Mitch Wilson, began his journey with Mariner Endosurgery in 2015 as an MBA student during Innovation Factory’s Synapse Life Science Pitch Competition. “The first time I applied to the Synapse Competition, I was introduced to Dr. David Langlois. David had just received his first U.S. patent, and even though he knew what he wanted to build, he knew he needed help in how to build it.”
The commercialization journey
With a patent in place and seeking to bridge the gap to get his initial product to market, Langlois started working with Innovation Factory and was encouraged to take part in the Synapse Pitch Competition.
With Wilson joining the team as part of the competition, they tapped into training and mentorship to develop a commercialization plan and investor pitch. This pairing became the catalyst that put the company on the path to success.
Though they didn’t make it far in the competition finals, the team re-entered the competition a year later, with Wilson as the CEO. After honing its strategies and pitch, the Mariner Endosurgery team secured a second place victory.
Langlois’ design became LaparoGuard™ AR, Mariner’s first product, an augmented surgical system. LaparoGuard enables surgeons to have the latest in advanced visualization, augmented reality and spatial awareness tools for minimally invasive procedures.
The following year after the competition win, Mariner continued to gain traction and hit several major milestones including closing an investment round with local angel investors and surgeons in 2017 and receiving FDA clearance in 2018. LaparoGuard was first used at Hamilton Health Sciences’ General Hospital, with other clinical and evaluative work later performed in the U.S. and Europe.
The company’s growing success then earned Mariner additional investment from Hamilton’s Bay Area Health Trust, enabling them to scale their start-up. Mariner leveraged the guidance of Innovation Factory’s Expert Advisors, including CEO of Innovation Factory, David Carter, and successfully built, grew, and scaled their business over the years.
Even with success on both sides of the border, Wilson states that Hamilton will be Mariner’s home for the foreseeable future. Through strategic connections facilitated by regional institutions such as Innovation Factory, Synapse Life Science Consortium, McMaster University and Hamilton Health Sciences, Mariner has grown from an idea to a scalable life science company.
“Hamilton has everything we need to be successful at this point. The foundational building blocks can be found here, from talent to supply chain, to clinicians and hospitals. It’s the perfect location to reach decision makers at large local hospital networks that are not only interested but supportive, too.”
The team was really tested during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the world came to a sudden halt but Mariner successfully pivoted to address the needs of the Canadian government, and emerged with a growing balance sheet and a renewed focus on the R&D pipeline of surgical devices.
Realizing the maturation of the company, experienced medical device executive Mike Daniels was recruited as its new President to lead it into the next stages, with the enthusiastic support of Wilson and the Mariner Board of Directors.
Today, the Mariner team continues to invest in its innovation and developed a pipeline for commercialization of new medical devices, including the SURGinvent.
New beginnings for Wilson
While stepping away from his role as President, Wilson chose to contribute to the innovation ecosystem in new ways. He now manages his family’s holdings at Peony Investments VMW Ltd. and rejoined the Innovation Factory community as an Expert Advisor, where he enjoys helping entrepreneurs scale their start-ups.
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