What stage does MaRS invest at?

MaRS invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth, Late Stage stages.

Where is MaRS located?

MaRS is headquartered in Toronto, CA.

Does MaRS lead rounds?

MaRS typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.

MaRS

Accelerator

Toronto · Pre-Seed–Late Stage · 19 people tracked

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Investment thesis

MaRS operates as Canada's innovation ecosystem hub, connecting founders with vetted investors, customers, partners and advisors to commercialize science and technology. It supports hundreds of companies at every stage of growth across life sciences and health, cleantech (spanning food, energy, transportation, construction and manufacturing), and emerging technologies such as AI, quantum, robotics and advanced manufacturing. MaRS provides flexible office, lab and event spaces at its MaRS Centre and Waterfront hubs, delivers tailored programming and expert guidance from seasoned advisors, and works with investors, philanthropists, corporates and governments to strengthen Canada's innovation economy and industrial base.

Invests inAdvanced Manufacturing AI & Machine Learning Biotech Cleantech Climate Tech Construction Tech Deep Tech Digital Health Energy FoodTech Healthtech Impact & Social Good Medical Devices Mobility & Transportation Quantum Computing Robotics Sector AgnosticCanadaGlobalToronto

Source: firm website, verified Aug 3, 2026.

Stage

Pre-Seed–Late Stage

Toronto, ON, CA

Leads rounds

Follows

Instruments

Equity · Grants

Founded

2001

Portfolio companies

Team · 19 people

from the firm's website

Allen Lau· CEO and co-founder, Wattpad

Serial entrepreneur, co-founder and CEO of Wattpad (acquired by Naver), and co-founder of early-stage fund Two Small Fish Ventures; MaRS board member.

Grace Lee Reynolds· CEO, MaRS

CEO of MaRS Discovery District, overseeing the teams, partnerships and infrastructure that help science- and tech-based ventures scale, with a focus on health, climate and emerging technologies.

Amanda Whalen· Senior Manager, Media Relations

Media relations manager at MaRS who provides strategic public relations support to startups, including press release guidance, media pitching and op-ed development.

Andrew Chisholm· Corporate Director, Royal Bank of Canada· Toronto

MaRS board member and RBC director who spent 30 years at Goldman Sachs; sits on the investment committee of cleantech VC firm ArcTern Ventures.

Andrew Joyner

Leads Tricon Residential's Canadian multi-family rental platform; previously held real estate investment roles at CPP Investments, Hines and Goldman Sachs.

Annette Verschuren· Chair, Board of Directors

Chair of the MaRS board and Chair & CEO of energy storage firm NRStor Inc.; former president of The Home Depot Canada.

Christine Bome· VP, Public Affairs

Leads government affairs for MaRS, managing government relationships and public policy initiatives; previously held roles at Second Harvest and Walmart Canada focused on food waste and sustainability.

Christine Bomé· VP, Public Affairs

Leads government affairs and public policy initiatives for MaRS, with extensive experience in public policy across the charitable, government and corporate sectors, including roles at Second Harvest and Walmart Canada.

Claudette McGowan· CEO, Protexxa

Global IT leader and CEO of cybersecurity firm Protexxa; former CIO roles at BMO and TD, and co-launched the women-focused angel fund Phoenix Fire & The Firehood.

Diane Kazarian

PwC Canada alumni and former GTA Managing Partner with over 30 years in professional services and financial services; a Fellow of CPA Ontario and corporate director on several boards.

Geoffrey Matus· President of Mandukwe Inc.

President of Mandukwe Inc. and co-founder of firms including Cidel, Tricon Capital Group and NexGen Financial; chairs the University of Toronto's pension and endowment investment advisory committee.

Helen Angus· Director communications

CEO of AMS Healthcare and MaRS board member; former Ontario Deputy Minister of Health who led the province's COVID-19 response.

Jason MacFarlane· Head of Venture and Partner Services· Toronto, Ontario, Canadain 𝕏

Oversees product offerings and services for ventures and partners, including accelerator programs and corporate innovation; a professional engineer with decades of experience mentoring startups in hardware, cleantech, medical devices and advanced manufacturing.

Melanie Woodin· President, University of Toronto

Neuroscientist and 17th President of the University of Toronto; former Dean of the Faculty of Arts & Science and a director of several organizations including SickKids.

Molly Shoichet· Professor, Shoichet Lab, University of Toronto

Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in tissue engineering at U of T and co-founder of three spin-off companies; a widely recognized scientist and former Ontario chief scientist.

Nina Gazzola· SVP, Innovation Hubs

Responsible for MaRS Centre operations and leasing with a focus on tenant satisfaction; she was the first employee of MaRS, joining in 2000.

n•••@marsdd.comreveal

Prashant Pathak· CEO, Ekagrata; Principal, In Colour Capital Inc.

