Taproot Edmonton Logo

Health Innovation Roundup
July 22, 2026

Share

Sponsored by:
Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation

Bio-Stream pulls money out of Thin Air

By

Bio-Stream Diagnostics has shared its experience securing hundreds of thousands of dollars in non-dilutive funding while participating in the Funding Catalyst program from Thin Air Labs. The pre-revenue company is working to offer lab-quality blood and urine testing at home. Thin Air Labs's role, in part, was to quiet the noise and match Bio-Stream to the right programs. "Everybody knows there are grants and they've heard about them," CEO John Murphy said in a testimonial. "But what Thin Air Labs does is get real. (The Funding Catalyst program is) how they practically go after them, and then actually close and get the money into the bank."

Thin Air's support in securing funds helped Bio-Stream concentrate on non-financial milestones. Over roughly six months, Bio-Stream grew from seven to 12 team members and advanced its hardware toward a more market-ready solution, noted the Health Innovation Hub, of which Bio-Stream is a member. Murphy and Bio-Stream are among advocates for the community at the Edmonton Research Park — also home to the Critical Medicines Production Centre from Applied Pharmaceutical Innovation — which tracks with further comment from the Health Innovation Hub about the Thin Air collab. "This is a great example of why building innovations in Alberta can work so well. We have the tools, we have the talent, and we have the collaborative ecosystem!"

Finding funding through Thin Air Labs is certainly helpful, though it's no guarantee. The organization said it helped True Angle, an Edmonton-based medical device company, secure more than $1.8 million in non-dilutive funding after it participated in the Funding Catalyst program in 2021. But True Angle's website is no longer live, and founder Jana Rieger has moved on. It's not easy to make a go of it in a highly regulated sector where the pre-revenue period tends to be long. But you've got to start somewhere, and connections make a difference, as well as the money, Murphy suggested, citing trade missions he has been able to participate in. "These opportunities come together, and then we're able to take advantage of them and just move our company forward at a quicker pace and more professionally," Murphy said.

Permalink Share

Headlines

Social innovation

  • Jill Footz of Edmonton Playgrounds is calling on the city to build more inclusive playgrounds ahead of the next four-year budget. "Offering that access to everyone is the gold standard," Footz told Taproot. In June, Edmonton city council's executive committee unanimously directed city administration to assess the time and cost of integrating an inclusive playground strategy, with a report due by Oct. 21.
  • NiGiNan Housing Ventures has broken ground on Ambrose Place II, a 60-unit Indigenous-led supportive housing development near the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital that will provide permanent housing for people with complex medical and social needs. The culturally appropriate, trauma-informed facility will have 24/7 access to nurses and other care professionals.
  • CASA Mental Health CEO Bonnie Blakley joined the Life Shouldn't Hurt podcast to discuss the "missing middle" in youth mental health care — the gap between a family doctor visit and a crisis ER trip — and how CASA bridges it by integrating medical and mental health professionals in schools.

More health news

  • The City of Edmonton activated its extreme weather response due to poor air quality, with the Air Quality Health Index reaching 10 or higher. The response, expected to last until July 22, could be extended if conditions persist; city facilities were open for vulnerable residents to seek relief from the conditions. The city also said an extreme heat response was expected to be activated on July 22.
  • A federal court directed Correctional Service Canada to record temperatures and seek authorization to install air conditioning at the secure unit of the Edmonton Institution for Women. Inmate complaints of extreme heat go back about two decades; temperatures caused "panic attacks, psychological distress, and sleep deprivation," the court found.
  • Alberta Health Services is urging summer safety as ERs see seasonal surges, with an average wait of four to six hours for a broken leg and more than 33,000 ER visits recorded at 13 emergency departments between June 1 and Aug. 31 last year. E-bike and e-scooter injuries, broken bones, and head injuries from recreational falls are among the most common. "(E-scooters) certainly go fast enough that if you fall off, you can give yourself a serious head injury if you fall wrong," said University of Alberta Hospital physician Andrew Dixon.
  • The Mike Petryk School of Dentistry at the University of Alberta has awarded the Bulyea Cup — its highest honour — to Paul Major, whose 16 years of leadership as chair helped raise the school's international ranking to second in Canada and 73rd worldwide. He has supervised more than 80 students since 2002.
  • University of Alberta researchers joined CBC Edmonton's Radio Active to discuss health misinformation on social media and the university's new course, Fighting Misinformation in Public Health, which provides tools to recognize, evaluate, and counter false health claims.
  • Lynora Saxinger of the University of Alberta posited a spike in cyclosporiasis cases is largely due to travel to and from Mexico, as Alberta health officials investigate six confirmed cases of the parasitic illness that can cause severe diarrhea.
  • Pharmacist Momen Wali of the Griesbach I.D.A. has launched a petition calling for the end of a $13,000 monthly cap on clinical pharmacy services, warning the limit could lead pharmacists to restrict patient access and add more pressure to an already strained healthcare system. The petition had nearly 900 signatures as of July 21.
  • Eight pharmacy assistants at CapitalCare Group's Dickinsfield Campus have filed for union certification with CUPE Local 1158, which already represents hundreds of workers at that location. CUPE also applied to include the pharmacy assistants in the existing bargaining unit at the site.
  • Spruce Grove Mayor Jeff Acker announced the city will transition its ambulance services to provincial delivery on Oct. 1, after Alberta's Minister of Hospital and Surgical Health Services confirmed the province would not change its funding model in a way that would have allowed for the continued integration of fire and EMS services. Acker acknowledged that some residents would have been willing to pay higher municipal taxes to preserve the integrated model, but council "ultimately concluded residents should not be asked to permanently subsidize a provincial health care service when the Province has committed to directly delivering ambulance services in Spruce Grove."

Happenings

Here are some events coming up soon:

And here are more to keep in mind:

Visit the Taproot Edmonton Calendar for many more events in the Edmonton region.

Taproot is taking a summer break! The Health Innovation Roundup will return on Aug. 12.

Share:

Previous Edition