March 27, 2023: How To Make Your Startup Stand Out

Tell us about what your company does.

At BenchSci, our mission is to exponentially increase the speed and quality of life-saving research and development. We help scientists make breakthrough discoveries and bring new treatments to patients faster.

What was the insight/inspiration that led you to launch it?

Experiments are the lifeblood of scientific research, but more than 80% of experiments fail.

Scientists advance scientific discovery based on what has been learned in the past, as documented in research papers. But extracting up-to-date and reliable information from these papers, and connecting the dots between different biological entities described within, is a huge challenge that often leads to unnecessary experimental error and missed research opportunities.

While completing his Ph.D. in epigenetics at the University of Toronto (U of T), BenchSci co-founder (now Chief Science Officer) Tom Leung was frustrated by this problem and recognized that new AI techniques could be applied to unlock a solution. He connected with fellow U of T students Elvis Wianda, David Chen, and Liran Belenzon (myself) who were focused on computing programming, big data, and business management respectively.

Together we built a platform and launched BenchSci in 2015.

How has it been received by the market? Why do you think it has been so well received?

Today our platform accelerates science at 16 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and over 4,500 leading research centers worldwide. This is thanks largely to our partnership with our customers. That’s how we launched ASCEND.

We worked with Amgen and other leading pharma organizations to understand the most crucial questions that research scientists need to answer in their work to find novel breakthroughs. Not just for one target or disease. But as an enterprise system aiming to support any target, for any disease, at any stage of the preclinical pipeline.

How did you know you were ready to found a company?

Dr. Tom Leung, or as we all call him, Tom, had an ambitious idea for reducing the number of experiments that fail but knew he couldn’t do it alone. He had a science background but needed AI, data, and business knowledge as well. So he started recruiting his team.

Tom searched on LinkedIn for “Python” and “biology,” and the first result was David Chen, a computer programmer who was pursuing his Ph.D. in neuroimaging, also at U of T. Tom messaged David and asked him to grab a beer at a local college pub (even though Tom does not drink alcohol). But they still needed to round out the team, so he suggested they speak to Elvis Wianda, another U of T Ph.D. student with an interest in big data. The two of them pitched the concept to Elvis, who sat there quietly, saying nothing. Neither Tom nor David knew quite what to think of Elvis’ response, but to their surprise the very next day he sent them the first lines of code to prototype.

With the technical team in place, they started to build a solution, but none of them had ever built a business before, and they knew they would need someone with experience in entrepreneurship. One day, seemingly out of the blue, the founding team received a message from me, an entrepreneur and MBA candidate. At the time, I was working for the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), a startup accelerator focused on machine learning out of the University of Toronto, and I wanted to recruit the BenchSci team to apply. The team was successful in joining CDL, and I started working with them to support their commercialization. After a few weeks of working together, I joined as co-founder and CEO. And just like that, we were off to the races.

Who are the 5 Canadian startups you like in your market?

• Shopify 

• Wealthsimple

• Ada

• Xanadu

• 1Password

Connect with Liran and learn more about his journey here

Liran will be taking the stage at our upcoming Best of TechTO event on April 3!

Learn more about his journey, advice for succeeding as an entrepreneur, and more!

TICKETS ARE GOING FAST!

The travel industry continues to rebound after Operto's latest raise

What is the news?

Vancouver-based, Operto Guest Technologies announced a $25m USD raise led by Centana Growth Partners

What does Operto do?

Operto enables travel property owners (think hotels and Airbnbs) to automate their properties.

Operto allows properties to remotely control and monitor properties while providing guests with a better experience.

It leads to a better customer experience while reducing operating costs.

Why is the company notable?

A few reasons:

• The company has been flying under the radar in Vancouver and the last two rounds were lead by American investors.

• It is benefiting from the post-Covid travel world: Customers want a digital-first experience. They don't want to want to go to a front desk to check in. The travel industry is short-staffed due to layoffs during covid and post-covid travel boom. Inflation is putting pressure on property owners' bottom lines so they are looking for operating efficiencies

• Operto has acquired several companies to grow its product line and customer base.

What is the takeaway for our community?

You can do everything right but if headwinds exist, then it will be difficult to succeed. Travel tech is the perfect example of this.

In 2020 the industry ground to a halt and many startups died. As the world has opened up the demand for travel, inflation and consumer expectations have resulted in significant demand for a new way to do things and fewer companies trying to compete with them.

While fundraising for any new startup is still tough it may be a bit easier to raise for a travel startup that has some traction as the 'why now' is clear.

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• Canadian Startup news of the week >> LEARN MORE

• Raise News: MagnetForensics (TSC: MAGT) shareholders approved a $1.8b CAD takeover offer from Thoma Bravo >> READ MORE

• Mercator raises $5.1m CAD >> READ MORE

• Founder FAQs: How do you find a Co-Founder? Leave us your suggestions here

• The 5 new leadership skills of great Web3 Founders >> LEARN MORE

• Five ways to make your startup stand out from the competition >> READ MORE

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*this is sponsored content

Senior Deep Learning Engineer, Metaspectral (Canada | Remote)

Why is this cool? Metaspectral is at the forefront of delivering next-generation computer vision software, empowering industries to remotely identify materials, assess their chemical composition, detect defects, and unveil properties that are invisible to conventional cameras. Their groundbreaking technology harnesses the power of hyperspectral sensors and real-time AI analysis through a scalable, cloud-based platform. As a Senior Deep Learning Scientist/Engineer at Metaspectral, you will have the unique opportunity to work on state-of-the-art hardware and software products designed to analyze massive amounts of data (~ Gigabits per second) in real-time >> APPLY HERE

Intermediate Web Developer, SalesQ (Toronto, ON | Remote)

Why is this cool? This is an opportunity to be employee #1 at a well-funded startup backed by the same investors of SubStack, Loom, Clearco, Vendr, Ada, Applyboard, and more. As a frontend developer, you must be able to effectively understand, communicate and implement requirements set by design and product. During development, you will be participating in code review, and be able to unit test the application as it is built >> APPLY HERE

DMZ 2023 Cohort - NOW ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

Why is this cool? Our friends at the DMZ are now accepting applications for startups to join their 2023 Cohort! Located in the heart of Toronto the DMZ’s startup incubator is an equity-based program that helps venture-backable tech startups grow their business over the course of 18 months >> APPLY HERE

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Check out the interesting content, events, and happenings for the community here:

• Best of TechTO Returns! April 3, 2023 >> REGISTER HERE - LIMITED TICKETS AVAILABLE!

• *EXCLUSIVE TECHTO INSIDERS SOCIAL: April 13, 2023 >> Learn more about how to attend on our website >> LEARN MORE

• HealthTO: Privitization - April 19, 2023 >> REGISTER HERE

• TechTO Together RETURNS TO MONTREAL: April 25, 2023 >> REGISTER HERE

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