CEO of Ekagrata and principal of investment firm In Colour Capital; former McKinsey partner who chaired the VC and investments committee at BDC.

Stefan Larson· Partner, Sectoral Asset Management

Partner leading biotechnology private equity investments at Sectoral; previously a Venture Partner at Versant Ventures and founding CEO of Northern Biologics.

Taki Sarantakis

President of the Canada School of Public Service and former Associate Secretary of the Treasury Board; long career at Infrastructure Canada.

What they invest in

from 7 of 15 portfolio companies

AI & Machine Learning ×4SaaS ×3Advanced Manufacturing ×1Cleantech ×1Cloud Computing ×1Construction Tech ×1Deep Tech ×1Digital Health ×1

HQs:Canada×4

Portfolio companies · 15 tracked

alumni founders can tell you what the program is really like

Electrovayaelectrovaya.comin 𝕏NASDAQ: ELVA

Electrovaya develops lithium-ion and solid-state battery technology aimed at safety, energy density, and durability for demanding industrial applications.

CleantechEnergyHardwareMississauga

Dr. Sankar Das Gupta(Executive Officer, Director)Dr. Bejoy Das Gupta(Director)Dr. Carolyn Hansson(Director)Richard P. Halka(Executive Officer)Rajshekar Das Gupta(Executive Officer)John A. Macdonald(Director)

47 percentglobalnews.cain

Global News is a Canadian news organization publishing coverage of world, national, local, political, business, health, entertainment, and sports news across text, video, and TV programming.

Media & Entertainment

Basetwobasetwo.aiin 𝕏

Basetwo provides AI solutions that optimize manufacturing operations for Fortune 500 companies in pharmaceuticals, specialty chemicals, and personal care.

Advanced ManufacturingAI & Machine LearningDeep TechSaaSToronto, CA

Carbon Cure Technologiescarboncure.comin 𝕏

Robert Niven(Executive Officer, Director)

Conelabsconelabs.aiin

Cone Labs develops AI-powered software for structural engineers to perform building condition assessments, converting field inspection data into high-resolution 3D models and semantic analysis of building conditions.

AI & Machine LearningCloud ComputingConstruction TechEnterprise SoftwareEtobicoke, CA

Eaigleeaigle.com

Fluid AI Websitefluidai.mdin 𝕏

Fluid AI builds surgical recovery monitoring technology, including the Origin sensor that attaches to surgical drains to continuously monitor fluid biochemistry and the Stream Care system that combines electronic health record data with sensor data to predict postoperative complications after gastrointestinal surgery.

AI & Machine LearningDigital HealthMedical Devices

Mosellemoselle.ioin 𝕏

Moselle is a demand planning platform that uses AI to automate demand forecasting, inventory planning, and replenishment, generating purchase orders and tracking supplier lead times.

AI & Machine LearningRetail TechSaaS

Multiverse Computingmultiversecomputing.comin 𝕏

Newschoolfoodsnewschoolfoods.co

Opaliafoodsopaliafoods.comin 𝕏

SPROUT FAMILYsproutfamily.cain

Ventionvention.ioin

Willful Legal Techwillful.coin

Willful operates an online estate planning platform that guides individuals through creating legally valid wills and power of attorney documents.

FintechLegalTechSaaS

Erin Bury(Co-founder & CEO)Kevin Oulds(Co-founder & Head of Research and Innovation)Julia Wilkie(Head of Customer Experience and Operations)Chris Long(Head of Product)

World Health Organization, 2025who.intin

Exits · 1

IPOs and acquisitions across the tracked portfolio

ElectrovayaNASDAQ: ELVA

Frequently asked questions

What stage does MaRS invest at?: MaRS invests at the Pre-Seed, Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, Growth, Late Stage stages.
What sectors does MaRS focus on?: MaRS focuses on Advanced Manufacturing, AI & Machine Learning, Biotech, Cleantech, Climate Tech, Construction Tech, Deep Tech, Digital Health, Energy, FoodTech, Healthtech, Impact & Social Good, Medical Devices, Mobility & Transportation, Quantum Computing, Robotics, Sector Agnostic.
Where is MaRS located?: MaRS is headquartered in Toronto, CA.
Does MaRS lead rounds?: MaRS typically participates in rounds rather than leading them.

Media · Podcasts & interviews

from their channel

This uncanny moment: AI has us all lurching between hype and hysteria, but what are the real risk...

MaRS Discovery District

Mind over matter

MaRS Discovery District

Transforming traditional prosthetics

MaRS Discovery District

Degrees of freedom: Why human dexterity is the holy grail of robotics

MaRS Discovery District

How Mobility Unlimited Hub is making strides

MaRS Discovery District

Creating Climate Impact: Celebrating five years of Mission from MaRS

MaRS Discovery District

Images

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