2023-34 Impact Report

  • Mission

    To drive the development and adoption of transformative aging and brain health innovations.

  • Vision

    A world where every older person lives with purpose, fulfillment, and dignity.

Leadership Message

Accelerating Innovations that Defy Dementia

Last year at CABHI we continued our strong track record, further expanding our leadership position as the preeminent and most active global innovation accelerator in the aging and brain health sector.

Read a message from our President and Chief Scientist, Dr. Allison Sekuler, and the Chair of our Board of Directors, Jeff Blidner.

  • $185M+
    in funding directed toward advancing innovative projects
  • $79M+
    levered in addition to CABHI’s government funding
  • $80M+
    in jobs created and sustained
  • 110,000+
    Canadian older persons and caregivers engaged in CABHI projects
  • 4,700+
    highly qualified personnel (HQP) involved in CABHI projects
  • 528
    projects launched

CABHI’s impact to date

Innovation Themes

Our innovation themes ensure our projects and partnerships build upon our mission and help realize our vision. When assessing opportunities, we ensure alignment with our core innovation themes and our cross-cutting innovation themes.

Core Themes

  • Aging at Home

    Enabling older persons and people living with dementia to live in the setting of their choice and remain active in their communities for as long as possible.

  • Caregiver Support

    Aiding or simplifying day-to-day caregiving responsibilities, providing education or training on caregiving topics, or helping caregivers maintain their own well-being while they care for older persons and people living with dementia.

  • Care Coordination and Navigation

    Helping older persons and people living with dementia and their caregivers navigate the healthcare system to access timely and appropriate care, while also supporting healthcare providers align their practice with long-term care standards.

  • Cognitive and Mental Health

    Ensuring early detection of cognitive impairment or dementia in older persons, implementing preventative care approaches to maintain or enhance older persons’ brain health (including both cognitive and mental health supports), and protecting the cognitive and mental health of healthcare providers and caregivers.

  • Financial Health and Wellness

    Helping older persons remain financially independent, stay safe in the workforce longer, seek later-life employment, prepare for retirement, plan for financing care, and prevent financial exploitation.

Cross-Cutting Themes

  • Diversity, Accessibility, and Health Equity

    Diversity, Accessibility, and Health Equity: Ensuring aging and brain health needs are addressed and solutions are accessible for Indigenous, Black, and racially and culturally diverse communities; women; people living with disabilities; members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community; rural or Northern communities; or other vulnerable populations; and including issues of intersectionality.

  • Promoting Social Inclusion and Preventing Stigma and Elder Abuse

    Creating opportunities and programs for enhanced engagement and social connection for older persons, including intergenerational programs to combat ageism and stigma and support strong cognitive and mental health in older persons. Protecting older persons, particularly those living with cognitive decline and dementia, against elder abuse and other unsafe relationships.

Learn More
  • $610M+
    in follow-on funding secured by CABHI-affiliated companies
  • 199
    solutions evaluated
  • 353,000+
    people reached directly through CABHI-supported education, knowledge mobilization, and communication activities
  • 151
    solutions introduced into real-world and clinical settings
  • 415
    unique solutions supported

CABHI’s impact to date

CABHI Programs

The team at CABHI, in conjunction with all program offerings, were instrumental in ensuring we were equipped with resources needed to thrive throughout the program’s duration.
Curv Health, CABHI MC2 portfolio company

  • Spark

    The Spark program empowers point-of-care workers, clinicians, researchers, and caregivers to test ideas that have the potential to change the care landscape for older persons. In addition to funding, Spark provides tailored coaching, mentorship, networking, and end-user validation to move innovative ideas from proof-of-concept to reality.

  • Mentorship, Capital, and Continuation (MC2)

    The Mentorship, Capital, and Continuation program (also known as MC2) is a program, in partnership with National Bank, that works with early-stage healthtech and fintech companies to help them achieve their validation and business milestones on their pathway to commercialization, growth, and scale. In addition to funding, MC2 provides acceleration services such as access to end-user validation, business and research expertise, our Innovation Network, and so much more.

  • Discover + Adopt (D+A)

    The D+A program supports healthcare organizations (e.g., long-term care homes, hospitals, home healthcare and community-based organizations, etc.) to build their skills and receptivity to adopt innovation within their organizations. In addition to funding, participants receive training and coaching support to find, introduce, implement, and sustain high-quality innovative solutions that address their pain points.

woman talking into microphone

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Ling Ly Tan

M.ADS, BCBA, CEO of Linggo

MC2 portfolio company

Photo: Eric Benchimol, 2024.

