Two Kitchener-based medical technology companies to ramp up thanks to funding boost

Vena Medical's camera is inserted into a tube.

Two companies from Kitchener are getting a big funding boost from the Ontario government through its Life Sciences Scale-Up Fund.

Intellijoint Surgical Inc. is known for its orthopaedic medical technologies. According to the provincial government, the company will receive $450,000 from the Life Sciences Scale-Up Fund to support 34 existing positions and create three new jobs. That funding is in addition to a $1.3 million investment that will help the company adapt AI and automation technologies to enhance sales, improve workflow and increase its production capabilities.

Vena Medical, a company that makes tiny cameras that can see inside blood vessels, is also getting some money. The company said they will be investing $4.5 million to establish a new manufacturing centre. That project will receive almost $1.5 million through the Life Sciences Scale-Up Fund (LSSUF) to support nine existing positions and create 13 new ones.

“Our team has engineered a highly complex, microscopic medical device, and now we have the state-of-the-art cleanroom and manufacturing infrastructure to build it at scale,” Phillip Cooper, co-founder and COO of Vena Medical, said. “With the backing of the LSSUF, we are scaling our manufacturing right here in Kitchener. We are ready to take this Kitchener/Waterloo-born innovation to the rest of the world.”

On Wednesday, the company also announced it had received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to use its Vena MicroAngioscope System, opening up a new avenue for international exporting. Vena Medical called it their most significant commercial expansion to date.