Moncton, New Brunswick-based Emergence client, Pfera Inc., was named the winner of this year’s BioInnovation Challenge at BioPort Atlantic 2017, which took place in Halifax October 17-18.
Lisa Pfister, founder and CEO of Pfera Inc.
Pfera, currently developing non-invasive biotechnology solutions for equine breeding programs, was deemed the most attractive for investment by a panel of judges and the conference audience.
The company provides an accurate birth prediction tool using unique bio-based data points against a proprietary algorithm to predict the birth of an impending foal.
This year’s Panel of Judges included:
Denise Lalanne, Director of Innovation Services-IWK Health Centre, Halifax
Paul Bradley, President of MedTech Consulting, Toronto
Ron Keefe, CEO of the Regis Duffy BioScience Fund Inc., Charlottetown
Emergence Director, Martin Yuill, joins Pfera in celebrating their win in the 2017 BioInnovation Challenge
Lisa Pfister, founder and CEO of Pfera, told us that she is “… really excited about what the future holds for Pfera. We really enjoyed the whole BioInnovation Challenge process. The mentorship and training were invaluable and we will make good use of our cash and in-kind services to take us to the next level.”
Pfera will receive a prize package that includes $15,000 in seed funding and an advisory services package worth more than $30,000 including services provided by Emergence financial partner, Grant Thornton; Jennifer Cameron PR; Emergence risk management partner, JLT Canada; and Sandler Training.
With evaluation criteria such as adaptability, market pull and consumer readiness, Pfera Inc. edged out the competition with higher marks from the panelists and conference audience.
The BioInnovation Challenge was created by BioNova, Nova Scotia’s life sciences industry association and a number of partners to help ease the transition from research laboratory to market. This year marked the fifth time Atlantic-based companies from outside of Nova Scotia competed. BioNova partnered with its sister organizations, BioNB and Emergence to open the competition to participants outside of Nova Scotia.