Acceleration Services

woman speaking

CABHI offers innovators a range of acceleration services to enhance the success of their funded projects. These services are meant to provide end-to-end support, guiding innovations through the various stages of development, from testing to validation, implementation, and scaling.

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Alison Smith
Ph.D., Co-founder and Chief Scientist of Roga Life Inc.,
MC2 portfolio company

Photo: Eric Benchimol, 2024.

  • CABHI’s Coaches Community

    Our Coaches Community provides innovators with access to subject matter experts (e.g., business development, finance, regulatory affairs, etc.) to help them grow and scale their solution.

  • The Innovation Network

    The Innovation Network provides innovators with access to key contacts at healthcare and other industry organizations to pilot studies, expand their business and customer base, and more. Organizations can join the Network to gain early access to promising CABHI-vetted solutions and participate in pilot studies.

  • Leap

    Leap is an online community that connects older persons and individuals with lived experience to innovators. Members are empowered to share their stories, learn from one another, and provide critical insights to innovators for refinement. This influential community works together to ensure innovators have the space to work directly with their target audience, meeting their needs and making real-world impacts.

  • Perks Package

    The Perks Package provides innovators with a catalogue of exclusive discounts and services from select industry partners to help grow their business.

  • Online Learning Series

    Our Online Learning Series provides innovators with access to tailored, program-specific learning focused on developing knowledge and skills in key areas of innovation, strategy, and change management.

  • KL-CARE

    KL-CARE works with innovators to facilitate and implement formative, process, outcome, and impact evaluations, and basic and applied research to inform client care and optimize program and organizational efficiencies.

  • Marketing and Knowledge Mobilization Services

    Services that provide innovators with guidance on how to promote uptake of their solutions to target audiences and support with dissemination through CABHI and partner channels (socials, website, and events).

  • Scientific Officers

    Scientific Officers provide innovators with access to researchers in the aging, brain health, and dementia space to collaborate and ensure scientific validity.

  • Student Intern Program

    Our Student Intern Program provides innovators with subsidies to hire a student intern to complete a specific scope of work.

  • Consulting Services

    Our Consulting Services provide innovators with a spending stipend to access various services from third-party contractors (legal, design, software development, etc.).

Impact Stories

  • Intergenerational Jamboree: Cultivating Connections Through Creativity

    Music therapy programs and intergenerational programs have been proven to offer immense benefits for older persons. 

    Learn More
  • people stretching and smiling
    GERAS DANCE: Movement for the Mind

    Movement is often associated with increasing one’s physical health, but there is now growing research demonstrating how movement is also beneficial for the mind.

    Learn More
  • The Mobile Social: Bringing Connections into Communities

    When Chelsey Roberts joined the Alzheimer Society Southwest Partners in 2021, she quickly identified a critical need: Social programming for people living with dementia within the community.

    Learn More

Our platform is more than just a service – it’s a commitment to providing choice, reliability, and a deep understanding of the unique needs of our users. We are bringing back the feeling of community support to Canada.
Laurie Lathem, Vice President of Growth at Tuktu Care Inc.

Supporting Healthcare Organizations Discover + Adopt Innovations

In 2023, CABHI expanded its newest program, Discover + Adopt (D+A): A program that matches healthcare delivery organizations to companies with tailored solutions to target their pain points.

  • Supporting Healthcare Organizations Discover + Adopt Innovations

    After successfully pairing an organization with a company, CABHI supports the organization with building their skills and readiness to introduce, implement, and sustain innovation in their own settings. The participating companies also gain access to case scenarios and end-user feedback to further refine their solution for improved product- market fit.

    Learn More

Fostering Strategic Partnerships for National and Global Impact

CABHI envisions a world in which people can age in the setting of their choice, maintaining their cognitive, emotional, and physical wellbeing as well as their independence for as long as possible. To achieve national and global impact, CABHI is encouraging system-level changes.

  • people stretching and smiling
    Advancing Canada’s National Dementia Strategy through the Dementia Research and Innovation Funders Alliance

    In 2023, Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Institute of Aging (CIHR-IA) launched the Dementia Research and Innovation Funders Alliance (the Alliance) – a collaborative network of research organizations with the common goal of advancing the National Dementia Strategy – of which CABHI was a founding partner.

    Learn More
  • Engaging Communities to Raise Public Awareness about Dementia Prevention

    As part of Canada’s National Dementia Strategy, PHAC disbursed $9.6 million from the Dementia Strategic Fund to catalyze efforts focusing on mobilizing knowledge to enhance dementia awareness.

