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On March 21, 2024, NeuroSphere hosted its inaugural Demo Day event, highlighting six startups pioneering various facets of neuroscience. The event attracted a diverse audience, including venture capital groups, innovation ecosystem partners, government officials, researchers and trainees. The event served to showcase the dedication, innovation and collaborative spirit of both participating startups and the NeuroSphere brand. 

About us, NeuroSphere 

At its core, NeuroSphere is a neuroscience innovation accelerator with a dynamic interdisciplinary team dedicated to exploring the vast potential of neuroscience and technology. A dedicated ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ group funded through Healthy Brains, Healthy Lives (HBHL), NeuroSphere provides support, fosters innovation and makes connections to drive neuroscience innovation forward. NeuroSphere’s mission is to harness the power of various disciplines in neuroscience to create innovative solutions that enhance human health and well-being. With that goal, NeuroSphere has supported 80+ impactful projects, 11 startups, 60+ reports of inventions, 30+ licenses and patents, and has partnered with many prominent ecosystem players in Quebec and Canada to help drive innovation forward at ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ. 

The road to Demo Day

Preparing for Demo Day was no ordinary feat. Participating startups have been working hard with NeuroSphere for years, receiving close strategic support from the team on their commercial and scientific strategy and sound mentorship/guidance from Laurent Balenci, the group’s Entrepreneur-In-Residence, to help orient these projects towards commercial objectives. The event-specific preparation required months of planning and coordination, mentoring and coaching to refine messaging and presentation skills (check out the Pitch Workshops blog post). Supporting this ramp-up to Demo-Day was Pierre D’Amour, a veteran communicator with 30+ years of experience in corporate communications and pitch coaching, who provided extensive training to our startup founders, refining their pitch to address the diverse audience present at this event. With this support, participating startups overcame challenges, sharpened their presentations and emerged with enthusiasm to showcase their innovative technologies to attendees! Below is the list of NeuroSphere-supported startups who participated in the Demo Day along with a brief description of their technology: 

1. PhysioBiometrics (Nancy Mayo - nancy.mayo [at] mcgill.ca) - PhysioBiometrics is enhancing the quality of life for the aging populationÌý²¹²Ô»å patients with neurological complications through Heel2Toe, a wearable sensor providing continuous therapy for walking and gait issues. 

2. Brainscores (Raul Rodriguez Cruces - raul.rodriguezcruces [at] mcgill.ca) - Brainscores utilizes AI to enhance the certainty of epilepsy diagnoses, streamlining the treatment process through a collaborative platform. 

3. Remote Optical (Jeremy Zwaig - jeremy.zwaig [at] mail.mcgill.ca) - Remote Optical is revolutionizing eye care with cutting-edge technology and AI, facilitating remote examinations to bridge the gap in underserved communities. 

4. DendroTek Biosciences Inc.– (Jean-Pierre Clement - jean-pierre.clement [at] mail.mcgill.ca)  - Dendrotek's synthetic polymer streamlines cell culturing, boosting cell growth efficiency and enabling researchers to tackle crucial health challenges more effectively. 

5. Avatalk (Mohamad Matout - mohamad.matout [at] avatalkapp.com) - Avatalk is revolutionizing AVATAR therapy accessibility, aiming to treat Schizophrenia and other psychiatric conditions effectively on a broader scale. 

6. Nospharma (Anmol Nagpal - anmol [at] nospharma.ca) - Nospharma is pioneering a single-treatment approach utilizing small molecules and peptides to target key pathologies in rare genetic disorders, offering promising advancements in treatment. 

Highlighting innovation and embracing collaboration 

Demo Day was a celebration of innovation in its various forms. Each of the six startups presented a unique and innovative solution to the jury panel. These solutions all address real-world problems ranging from assisting individuals with disabilities to improving mental well-being to therapeutic solutions for rare diseases. One of the most rewarding parts of the Demo Day was the strong sense of collaboration present at the event. Attendees and the startups had the opportunity to connect with industry experts, investors and members of the innovation ecosystem who share NeuroSphere’s passion for advancing neuroscience and developing innovative solutions to pressing problems. The Demo Day was effective in garnering interest from certain investors and able to effectively captivate the attention of ecosystem stakeholders, generally generating excitement around participating startups and their projects. Exchanges and feedback shared during and following the event have been incredibly valuable to participating startups and their projects, inspiring the NeuroSphere community to continue pushing the boundaries of neuroscience innovation!Ìý

Looking forward

As NeuroSphere reflects on the success of our first Demo Day, we are filled with gratitude for everyone who has supported our activities along the way. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to our valued Demo Day sponsors, , Ìý²¹²Ô»å , for their generous support in NeuroSphere’s Inaugural Demo Day. We are also grateful for the dedication of the participating startups, to all those who made the effort to attend and contribute to the event, to those who provided feedback and to those who simply cheered the process on! Your support was invaluable. Moving forward, NeuroSphere is excited to build upon the momentum of Demo Day and continue our journey supporting ³ÉÈËVRÊÓƵ’s innovative neuroscience projects, bringing these solutions one step closer to users.

Stay connected with us 

Are you enthusiastic about neuroscience, entrepreneurship or innovation? Join NeuroSphere at our upcoming events! Whether you are a student, researcher, entrepreneur or simply intrigued by the intersection of neuroscience and technology, there is a place for you in the NeuroSphere community. NeuroSphere is eager to explore and support innovative ideas you may have. Be sure to check out our website, follow us on and subscribe to to stay updated on our latest projects, events and opportunities.  

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