Pre-commercial Business Development Fund (PBDF)

This competition is closed. All submitted proposals will be assessed according to the process outlined in the competition timeline, and results will be announced as indicated.

PBDF Pre-commercial business development fund, ontario genomics banner. there is a blue lightbulb that is lit up in the left-hand corner

Ontario Genomics, through its Pre-commercial Business Development Fund (PBDF), is a committed investment partner supporting late-stage academic research and early-stage companies developing promising “’omics [1]” and ’omics-enabled technologies.

The PBDF is an investment fund uniquely focused on enabling the advancement of Ontario ’omics research projects and technology development toward commercialization and economic impact. Specifically, it aims to provide early-stage financial support as companies (with or without academic collaborators) move towards commercial applications, to speed up the transfer of products from R&D to market.

The Partnership

The fund invests up to C$100,000 per project. Our partnership with recipients includes not only financing, but also mentorship and guidance during the programs’ execution phase and thereafter based on our strong understanding of ’omics technologies and their potential commercial applications. Previous recipients of PBDF funding have included Ontario universities, research institutes and start-up companies.

Our Objectives

  • Create downstream economic benefits from ’omics research;
  • Support scientific entrepreneurs and start-ups; and
  • Generate returns for future PBDF investments.

Areas of Interest

Broad areas of interest for the PBDF include (but are not restricted to):

  • Biofuels, bioproducts
  • Human or animal diagnostics
  • Human or animal therapeutics
  • Crop or livestock trait improvements
  • Environmental management (related to water, mining, energy, other)
  • Forestry, natural resources
  • Laboratory and medical devices
  • Food, nutrition
  • Informatics including databases, software, other tools

Funding Criteria

We look for promising projects or opportunities that:

  • Leverage ’omics and associated technologies, and
  • Fall in the proof-of-principle (validation) phase of research.

We look for a balance of best-in-class, innovative science and high commercial potential.

The PBDF ranks opportunities in terms of the extent to which they meet the following criteria:

  • The investment would increase the likelihood of a near-term (i.e. within 24 months), ‘next-step’ event by offering concrete, definitive milestone(s) and uniquely enables rapid progress towards the marketplace for the outcome(s) of ’omics and related technologies.
  • The company should be capable of, and committed to, commercialization of the outcome of the project.
  • The proposal demonstrates that the PBDF represents a unique funding opportunity for the project at this stage.  Although matching funds (cash or in-kind) are required, a 1:1 match is not necessary.
  1. where “’omics” includes genomics, proteomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, bioinformatics and other related disciplines that involve systematic, comprehensive and high-throughput procedures to study cellular constituents and function

Key Dates

January 23, 2017

Application deadline

February 2017

Notice of Initial Assessment

April 2017

Notice of Award