OBIO Women in Health Initiative Seed Program (Canada)

Women-led companies face significant barriers when it comes to accessing financing and support systems, receiving just over 2% of venture capital funding in Canada and globally. The OBIO® Women in Health Initiative (WiHI) is committed to breaking down these barriers and creating a more equitable and supportive environment for entrepreneurship in the health science sector.

Benefits

• Participants will receive the following support:
  • As a crucial boost to their development, each selected company will receive up to $10,000 CAD in non-dilutive grant funding
  • Comprehensive advisory, coaching, learning modules, access to tools and databases, and networking opportunities to accelerate their business strategy and fundraising
  • OBIO® membership and the opportunity to participate in the 2026 OBIO® Investment Summit
  • All participating companies will be invited to a pitch competition at International Women’s Day 2026 with an opportunity for equity investment
• To graduate, companies are required to actively engage in the program, including regular meeting updates with OBIO® and participation in specific workshops throughout the program’s term.

Program Duration

• The OBIO® WiHI Seed Program is a 6-month program.

Eligibility Criteria 

• To be eligible for the program, your company must meet the following criteria:
  • Be a private, high-potential health science company based in Ontario
  • Focus on developing human health science products, including but not limited to medical devices, diagnostics, digital health and therapeutics
  • Have either woman-identified ownership and/or women-identified management representation with senior-level, strategic decision C-suite roles (e.g., CEO, CSO, CFO)
  • Raised less than $3M CAD in dilutive capital

For more information, visit OBIO.