Spotlight on Neuro-Innovation at NeuroSphere's Demo Day
On Friday, November 8, 2024, NeuroSphere held its Demo Day at Maison Alcan in Montreal, with support from sponsors Gowling WLG and the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation (CABHI). The event drew over 160 members of Canada's innovation ecosystem for a full day of pitches, panels and networking.
Fourteen startups, including McGill-based and external ventures showcased their innovations through pitches: 
- Remote Optical (pitch by Jeremy Zwaig)
- WillTher (pitch by Salah El Mestikawy)
- Brainscores (pitch by Boris Bernhardt)
- AVAtalk Technologies (pitch by Ossei Williams and Gail Myhr)
- BitHealix (pitch by Yannis Trakadis)
- Kelello Health (pitch by David Singh)
- NovusTX Devices (pitch by Michael Pflug)
- A4i (pitch by Andrew Hvizd)
- Nospharma (pitch by Anmol Nagpal, pictured here)
- Lasso Informatics (pitch by Leigh MacIntyre)
- PhysioBiometrics (pitch by Nancy Mayo)
- Neuro Solutions Group (pitch by Annie Martineau)
- Perceiv AI (pitch by Christian Dansereau)
- Kinesix VR Therapeutics (Nicolás Jiménez)
The jury, which featured Garth Smith, Ron Shlien, Denis V. Keseris and Stephanie Mouchbahani-Constance, provided insightful feedback and awarded WillTher and Neuro Solutions Group the Jury Awards (with a special mention to Kinesix VR Therapeutics). After a public vote, Brainscores and Nospharma took home the Audience Award. Congratulations!
The morning panel, moderated by Alan MacIntosh, explored commercialization for impact-focused startups, with contributions from Jean-Philippe Taillon, Claudia Vezeau, Valérie Bonnardel-Vacqué, Josh Pottel and Mathieu Paquette. In the afternoon, George Elvira led a discussion on challenges and opportunities specific to neuroscience startups with panelists Helen Loughrey, Marielle Montenegro, David Singh and Garth Smith.
Parallel to the main event and in collaboration with MEDTEQ+, an afternoon session highlighted McGill's core facilities funded by HBHL and NeuroSphere. Closing remarks were presented by Tyler Redublo from CABHI. 
Designed to emphasize the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in neuroscience research and innovation, Demo Day was a resounding success. Thank you to all speakers and attendees! View the full event gallery.
Thank you to our ecosystem partners: the McGill Innovation Fund, McGill Engine Centre, McGill Dobson Centre for Entrepreneurship, Clinical Innovation Platform (CLIP), McGill Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Centech MTL, District 3 Innovation and CAMH.
