Blog Archives - The Forge

Startup Survivor 2026 — 20 startups, $230,000 at Stake, One champion

student — Tue, 12 May 2026 20:49:04 +0000

Over the next four months, twenty student-led companies from across Ontario will take on the challenge of turning bold ideas into venture-ready businesses. Facilitated by The Forge, with support from ecosystem partner The Clinic, the program offers mentorship, training, workshops, and IP support to help participants strengthen their ideas and prepare for real-world commercialization. By […]

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McMaster spin-out company gets $2.5M in seed funding, supporting the development of critical new medicines

Marissa Principato — Tue, 12 May 2026 13:59:29 +0000

A Canadian biotechnology company spun out of McMaster University has secured $2.5 million in early-stage capital to develop a pipeline of new medicines that target infectious disease and cancer. Stoked Bio Inc. was established in 2024 by McMaster researcher Jon Stokes, and functions as the commercial arm of his academic lab, which is built on a world-leading AI-guided drug discovery platform. Already, his platform […]

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NerView Surgical wins Falcons’ Fortunes 2026 for its precise nerve visualization technology making cancer surgeries safer for patients

Marissa Principato — Wed, 29 Apr 2026 14:20:48 +0000

The winner of the $100,000 Ernsting Entrepreneurship award at FACIT’s Falcons’ Fortunes pitch competition was awarded to Mann Parikh, Founder and CEO of NerView Surgical. Pitching in front of a live audience at last week’s sold-out event, Mr. Parikh articulated the value and benefits of NerveSense™, the real-time nerve visualization system his team is developing […]

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Powered by people: Made at Mac celebration highlights entrepreneurial momentum at McMaster

Marissa Principato — Mon, 13 Apr 2026 17:18:48 +0000

McMaster’s innovation community showed up in full force to celebrate the university’s entrepreneurial ecosystem at the third annual Made at Mac event. Through its commercialization and entrepreneurship programs, McMaster has supported nearly 400 startups, with over $1 billion raised and more than 1,000 jobs created, Gianni Parise, vice-president of Research, told attendees at the recent campus event. […]

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The Forge Advantage: Mentorship, Momentum and Market-Ready Startups

Marissa Principato — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 19:28:56 +0000

Parisa Agahi had just earned her masters degree from McMaster’s Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization Program when she was prescribed compression stockings for her leg pain. Her mom had needed compression stockings for many years due to varicose veins. While they provided essential support, she found them uncomfortable and clinical looking. Agahi decided to create a […]

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McMaster awarded $300,000 to expand Startup Survivor program

Marissa Principato — Mon, 16 Mar 2026 17:12:05 +0000

McMaster University has received $300,000 from the provincial government to expand entrepreneurship programming for startups. The investment comes from Intellectual Property Ontario (IPON) as part of their postsecondary funding program, which was created to enhance commercialization efforts within Ontario’s postsecondary sector and drive economic growth. The funding for McMaster will be used to expand the Startup Survivor program. Hosted by The Forge, this four-month innovation program and pitch competition supports McMaster student and alumni entrepreneurs as they work […]

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How McMaster life sciences student Tharsan Rasasakaram stepped into startup life

Marissa Principato — Mon, 19 Jan 2026 19:52:03 +0000

“Startups have this energy,” Tharsan Rasasakaram says. “Things move quickly, and you have to be ready to adapt. But that also means there’s space to try things and figure out what works.” It was his first time inside a startup. The placement with Tression Inc. was made possible by Experience Ventures — a program powered […]

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OneChart partners with C3 EMR to deliver advanced ambient documentation and telehealth solutions across Canada and the US

Marissa Principato — Mon, 05 Jan 2026 19:19:11 +0000

C3 EMR, a leading provider of integrated electronic medical record (EMR) and practice-management solutions, and OneChart, an innovator in AI based clinical workflows and AI driven clinical documentation, today announced a strategic partnership to bring ambient documentation and telehealth automation to healthcare providers across Canada and the United States. The partnership will empower clinicians and therapists […]

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Forge Wrapped 2025: Building Futures, Growing Together

Marissa Principato — Fri, 12 Dec 2025 19:46:04 +0000

2025 was a year of growth, collaboration, and impact for The Forge and for the innovators who call this community home. From startups scaling globally to students launching their first ventures, we worked together to build businesses, create jobs, and strengthen the innovation ecosystem. The Forge exists to empower founders, connect our community members, and […]

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McMaster startup uses vehicle sensors to map the ‘urban nervous system’

Marissa Principato — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 15:02:00 +0000

A McMaster-based startup is poised to drive the future of urban planning and development with mobile sensors that gather data on the world around us. McMaster Engineering students Ali Hamdy, Jase Jin and Eddy Su launched LIVESENS — a combination of the words “live” and “census” — in 2024. Their technology captures real-time data about […]

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