Derisking Health Technology Innovation: From Idea to Pilot

​Presented by CHEO, Childrens Hospital of Eastern Ontario

​Health technology startups face unique risks, from complex clinical workflows and regulatory hurdles to long sales cycles and limited access to data. Many promising innovations fail, not because of poor ideas, but because founders skip early validation with clinicians, patients, and health systems.

​Join this interactive session to explore practical frameworks for derisking health technology innovation. Learn how to identify your riskiest assumptions, validate clinical and market fit, and design pilots that position your company for adoption and investment. Real-world case studies from Core Innovation’s programs will show how founders can move confidently from idea to pilot.

​Participants will learn:

​• How to identify and test risky assumptions early

​• How to align clinical validation with market opportunity

​• How to design effective pilot studies and partnerships

​• How to communicate “de-risking” milestones to investors and funders

​This is essential for early-stage health technology entrepreneurs, researchers, and product developers who are building or testing digital health, AI-enabled, or medtech solutions and want to accelerate their path to clinical validation and market entry.

​SPEAKERS:

​Sarah Mroz and Asleigh Kennedy, Innovation Stream @ CHEO