Seven startup ventures founded by UBC Faculty of Medicine community members have joined the 51st cohort of UBC’s Venture Founder program to help address global challenges in areas including cancer, diabetes treatment and student mental health.
They are among 28 new ventures from across UBC, half of which are co-led by women founders. The startups focus on key topics including AI, biotechnology, healthcare, sustainability, cultural innovation and advanced engineering.
Venture Founder is one of Innovation UBC’s flagship programs, guiding early-stage ventures through experiential workshops, mentorship and foundational training.
The UBC Faculty of Medicine is home to a dynamic community of entrepreneurs who are turning research and discoveries into transformative health solutions. Together, they play a pivotal role in powering B.C.’s life sciences sector — the fastest growing in Canada — which now includes more than 2,000 companies, many of which are UBC spin-offs or lead by UBC community members.
UBC Medicine-affiliated ventures
- Beyond Ozempic
Improving type two diabetes treatment with a new class of drug that improves insulin sensitivity.
Faculties: Medicine, Science
Team: Ed Conway (Founder), Kevin Gonzalez (Team Member), Paniz Ghavimi (Team Member)
- C7Bio
Progression of drug to clinical usage improving cancer treatment by blocking the degradation of genomic instability.
Faculty: Medicine
Team: Alastair Kyle (Co-Founder), Andrew Minchinton (Co-Founder)
- ConsensX (formerly CLEAR AI)
Scribing and connecting diverse health voices for transparent, evidence-based decisions.
Faculties: Applied Science, Medicine
Team: Bhushan Gopaluni (Co-Founder), Ibrahim Yousef (Co-Founder), Kendall Ho (Co-Founder)
- ImmunoWell
Providing an immunity test for the vulnerable to improve health.
Faculty: Medicine
Team: Shirin Kalyan (Co-Founder), Neeraja Punde (Co-Founder), Malcolm Kendall (Advisor), Jorg Gsponer (Co-Founder)
- Intellimed Health
Multiplying physician capacity to improve patient access through safe automation.
Faculty: Medicine
Team: Renata Lewis (Founder)
- Minder
Delivering evidence-based resources to promote students’ mental wellbeing.
Faculty: Medicine
Team: Chris Richardson (Team Member), Angel Wang (Co-Founder), Daniel Vigo (Co-Founder), Tiana Mori (Team Member), Melissa Vereschagin (Co-Founder)
- Threesino
Delivering specialty photopolymers to empower Canadian innovators and manufacturers.
Faculties: Science, Applied Science, Medicine
Team: Hossein Yazhani (Co-Founder), Iraj Dehghan Hamani (Team Member), Parisa Golesorkhi (Co-Founder)