Question 1

How does the SAIL Fund benefit Canada?

Accepted Answer

Canadians invest heavily in publicly funded research, and should see real benefits from that investment. The SAIL Fund helps give promising research a chance to improve daily life by supporting the earliest stages of getting technologies out of the lab. When projects succeed, they lead to better health tools, cleaner technologies, stronger industries, and new jobs. When projects fail, Canada still benefits from the knowledge gained, the skills developed, and the data collected about what works and what does not. By keeping talent, ideas, and intellectual property in Canada and collecting actionable data on innovation performance, the SAIL Fund contributes to a stronger economy, a more resilient innovation system, and greater impact from public spending on research.

Question 2

What is venture philanthropy?

Accepted Answer

Venture philanthropy is uniquely suited to supporting emerging technology in the pre-revenue phase because it tolerates uncertainty and long time horizons, and can be used to support technologies that still face significant technical and market risks. Traditional investment models, that usually prioritize speed and shorter-term profit, do not work in these conditions. Venture philanthropy, which recycles returns into the next generation, is also a very efficient use of taxpayer dollars to support innovation since it sustains itself in the long term, requiring only a catalyzing contribution to kickstart the innovation flywheel. The SAIL Fund adapts proven venture philanthropy approaches to support research commercialization with dilutive funding. Any upside is recycled to support the next generation of ventures commercializing publicly funded research, strengthening Canada’s innovation ecosystem by taking a more inclusive view of value creation that goes beyond short-term financial performance and reducing its need for continued public support over time. Click here for more on venture philanthropy.

Question 3

How does the SAIL Fund complement public funding for innovation?

Accepted Answer

The SAIL Fund amplifies the impact of existing public funding for innovation. Canada’s public research funding system is highly effective at supporting scientific research, but struggles to carry that research through the early, pre-revenue stages of commercialization. Most public funding programs are narrowly focused on just one aspect of the process and either require matching funds, or operate on a reimbursement model, both of which prevent pre-revenue startups from accessing them effectively. By flexibly filling those gaps, the SAIL Fund makes sure that innovative companies have no holes in their roadmap and increases both the quality and quantity of the companies in Canada’s innovation scale-up pipeline. It uses a proven model that amplifies the impact  of, and improves coordination between, the many funding mechanisms that already exist to serve the various stages of research-based innovation. The SAIL Fund uses a phased approach to identify and mitigate technical, market, and implementation barriers early, increasing the effectiveness of any concurrent and subsequent public investment. The data and insights generated (including successes, failures, costs, and timelines) inform policy design and program improvements for the 134 federal innovation funding programs, 28 reporting agencies, and their uncounted provincial counterparts.

Question 4

Why contribute to the SAIL Fund?

Accepted Answer

Canada’s world-class research is vulnerable because early, risk-tolerant capital is scarce. Many promising discoveries never reach the market. Contributing to the SAIL Fund helps ensure generations of Canadians will benefit from the research they already support through public funding. The SAIL Fund’s patient capital de-risks technologies aligned with national priorities and gives entrepreneurial talent a chance to grow, build, and remain in Canada. The SAIL Fund approach uses a proven model to increase the quality and quantity of innovative companies turning publicly funded research into impact in Canada. By absorbing early technical risk, the SAIL Fund increases the chances that follow-on public or private investment will be deployed effectively and efficiently. Success is measured over time, at the portfolio and ecosystem level, ensuring contributions deliver lasting, Canada-wide impact.

Question 5

What is patient capital?

Accepted Answer

Patient capital is any source of funding that does not impose a timeline on repayment or return on investment. When we deploy patient capital via the blended finance mechanism of venture philanthropy, it effectively supports long, uncertain emerging technology development timelines. In practice, this is achieved by holding equity for as long as necessary to align funding with the development path of the technology.

Question 6

Why is investing in the earliest stages of emerging technology startups so critical in order for Canadians to benefit from publicly-funded research?

Accepted Answer

For Canadians to benefit from the research they fund, we must embrace risk. For public value to be created from emerging technologies, and for that value to accrue domestically, we must invest long before we are certain that the technology will achieve its full potential. SAIL Fund is built to absorb the technical risks that stop promising, publicly funded research from finding real-world application in Canada. Grants alone cannot do this, most public funding for innovation depends on matching funds that emerging technology startups do not have, and traditional investors typically arrive too late. By taking on early risk with patient capital, the SAIL Fund enables Canadian innovators to develop their intellectual property here, generates evidence about what works and what does not to inform better innovation policy, unlocks and amplifies the impact of other funding sources, and improves the quality of and quantity of investment options for both the public and private sectors. While most emerging technology ventures will not succeed, the knowledge, talent, and learning they produce in the attempt will strengthen the innovation ecosystem. Click here for more about embracing risk.

