Technology Enabling Child Health Innovations (TECHi)

CHEO is investing in innovation:
Supporting innovators moving products from ideation to commercialization

CHEO has expanded their service offerings with the inception of an innovations team, TECHi (Technology Enabling Child Health Innovations), whose purpose is to is create a rich support ecosystem designed for healthcare innovators who aim to improve the lives of children and youth.

TECHi collaborates with promising and innovative start-up companies that align with CHEO’s mission. Learn about some of the innovative projects TECHI is a part of.

CHEO is a global leader in pediatric health care and research. We are a founding member of Kids Health Alliance, a network of partners working to create a high quality, standardized and coordinated approach to pediatric health care in Ontario that is centered around children, youth and their families.  

Our objective

Working in close partnership with CHEO’s Research Institute, CHEO, and the CHEO Foundation, TECHi’s main objective is advancing healthcare innovation by partnering with early stage companies and technologies that have the potential to transform and elevate the healthcare industry.  

As we partner with promising innovators that align with CHEO’s mission, we aim to help them validate their technology, facilitate the production and implementation of their products into clinical practice at CHEO, and more broadly across the pediatric network in Canada – and beyond. 

For a better understanding of the need for innovation programs like TECHi, read the following op-ed by Dr. Jason Berman, CEO and Scientific Director at the CHEO Research Institute and Vice-President of Research at CHEO, published in the Ottawa Business Journal “With healthcare in crisis, let’s have the audacity to innovate a better way forward.”

Our program

The program helps translate health technologies into pediatric care solutions, by coupling clinical champions with technology providers to co-develop and validate innovative health-care products.

Our team can support innovators and start-ups in the following ways:

Navigation

Provide peer-to-peer support through the complex pathways of health innovation, initiated both within CHEO and externally. Advocacy and navigation to ensure that new innovations can be easily adopted upon product readiness and that innovative external partners can quickly and successfully navigate these institutions.

Mentorship

Link innovators with business mentors to guide them through the innovation journey and prepare them for future commercial opportunities, including business planning, product development, distribution channels, and if appropriate to help bring the innovator to seed funding stage.

Incubator services

Provide expertise from trusted partner organizations and business mentors to review and vet innovations and collaborations. The most promising innovations or co-developed solutions will be supported towards implementation and scale.

Partnership at the level of clinical care

Families, clinicians, technology partners and skilled hospital-based testing teams within the clinical setting will be enabled to put cutting-edge technology into the hands of individuals who can benefit while continuing the acceleration process.

Get Involved
Collaborate with TECHi

If you are an innovator or early-stage start up, bring your product and innovative ideas to us. Learn how!   

To qualify for the program, you must:

  • Have an innovation/health-tech product offering at TRL 4 or above
  • Be ready to engage in trials and/or regulatory applications
  • Have some form of funding to support your work and clinical activities
  • Have a clear business strategy and target market

What can you expect when collaborating with us: 

  • Collaboration with industry leaders and clinical champions within CHEO 
  • Expert navigation through the healthcare innovation pathway 
  • Consultation and guidance from experienced, successful start-ups 
  • Liberty to connect with our network of TECHi partners  
  • Opportunities to test products and use cases 
  • Funding opportunities and pitch training
  • Access to innovation events 
  • Product management tools and resources 

If your company, or product, qualifies for the program and could benefit from any of the services offered, we encourage you to connect with us through [email protected].

Innovation in action: collaborations

TECHi has had some wonderful opportunities over the last year to work with, and support, innovators who’s passion and focus is to support children and youth rehabilitation through the means of technological innovations. The program continues to bring on early-stage start ups and innovators in order to help translate new technologies into pediatric care solutions.   

Learn about some of the collaborations and projects we have supported, or are currently, supporting.  

Meet our CHEO innovators

The innovation core extends across the CHEO hospital, research institute and foundation.  Members of the Innovation Task Force include:

TECHi Team

  • Matthew Bromwich, ENT & Director
  • Jim Bottomley, Innovation Manager
  • Sarah Cairns, Product Manager
  • Andrea Pepe, Research Coordinator

Innovators and leaders in pediatric health care

Contact us

If you have an innovative idea or question about our program please contact us. We’re always looking to learn about and collaborate on new ideas to drive forward health care innovation. 

Reach out to us at [email protected].