
    Fund:
    Compass Rose
    Flow cytometer-mass spectrometer for multi-parametric cell and bead analysis

    UHN (TorCell Therapeutics)

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Heme
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Compass Rose
    Novel T-cell Immunotherapy (autologous cellular therapy)

    UHN

    Innovation Type:
    Therapeutics
    Cancer Type:
    Heme
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Compass Rose
    Development of novel chemical proteosome inhibitors

    Sunnybrook Research Institute

    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

    Innovation Type:
    Medical Technologies
    Cancer Type:
    Liver
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Compass Rose
    Novel Radio Frequency Ablation Technology for 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

    Robarts Research Institute

    Innovation Type:
    Medical Technologies
    Cancer Type:
    Prostate
    Funding Stage:
    Proof of Concept
    Fund:
    Compass Rose
    3D ultrasound-guided intraoperative and dynamic minimally invasive trans-perineal prostate therapy and biopsy platform

    Profound Medical

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