KASTx Life Science Fund I announces the first closing of its inaugural fund with a target size of CA$5M. Focusing on pre-seed and seed life sciences companies, the fund aims to support commercially scalable ventures sharing a common goal to improve societal outcomes in health and technology.
KASTx Ventures is excited to announce today our digital health venture Lumiio is receiving $1.3 million in funding from Prairies Economic Development Canada (PrairiesCan). The funds will help the company continue building out its digital health projects and expand into wearable technologies to better collect real-world health data. This generous contribution will go a long way for Lumiio as the team works to expand their offerings and grow their projects globally. “We are celebrating the hard Read more…
This last year presented many exciting opportunities to reconnect with our communities and expand our networks. As another great year draws to a close, we wanted to celebrate a few highlights at KASTx Ventures and our portfolio companies.
KASTx Ventures (KASTx) is pleased to announce Christian Idicula as the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO). In his role, Christian will be responsible for implementing and overseeing business operations for KASTx and its portfolio companies, working with the various leadership teams to help them realize strategic visions and achieve future goals.
KASTx Ventures is excited to announce our portfolio company Raft Digital Therapeutics and founding partner Biogen Canada have launched a therapeutic game for Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) called Cloud Bazaar. The game is equipped with motion capture technology, designed to track players’ movements as they progress through progressively difficult level, designed to make therapeutic exercise more fun and engaging for young people with SMA. It is now available for free public download from the Cloud Read more…
In honour of National Truth and Reconciliation Day, we wanted to highlight the work one of our Founding Partners, Gord Anderson, is doing with Indigenous communities across Canada. Anderson is a leader beyond KASTx Ventures and his passion and expertise informs our work in health communities and our portfolio companies. As an expert with over 30 years of experience in finance and over 15 years working with Indigenous communities, Anderson’s career has spanned many different Read more…
KASTx Ventures celebrates the announcement today that Dr. Toshifumi Yokota has been selected for BioAlberta’s Scientific Achievement and Innovation Award. The award celebrates teams or individuals responsible for breakthrough innovations with commercial applications, and Dr. Yokota was one of two winners. Dr. Yokota was selected based on his seminal discoveries in antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) and gapmer therapies for muscular dystrophies like Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), and facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD). KASTx founding partner Dr. Lawrence Read more…
A Calgary-based firm is partnering with start-up companies with a shared vision to have a positive and sustainable impact globally, focused today in the areas of health, technology and environmental sustainability. Mark Starratt, co-founder and managing partner of KASTx Ventures, says there are many brilliant scientists, passionate about bettering the lives of humanity worldwide, who do not have the experience, marketing know-how and contacts to commercialize their products. Click here to read the full article Read more…
KASTx Ventures, a biotechnology-focused venture capital firm and accelerator, welcomes Jeff Miller as Partner. Miller is the first American to join the KASTx team, and will set up the KASTx US-based operations in the Northeast.
Two of KASTx Ventures’ portfolio companies have been selected to join global tech investor Plug and Play Alberta’s prestigious digital health accelerator program, the first of its kind at the newly built Alberta offices. Lumiio, a company specializing in developing digital health programs for the purposes of improving health outcomes for communities around the world, was one of the companies chosen for the 12-week program. Raft Digital Therapeutics, the second KASTx portfolio company chosen, is Read more…