Startups in the fields of medical imaging, advanced manufacturing, construction, and travel were among the winners of the Velocity Fund Finals, which took place today (2/27) at the Tannery Event Centre in downtown Kitchener.
The winners will receive, for the first time in the competition's history, direct equity investments worth $50,000 each - a move announced in January that is aimed at benefiting both startups and investors.
ClearVoxel Imaging, a medical company that aims to help radiologists diagnose patients more quickly and accurately, was among the recipients of the grand prize. Their prototype, which uses eye-tracking and analytics, has been tested with 40 different radiologists. They have two hospitals currently signed up for pilot studies.
Co-founded by University of Waterloo Computer Engineering graduate Zamir Khan, along with Western University PhD graduate Yann Gagnon, ClearVoxel has been working out of the Velocity Garage startup incubator to bridge the innovation-to-adoption gap in medical imaging. The startup said the $50K investment will help them accelerate validation pilot studies in Canada and the U.S.
"We wanted to see the standard of care raised by the wider adoption of exciting image analysis technologies," Gagnon said. "At first, we thought it was an IT problem. But radiologists insisted that current radiology workstations are overwhelmingly burdensome. One more click is one click too many when it comes to adopting new technologies."
April 30, 2024
