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Groups like MaRS and OCE exist to offer funding and managerial guidance to help entrepreneurs take their great con- cept to market. Our role at MaRS is to help innovators bridge this commercialization gap. We provide advisory services, market intelligence and seed funding in conjunc-

tion with OCE

Veronika Litinski is the Director of MaRS Venture Group. For assistance in drafting this article, thanks to Kevin Downing, Asso- ciate with MaRS Venture Group

All Science Challenge - a science quiz competition for Grade 6, 7 and 8 students from over 15 schools in the greater Toronto area. Designed by students for students, it's a fun-filled day of competition and camaraderie that's part of a nationwide program to excite and inspire the next generation of scientists.

Tuesday May 19th, 2009.

Toronto ON.

Toronto’s MaRS Discovery District has combined the creative genius of science and technology with the drive of entrepreneurs and capital to create a marriage that will see more Canadian ideas commercialized in this country and for those efforts it has won the Canadian Urban Institute’s 2009 Creative City Award to be granted to MaRS on June 5 at the Urban Leadership Awards in Toronto.

“MaRS has found a creative way for science and business to collaborate rather than compete and to help Canada become a knowledge-based economy. This award recognizes them as a leader in stimulating the creative capacity of the city and advancing entrepreneurship, not only in science and technology but also in social ventures. 

Located in the Discovery District of Toronto, where billions of dollars of creative capital are created every year, the MaRS Centre first opened in 2005 in two new towers that bookend a heritage building that once housed the Toronto General Hospital. The three buildings, that total 700,000 sq. ft, house labs, companies of all sizes, business advisors and investors. Its professional services include hands-on advisory services, entrepreneurial programming and both structured and electronic networking. A second building phase of the MaRS Centre will add 750,000 sq ft and is planned to open in the next few years. “The underlining reason for creating MaRS is to capture the value of Canadian discoveries and to better commercialize these innovations at home in Canada,” said MaRS CEO Ilse Treurnicht. “Hub cities like Toronto are key drivers in shaping Canada’s innovation economy. MaRS works to strengthen the pull of that hub, acting as an accelerator and building the best ideas into companies that can compete on the world stage but are anchored here,” said Treurnicht.

MaRS aggregates the discovery pipelines of its member institutions, which include three universities, 10 academic teaching hospitals, and the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research.

MaRS is another good example. Located in the heart of downtown Toronto, the MaRS facility is less than a mile from five major teaching hospitals, the Ontario legislature, and the University of Toronto. More than two dozen research institutes and Toronto’s financial district are also nearby.

Consequently, MaRS is a vertical incubator, with a wide variety of companies and stages of development. That mix helps companies better understand the conditions that foster growth. MaRS is home to more than 65 organizations, including The Hospital for Sick Children, the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research, Merck Frosst Canada, the McEwen Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Celtic House Venture Partners, AIM Therapeutics, and AstraZeneca Canada.

Minister of Research and Innovation John Wilkinson is guest of honour as Ontario's research and education advanced technology community gathers to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the world-leading Ontario Research and Innovation Optical Network (ORION)

MaRS Collaboration Centre - Auditorium 101 College Street, Toronto

: Collaboration Room 2 MaRS Centre 101 College Street Toronto, Ontario

GE will unveil a global healthcare initiative, which is being launched in fives cities around the world, including Toronto.

MaRS Centre