MaRS partner, Baycrest, creates Centre for Brain Fitness
Toronto Centre for Brain Fitness
Monday, April 7, 2008 was a day of celebration for a group of “brainiaks� from MaRS and our Baycrest colleagues as they announced:
“Ontario government invests $10 million into the New Centre for Brain Fitness at Baycrest.”
The funding will provide much needed fuel for the development and commercialization of solutions aimed at assessment and maintenance of cognitive abilities.
Clinically known as neuropsychology, the brain fitness market is a nascent but rapidly growing sector. According to SharpBrains’ recently released “The State of the Brain Fitness Software Market” report, two segments fueled the market growth from 2005 to 2007: consumers (grew from $5m to $80m, 300% CAGR) as well as healthcare and insurance providers (grew from $36m to $65m, 35% CAGR).
As with any new market, there is a lot of confusion among users and buyers about product features and validity of the claims.
This is a perfect place for science to separate facts from fiction. More than five programs have shown results in randomized controlled trials. The verdict is out: cognitive functions, such as visual and auditory processing, working memory, attention, and decision-making can be trained.
Baycrest researchers have been building knowledge and data in this field for over 20 years. The MaRS Venture Group team has been working with Baycrest researchers for about a year now to map out the commercialization opportunity. I am totally psyched that Baycrest chose to partner with us to develop and market scientifically-proven products for the clinic, workplace and home environments.
Veronika Litinski coordinates the MaRS venture services programs delivered to entrepreneurs, investors and high-growth companies. She also provides advisory services to entrepreneurs and high growth companies, with a special focus on life sciences markets, specializing in corporate finance and business development.