Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator

Accel-Rx Health Sciences Accelerator is a national accelerator launched in 2014 to support seed stage health innovation companies developing pharmaceuticals, medical devices, and diagnostics.  Accel-Rx accelerates companies towards key value inflection points utilizing the Accel-Rx Growth Platform© comprised of seed capital and programs promoting business leadership.  Accel-Rx employs a customized approach to ensuring companies become “investor ready”, and offers a full range of programs to address early-stage operating needs including mentorship, business services, training and networking.  Accel-Rx also stimulates co-investment with angels, venture capitalists, foundations, strategic partners, corporate ventures to enable Series A acceleration.  Furthermore, Accel-Rx and founding partner, BDC Capital, provide up to $1M in funding to accelerate companies, this is then further matched by third party investors. Accel-Rx has built a leading seed-stage investment team of industry veterans with a robust screening and investment process recognized by angels and venture capital firms across Canada.  So far Accel-Rx has screened over 175 companies and has made 9 investments, which show over time an increase in the size of funding rounds and the number and quality of investors.  Four portfolio companies have raised $34.6 million in follow-on financing. Furthermore, Accel-Rx has created and led two Emerging Company Forums in Niagara and Whistler involving 29 companies and 19 panelists in order to increase networks and provide feedback/advice to companies from North American industry leaders.  Additionally, Accel-Rx has created the first national mentoring program designed for health science entrepreneurs.

Delegate Contacts

Ms. Natalie DakersFounding President and CEOP: 1 778 379 7406

Natalie Dakers is a leading figure in the Canadian biopharmaceutical industry and is one of BC’s most influential women. With four start-up companies to her credit, she’s known for getting things done. Natalie is currently President and CEO of Accel-Rx, Canada’s national health sciences accelerator. Prior to Accel-Rx, she was founding President and CEO of CDRD Ventures Inc., the commercial arm of the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) that supported company creation. Natalie was also the founding CEO of the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD), a national Centre for Excellence for Commercialization and Research. She also co-founded Neuromed Pharmaceuticals Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company developing drugs for chronic pain, anxiety, epilepsy, and cardiovascular diseases and raised $70 million in three rounds of venture financing. Natalie is currently a board member of BIOTECanada and Augurex Inc. and an Adjunct Professor in UBC’s Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences. She’s served on many local, national, and private company boards and advisory panels and has garnered numerous honours most recently the 2015 Startup Canada’s Entrepreneur of the year award.

Mr. Frédéric Lemaitre AugerSenior Director, InvestmentsP: 1 514 445 7603

Frédéric brings extensive health sciences venture capital expertise to Accel-Rx through his prior involvement with Desjardins Venture Capital and CDP Capital – Technology Venture (Sofinov) where he was involved in both biopharmaceutical and medical device deals. At Sofinov, he was involved in investments such as NuVasive, Inhibitex, IntraLuminal Therapeutics, Acurian, and TransMedics. While at Desjardins, he showed significant leadership in the creation and management of a profitable early-stage health sciences investment portfolio that included, amongst others, BioAxone Therapeutics, Enobia Pharma, and Tranzyme. In recent years, Frédéric was involved in project-based investments, as well as developing licensing and spin-off opportunities at MSBi Valorisation (now Aligo Innovation). He has served on the board of directors of many health sciences company and has been involved on organizing committees of conferences such as MedTech North and Advamed. Frédéric holds an MBA in Finance and International Management from HEC Montréal, a M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Polymer Physical Chemistry, both from Université de Montréal.

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