ECHO Program Details
Accelerate your health innovation with ECHO
Overview
ECHO is 12-month online training program designed for researchers, scientists, clinicians, entrepreneurs and trainees looking to commercialize their innovative health technologies. With access to expert mentors and consultants from a variety of sectors, you will receive:
- Entrepreneurship training, mentorship, partnership and funding opportunities
- Support towards creating and growing your high-impact, health-focused startup
- Tools to accelerate the translation of health innovations from the bench to the bedside
ECHO is comprised of a unique combination of five complementary modules:
- Module 1: Principles of Entrepreneurship
- Module 2: Health Venture Rounds
- Module 3: Lessons from Leaders
- Module 4: Community of Mentors
- Module 5: Ignite Startup Funding
The program begins in October. It concludes with a pitch competition, held in the October of the following year, for the chance to secure non-dilutive startup funding.
Details About Modules 1-5
Module 1: Principles of Entrepreneurship
Date: October – December 2025
All workshops will be held on Wednesdays at 10 am – 12 pm ET. A detailed schedule will be provided following acceptance to the program.
A series of experiential sessions from the MaRS Entrepreneur’s Toolkit Workshops, led by veteran entrepreneurs. These workshops cover fundamental entrepreneurship principles, including value proposition, business models, financial fundamentals, marketing and communication, and pitching to investors.
| Workshop Theme | Number of Sessions | Session Summary |
|---|---|---|
| Value Proposition | 2 | Apply the Lean Start-Up approach to validate problems and ideas with potential customers. Craft a compelling value proposition through structured customer discovery. |
| Business Model | 2 | Develop a sustainable business model for your new venture and a process for validating the model. |
| Finance Fundamentals | 1 | Develop effective pricing strategies for a medical company and build a cash flow forecast to support informed financial decision-making and future growth. |
| MarCom Toolkit | 2 | Build a cost-effective, high-impact marketing and communications strategy to connect with your target customers and drive growth. |
| Pitching to Investors | 2 | Learn how to build and deliver a powerful pitch to attract investors and key stakeholders. |
Module 2: Health Venture Rounds
Date: January – June 2026
All workshops will be held on Wednesdays at 10 am – 12 pm ET. A detailed schedule will be provided following acceptance to the program.
A series of interactive workshops designed to equip early-stage start-ups with the specialized knowledge required to navigate the complexities of health innovation and commercialization. The curriculum spans critical domains including market research; legal essentials; product development; safety, compliance and clinical readiness; health economics and market access; and funding strategy and stakeholder engagement.
The sessions are facilitated by a diverse group of subject matter experts and experienced consultants.
| Workshop Theme | Number of Sessions | Session Topics |
|---|---|---|
| Market Research | 1 | Market Research Resources |
| Legal Essentials | 2 | Corporate Finance and Governance Patents and Intellectual Property |
| Product Development | 2 | Product Development Fundamentals 1 Product Development Fundamentals 2 |
| Safety, Compliance and Clinical Readiness | 4 | Regulatory Requirements 1 Regulatory Requirements 2 Clinical Trial Planning & Execution Quality Management Systems Essentials |
| Health Economics and Market Access | 2 | Health Technology Assessment Reimbursement Strategies |
| Funding Strategy & Stakeholder Engagement | 3 | Government Funding & Resources for Entrepreneurs Investor Perspectives on Health Start-ups Engaging with People with Lived Experience |
Module 3: Lessons from Leaders
Date: January – June 2026
All webinars will be held on Wednesdays at 11 am – 12 pm ET. A detailed schedule will be provided following acceptance to the program.
A webinar series featuring successful entrepreneurs and business leaders who share their firsthand experiences in commercializing technologies within the health sector.
The webinars feature:
- The story of how the company was founded
- An over of their technologies/products and the problems they are solving are working to solve through their innovations
- The uniqueness of their team and company culture/philosophy
- Funding and partnerships that have been pivotal to their success
- The company’s progress to dates
- The company’s short and long-term goals
- Challenges and big lessons learned in leading a successful company
Our speakers represent a diverse range of companies, from early-stage start-ups to late-stage commercial ventures. They develop products across various sectors, including medical devices, software as a medical device (SaMD), drugs, and cell and gene therapies.
Module 4: Community of Mentors
Date: October 2025 onwards
More details will be provided following acceptance to the program.
All ventures selected through the ECHO program are required to become clients of the Health Innovation Hub (H2i), Temerty Medicine's health accelerator.
As H2i clients, ventures gain access to a comprehensive suite of resources, including:
- A diverse network of multi-sectoral advisors
- Peer-to-peer mentorship from fellow H2i start-ups
- Quarterly meetings with a dedicated lead H2i mentor
- H2i events
- Professional funding
- University of Toronto library and market research resources
In addition, ECHO ventures will participate in ECHO Accelera sessions - interactive round table discussions, facilitated by H2i, that explore key challenges and topics relevant to early-stage startups.
| Accelera Session Topic | Session Date |
|---|---|
| Session 1: Networking and Collaboration | Jan 2026 |
| Session 2: Business Model | March 2026 |
| Session 3: External Funding & Commercialization Milestones | June 2026 |
All ECHO Accelera sessions will be held on Wednesdays at 10 am – 12 pm ET. A detailed schedule will be provided following acceptance to the program.
Module 5: Ignite Startup Funding
Date: July – October 2026
More details will be provided following acceptance to the program.
The program culminates in Module 5, involving pitching training, coaching sessions and ECHO PITCH 2026, a public pitch competition co-hosted by the Temerty Facutly of Medicine and the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research.
The module begins with a First Round Pitch, during which an expert judging panel will select the top ECHO teams to advance to ECHO PITCH. These selected teams will receive tailored, one-on-one support including:
- Mentorship on their go-to-market strategy
- Pitch training to refine their pitch deck
- Speaker coaching to enhance presentation delivery
All finalists are required to submit a grant proposal outlining their research and commercialization plans prior to participating in ECHO PITCH.
ECHO PITCH
ECHO PITCH 2026 will be held in-person in Toronto in October 2026. The competition will feature two competitive funding streams:
- Cardiovascular Stream: Open exclusively to cardiovascular ventures enrolled in the ECHO program. Award: $100,000.
- General Health Stream: Open exclusively to health ventures in non-cardiovascular fields enrolled in the ECHO program. Award: $100,000.
Only participating ECHO ventures are eligible to compete at ECHO PITCH.
Program Requirements
Ventures accepted into the ECHO Program are required to:
- Participate in each program module for 12 months beginning October 2025
- Attend a minimum of 80% of the program’s virtual workshops, webinars and roundtable discussions
- Become a Health Innovation Hub (H2i) member and engage with H2i mentors
- Participate in ECHO PITCH 2026 (if selected), the final pitch competition, for the opportunity to secure non-dilutive startup funding.
Banner, logo and module icon design by Studio More Than This
Your innovation could transform lives. Let’s make sure it gets the chance.
