BC Business
Augurex Life Sciences and Clarius Mobile Health are two of the firms that will see investment
Sometimes it’s hard to get a grasp on exactly what companies in the tech sector do, and how powerful their innovations can be. Clarius Mobile Health made sure that wouldn’t be a problem during its media tour and press conference announcing new government on Thursday morning.
In one of the company’s breakout rooms in its office nestled in the Broadway Tech Centre in Vancouver, the company had a model laid out on a hospital bed as Dr. Oron Frenkel and Clarius CEO Ohad Arazi demonstrated how to use the company’s ultrasound technology to allow health workers handheld access to medical imaging in real time.
The model’s patellar tendon was isolated and scanned for thickness in less than 10 seconds. To our very untrained eyes, it looked like the tendon was healthy.
“The portability and accessibility of it,” remarked federal minister of export promotion, international trade and economic development Mary Ng. “Rural communities can use it and… we can grow it into the international marketplace.”
While the former use is obviously of huge importance (and Dr. Frenkel remarked that the technology has already saved lives in northern regions), Ng is of course focused on establishing the international market for the product. To that end, the government will be providing $3.385 million to Clarius toward helping the company implement new sales models in international markets.
Clairus, which has some 150 employees, is one of seven Vancouver companies receiving almost $14 million in funding from the government through PacifiCan‘s Business Scale-Up and Productivity program and Jobs and Growth Fund.
“We are delighted that the government of Canada has committed to grow our business in British Columbia with this funding and to help us fuel our global growth,” said Clarius President and CEO Ohad Arazi. “We’re grateful to have access to an excellent local talent pool for artificial intelligence, machine learning, bio-medical engineering and manufacturing that enables us to onshore our production and to keep our intellectual property in B.C.”
Also receiving funding from the government were: Augurex Life Sciences, to help commercialize a new blood test for earlier detection an monitoring of rheumatoid arthritis; Fintel Connect Technologies, to expand its sales and marketing teams; BC Tech Association, to help deliver training programs throughout B.C.; restaurant-focused digital platform Craver Solutions, to create a marketing strategy and expand its sales team; CarboNet Nanotechnologies, to commercialize and scale-up an innovative biodegradable product for wastewater treatment; and Quanto Tech Solutions to expand its vertical farm operation to grow crops like lettuce, basil and parsley.