The Manitoba government is providing close to $370,000 to five locally based companies through the latest intake of the Innovation Growth Program (IGP) to help commercialize their products and grow their business, Economic Development, Investment, Trade and Natural Resources Minister Jamie Moses announced today.
“Once a business has developed an innovative product or process, they need to clear the hurdle of commercializing it, which can be cost-prohibitive and risky, particularly for small- and medium-sized companies,” Moses said. “This program cost-shares some of that risk so businesses can grow, which in turn generates jobs and revenue for the province, making it a win-win for Manitobans.”
The program provides cost-shared grants of up to $100,000 to eligible Manitoba small- and medium-sized enterprises to assist with the commercialization of innovative products or processes and accelerate growth.
IGP uses a competitive process and takes applications on a quarterly basis. All five applicants from the September 2023 intake will receive support including:
Win-Shield Medical Devices Inc. (Winnipeg): $100,000 for field testing their proprietary powered air-purification respirator device designed for use by medical, industrial, law enforcement and military workers;
eScribeMD Consultation, operating as 10163623 Manitoba Ltd. (Winnipeg): $33,000 to undertake operational field testing of their health-care technology platform, called eScribeMD, designed to streamline medical documentation through AI-assisted audio transcription;
NSD Tech Inc. (Winnipeg): $35,250 to commercialize their advanced information services platform called CARMIS, tailored to non-profit agencies working in immigration and settlement;
Standard Carbon Inc. (Winnipeg): $100,000 to commercialize their climate accounting software called SCOP3, which helps companies automate the creation of carbon footprints, track carbon input and output, and aids environmental impact mitigation strategic planning; and
UKKÖ Robotics Inc. (Notre-Dame-de-Lourdes): $100,000 to commercialize their mobile monitored livestock shades and poultry micro barns that can move autonomously in pasture settings.
“This grant is meaningful, timely and very welcome news for our company,” said Rob Ranson, founder and president, Win-Shield Medical Devices Inc. “Over the past three-and-a-half years, we have been quietly striving to create a world-class company here in this province. These funds will allow us to immediately add to our engineering team and accelerate our efforts to bring an exciting new device into the market.”
Collectively, the five companies are expected to add 233 new full-time jobs to Manitoba and $116 million in export sales within five years, contributing to the government’s commitment to grow the economy with good Manitoba jobs for Manitobans, the minister noted.
For more information about the Innovation Growth Program including details on how to apply, visit: gov.mb.ca/jec/busdev/financial/igp/index.html.
