Cobourg, Ontario (September 3, 2020) - Venture13 rose to the challenge of COVID-19 by committing to continuous innovation. From supporting emergency production of PPE through Northumberland.io to leading regional economic recovery initiatives like RE3, Venture13 partners have come together, leveraging technology and partnerships to actively adapt and respond to global changes brought on by the pandemic. 

Shortly before the Provincial emergency declaration, two Venture13 partners (the Cobourg Police Service and Northumberland CFDC) announced the launch of the V13 Policetech Accelerator—aimed at the development and implementation of innovative policing technologies and best practices for community safety in Ontario and around the world. They were not slowed down by the pandemic. Led by entrepreneur and IP specialist Joseph Miller (Northumberland CFDC), the Accelerator initiated its two program streams (Startup and Scale-up), launched and awarded its first Call for Proposals, brought on board engineering talent through the CFDC’s internship program and implemented an array of exciting collaborative projects including coordinating with leading academic researchers to define ethical guidelines for the use of sensitive police technologies. 

A feature Accelerator project initiated early in the pandemic was the rapid prototyping, testing and now successful commercialization of a non-contact thermal image screening tool. By monitoring employee and visitor temperatures and relaying this information in real time, the technology provides an additional layer of protection for critical police operational centres, in response to COVID-19. 

Since May, 2020, ThermaScans (led by Alex Papanicolaou and Nisha Sarveswaran) worked in collaboration with the V13 Policetech Accelerator and the Cobourg Police Service (CPS) to test and validate their technology. The pilot leveraged CPS locations (Venture13 at 739 D’Arcy St. 107 King St. West), while CPS staff and volunteers and the Town of Cobourg helped to create a unique pilot-scale testing environment for the new technology. The device was tested with a control (utilizing traditional hand-held “gun” thermometers), comparing this data versus temperature readings from the ThermaScans device. The data collected has helped showcase the precision of the technology and led to early market adoption here in Northumberland, across Ontario and beyond. The second phase of the project included installation in the police cell block as a means to take temperature readings of individuals during the booking process. This is taken as a unique opportunity to not only ensure the safety of front-line officers, but also the entire judicial and corrections departments. The technology will help enable a stop gap to ensure that individuals who elicit symptoms of COVID-19 (or other illnesses) are triaged appropriately, thus limiting contact and transmission throughout the law enforcement and judicial pipelines. 

With the support of V13 advisors including Chris Gillis, P. Eng, Manager of Applied Research and Business Development at Durham College, ThermaScans was recently awarded a Class 1 Medical Device Establishment License (MDEL) from Health Canada. ThermaScans also went on to secure a $200,000 pre-seed investment by Ideal Ventures. The ThermaScans hardware is proudly designed and Made in Northumberland at Canada’s first Microfactory Co-operative, a member of the Northumberland Manufacturers Association. The Microfactory produces the device in the hardware-focused V13 MakerLab. The app is now available on Google Play and the iOS version will be released in September. 

ThermaScans is currently deployed in multiple front-line environments in active use by local municipal and essential services. “We are grateful to the Town of Cobourg, Northumberland CFDC, FedDev Ontario and the Policetech Accelerator for the opportunity to make a difference for front-line workers,” said Alex Papanicolaou, Co-Founder and CEO of ThermaScans. “The Cobourg Police Service has provided an excellent test bed in a controlled environment to validate the efficacy and efficiency of our technology. The responsiveness and communication with Chief VandeGraaf and Thomas Wilson—as well as the support of Cobourg’s CAO Ian Davey and his team—have been integral to the rapid deployment of the ThermaScans system.”

Additional Quotes
“The V13 Policetech Accelerator was designed to utilize the Cobourg Police Service as a police technology test bed, dedicated to adopting new solutions for enhanced community safety and overall operational excellence. We look forward to continuing to build off of this pilot and showcase the benefits of the technology and know-how to Cobourg and beyond.” Paul VandeGraaf, Chief of Police, Cobourg Police Service 

“The Cobourg Police Services Board is committed to exploring initiatives that increase efficiency and effectiveness, working with community organizations on proactive and forward-thinking initiatives striving to achieve our mission of excellence in policing and quality community service.” Dean Pepper, Chair the Cobourg Police Services Board 

“With the support of FedDev Ontario and RIIEO, Venture13 and our V13 Policetech Accelerator have provided a unique platform for us to rapidly connect, create, augment and accelerate innovative concepts like ThermaScans. COVID-19 has not held us back, rather we are rising to meet the challenge and contributing solutions to our community and the world through innovation and entrepreneurship.” John Hayden, Venture Catalyst, Northumberland CFDC 

Associated Links
V13 Policetech Accelerator
Cobourg Police Service
Venture13
Northumberland CFDC
FedDev Ontario
ThermaScans
Ideal Ventures