By the Numbers:
The following chart depicts what a typical American health innovator expects to raise in the Pre-Series A stage versus a Canadian innovator.

Excluding exchange, the total is virtually the same. That is, $4.3 million for the American innovator versus $4.0 million for the Canadian. In both cases they each raise $2.0 million in Initial Seed funding and either already have, or are pitching/applying to their respective typical non-dilutive funding sources.

The chart has been broken into the two time frames based on the US SBIR/STTR Phases (e.g. Phase 1 to cover an initial six month period followed by up to nearly $2.0 million for a Phase 2, 2-year period). The Canadian numbers reflect what is often raised for the same time cycles from the various government grants, tax rebates (e.g. SR&ED), and allied sources.

The big difference is the mandatory Commercialization Plan required for the US funding, which can account for up to one-third of the total SBIR amount awarded. Per the chart, this amounts to over $700,000, or 31% of the non-dilutive money raised can support commercial purposes like:

• Expanded IP,
• Freedom to Operate opinions,
• Consultants (e.g. commercialization, regulatory, reimbursement, marketing, etc.)
• Conferences & Trade Shows,
• Collaborator meetings,
• Additional licenses,
• Interns.

How a Canadian innovator can start to level the playing field, when lacking a similar amount of commercialization funding, is the core objective of C.H.I.E.F.S.