Question 7

How does the SAIL Fund define success?

Accepted Answer

While we do everything we can to support our portfolio companies, failure is an expected and accepted outcome at this stage of innovation. Most attempts to commercialize research will not succeed, and they should be celebrated regardless. The only real failure is one from which we do not learn, or one that we punish by denying the founder of a failed startup the chance to try again, armed with the hard-earned lessons from the first attempt. We measure success at the portfolio and ecosystem level over a long time horizon, not in terms of individual venture survival. Success for us is the long-term sustainability of the SAIL Fund and a first-in-class Canadian innovation ecosystem supporting a culture of entrepreneurship, intelligent risk-taking, and risk-tolerance that turns publicly funded research into social and economic benefit for Canada. “Unsuccessful” ventures contribute valuable knowledge, talent development and ecosystem learning that we help pass on to the next generation of Canadian innovators. Founders, whether they succeed or fail, continue to contribute to their ecosystem when they feel supported.

Question 8

What other support does the SAIL Fund provide?

Accepted Answer

SAIL Fund provides a range of support depending on where you fit in the innovation ecosystem:
For founders, aside from capital, the SAIL Fund provides roadmaps, access to mentorship, IP strategy guidance, and connections to a national ecosystem of funders and advisors that can support you as you build your venture;
for government, SAIL Fund provides a path to creating domestic impact for publicly funded research, evidence-based policy insights, and amplifies the impact of other public funding sources for innovation; 
for universities, it provides tools to streamline tech transfer and support for your spinout companies that maximizes the socioeconomic impact of your research; and
for downstream investors, it increases the quantity and quality of innovative companies in the ecosystem and shares the risks of getting involved early in ventures working to secure impact from publicly funded research. 
More details:
for Scientists and Founders
for Public Servants
for Universities
for Contributors

Question 9

How does the SAIL Fund work with university tech transfer offices (TTOs)?

Accepted Answer

The SAIL Fund enables smoother technology transfer by giving startups the early resources and support they need to progress responsibly toward impact beyond the lab. It respects institutional IP policies and academic priorities, and works collaboratively with TTOs, rather than trying to bypass or displace existing  processes. SAIL is designed to work with TTOs starting from the moment you decide to license a technology, and the SAIL Fund can fill the “Investor” role in a SAIL agreement, providing resources to startups to effect smooth tech transfer and managing equity on behalf of the university, if necessary.

Question 10

Does SAIL Fund only support startups that have licensed technology using the Simple Agreement for Innovation Licensing (SAIL)?

Accepted Answer

The SAIL Fund does not require that startups and TTOs use the Simple Agreement for Innovation Licensing (SAIL) framework. However, we encourage TTOs and startups to use it, and can directly support adoption beyond investing.  Startups that used a license other than SAIL for their tech transfer are welcome to apply, and will require additional due diligence that may extend the time until we can make a decision. You can accelerate this process by carefully reviewing the guidance document on the SAIL website and describing why you chose to use the license you did, in light of the 6 SAIL axioms of technology transfer, as part of your application.

Question 11

Why should I get involved?

Accepted Answer

The benefits of being a part of the SAIL community are many and depend on where you fit in the innovation ecosystem. You can read more about the benefits in the sections below:
Contributors
Public Servants
Universities
Scientists & Founders

Question 12

I’m not involved in research, startups, investing, or government. What do I need to know about the SAIL Fund?

Accepted Answer

Canadians fund a large share of research through public spending, and we are very good at producing discoveries with that money. Yet, many of those discoveries never leave the lab and are lost opportunities to create value from taxpayer dollars. This is not because these discoveries lack value, but rather is because early development carries risk, takes a long time, and existing funding tools are mostly not designed to support them.

Public support for innovation usually requires matching funds or spending before reimbursement, excluding pre-revenue companies that do not have the upfront cash. 
Private sector support is limited by 10-year fund lifetimes that are incompatible with the median 9 years it takes to achieve an outcome with a research-based spinout.

The SAIL Fund exists to address that gap. It supports the risky early stages where emerging technologies are tested, refined, and either proven useful or shown not to work. This approach helps keep talent, ideas, and intellectual property in Canada instead of exporting them elsewhere. Over time, this contributes to a stronger economy, a more resilient innovation system, and better use of public resources.

SAIL Fund

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