How do you move a medical breakthrough from a lab bench to a hospital bedside?

In this episode of Tech About Town, Jill Mills and Alex Kinsella sit down with Elliot Fung, Executive Director of the Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX). Founded to bridge the gap between startup graduation and commercial scale, MIX is the heartbeat of the Waterloo Region’s med-tech ecosystem.

Elliot pulls back the curtain on why health-tech is fundamentally different from software, the "billing code" hurdle that stalls innovation and how a new Innovation Pathway is finally giving Canadian founders a fighting chance in their own backyard.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The Procurement Puzzle: Why even the best medical tech fails without a billing code.

• The MIX Model: How the 45,000 sq. ft. facility allows founders to co-locate, manufacture onshore and mentor the next generation of innovators.

• Waterloo’s Next 100 Years: A look at the new hospital campus coming to Waterloo Region and the "Care Next" collaboration.

• Beyond the Hype: Practical applications of AI in predictive analytics and the mind-bending potential of Quantum and Nano in healthcare.

• Scaling Up: How the "pay-it-forward" culture is helping Ontario compete with global hubs like Boston and others.

About the Show: Tech About Town is brought to you by Communitech, the hub for Waterloo Region’s tech ecosystem. Whether you’re a startup founder or a tech enthusiast, we connect you with the people and ideas shaping the future. Visit us at communitech.ca.