Golden Horseshoe Angel Network

Like a spark that starts the fire, GHBN is focused on driving innovation, exploiting bioscience resources and strengths, and forging new partnerships that will create jobs and investment. Working within an urban population of more than 1 million, the network has been a main player in funding and piloting a medical-device clinical trials program in Hamilton, building an emerging bioproducts economic cluster in Niagara, and in creating a life sciences coalition in Ontario to support the vital biosciences industry. The Golden Horseshoe is rich in human biosciences capital. There are the teaching hospitals in Hamilton, the extensive research programs at McMaster University and Brock University, the hands-on research at Mohawk, Sheridan, and Niagara colleges, and a dynamic base of entrepreneurial medical technology, DNA and gene engineering, biotechnology, wine industry, greenhouse and natural bioproducts companies from Halton to Niagara. GHBN, located at McMaster University, is at the centre of this biosciences hub. The network has helped nurture an incubator program – Hamilton has become a real hotbed for incubator start-up companies – that will soon become a major incubator factory at McMaster Innovation Park. GHBN has helped to develop programs for entrepreneurs and mentoring for university students looking at biosciences careers. For example, GHBN was a spark at the very beginning when three McMaster students developed a CPR biosensor glove that led to a new company and several hundred thousand dollars in development funding. And GHBN has been heavily involved in outreach. Some of that has been at home and close by, such as the novel trademarked Innovation Café seminar series, and our cross-border trade seminars. And the outreach has also been far away, with export and marketing expertise for companies that trade in Texas and the Carolinas or in Israel or in China.