BoutIQ Solutions Inc. Named Winner of U of T's 2025 Biotech Venture Pitch Competition

BoutIQ Solutions Inc. was named the 2025 Building a Biotech Venture (BBTV) Grand Prize winner at a pitch competition held on May 8 at the University of Toronto's Myhal Centre for Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship. The event attracted more than 180 attendees from the biotech, venture capital, startup, and academic communities.

Six early-stage biotech ventures presented their ideas to expert judges and a public audience. The BBTV program, led by PRiME in partnership with Medicine by Design, Health Innovation Hub (H2i), and Talk Boutique, supports teams from U of T and affiliated hospitals in translating regenerative and precision medicine research into startup ventures.

BoutIQ Solutions, led by Alice Feng, Heta Lad, and Doris Adao from the labs of Julie Audet and Craig Simmons, developed an AI/ML-powered platform to optimize cell culture media development for regenerative medicine, biotechnology, and cellular agriculture. The team received $25,000 in research funding sponsored by PRiME and Medicine by Design, a $5,000 BioHubNet VentureConnect Travel Award, a prize package from STEMCELL Technologies, and a 1:1 advisory session with Creative Destruction Lab.

The People's Choice Award went to Linker, a venture developing long non-coding RNA therapies to treat cardiovascular disease inflammation, led by Janice Pang from Omar Khan's lab. Akshita Vincent, Director of Strategy & Partnerships at PRiME, described the program as "a launchpad for emerging ventures." The competition was supported by STEMCELL Technologies, BioHubNet, and Creative Destruction Lab.