    Learn More
  • Adapting Innovation to Support the Needs of Indigenous Communities

    As the Canadian Consortium on Neurodegeneration in Aging’s (CCNA) inaugural commercialization and social impact partner, CABHI works closely with the CCNA to advance dementia research and innovation.

    Learn More

Thought Leadership

Mobilizing Knowledge and Sharing Community Insights

As a national and global leader in the aging and brain health sector, CABHI continues to build a strong culture of innovation and demonstrate thought leadership by mobilizing knowledge through conferences and outreach events. We bring together a wide range of stakeholders, from innovators to CABHI alumni, investors, healthcare providers, researchers, older persons, caregivers, and industry leaders, with the ultimate goal of fostering diverse connections to exchange and apply knowledge for greater collective impact.

Engaging our Global Community of Innovation

  • The sixth annual CABHI Summit: Defy Dementia, held virtually on March 26, brought together hundreds of innovators, CABHI alumni, investors, healthcare providers, researchers, older persons, caregivers, exhibitors, and industry leaders. Attendees gained insights into the most pressing challenges, opportunities, and trends in defying dementia and healthy aging.

    CABHI produced season five of the Community of Innovation Podcast, bringing the total number of free episodes to 60. The series features experts in healthcare, research, technology, and business, as well as older persons and their caregivers, discussing hot topics in innovative healthtech solutions, aging, and brain health practices.

Creating Opportunities for Inclusive Innovation

  • CABHI has a strong commitment to ensuring our Community of Innovation is reflective of diverse groups, including women. Our programs are designed to bring entrepreneurship opportunities directly to women and other equity deserving groups. Although only 18 percent of small- and medium-sized businesses in Canada are womenowned, the vast majority of project leads in our programs are women led. For example, we have run 6 cohorts of MC2, and over 40 percent of the investments have gone to support Female Founders with the latest cohort reaching 60 percent.

    Similarly, 78 percent of the Spark Portfolio has been female-led projects to date. In the most recent Spark cohort, 45 percent of projects addressed ageism, 35 percent addressed socioeconomic inequality, 25 percent addressed racial inequality, and 15 percent specifically addressed Indigenous health.

  • 775
    attendees
  • 16
    sponsors
  • 44
    exhibitors
  • 37
    speakers
  • 23
    countries

CABHI Summit

Engaging Students, Colleges, and Universities

Through campus-linked accelerators, like Collision Days and Hackathons, we connect students, entrepreneurs, and early career researchers from colleges and universities with each other and members of the community to co-design aging and brain health solutions. Through these opportunities, student ventures gain access to CABHI funding and acceleration services, including Leap community engagement.

Spotlighting Innovators

Through Innovation Showcases, like our 2023 Atlantic Innovation Showcase in Halifax, we connect innovators to industry professionals spanning government, healthcare, and investors. Our Atlantic Innovation Showcase hosted more than 75 people, including leaders from start-up companies, researchers, investors, hospital administrators, and government staff. Dr. Allison Sekuler, Dr. Lara Swarek, an investment associate with Invest Nova Scotia, and eight companies from Atlantic Canada presented; three of which were existing CABHI portfolio companies and five were in the process of applying to CABHI programs.

Dr. Allison Sekuler, President and Chief Scientist of CABHI.
  • 5
    seasons to date
  • 60
    free episodes
  • 800+
    average monthly downloads

CABHI Community of Innovation Podcast

Listen to the podcast

Looking Ahead

The future is bright for CABHI. We will continue to foster innovation, skillbuilding, and collaboration among diverse groups, including innovators, researchers, older persons, caregivers, and healthcare organizations. We will harness their experience and expertise to co-design solutions that enrich lives. By providing funding, mentoring, training, and networking, we will develop, validate, and scale innovative solutions in aging and brain health. Our programs and dynamic partnerships will lead to critical knowledge exchange that influences behavior, practice, and policy, catalyzing breakthroughs and transforming the landscape of aging and brain health.
Leadership

Guided by visionaries

  • Board of Directors
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    Learn more
  • Senior Advisory Panel
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Financial Report

Please click on the Financial Report to view.

If you have any questions or would like more information about CABHI or our annual report, please contact info@cabhi.com.

Download our Impact Report

PDF DOWNLOAD:

CABHI Impact Report 2023–2024.PDF

CABHI gratefully acknowledges the support of our funders.

The views expressed herein are those of the Centre for Aging + Brain Health Innovation and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Government of Ontario or the Public Health Agency of Canada.