When CEO Nuha Siddiqui co-founded Erthos in 2018, the goal of the company (then called EcoPackers) was to reduce plastic waste by developing biodegradable options that could be swapped in for disposable materials. As the Mississauga-based startup expanded its reach and began helping major global brands replace, say, foam made of fossil fuels with compostable packing peanuts, however, Siddiqui and her colleagues realized that the world’s plastics problem couldn’t be solved by just such small-scale swaps. “To truly accelerate change,” Siddiqui says, “we also needed to reimagine the systems that enable these materials to scale.”
For Erthos to efficiently achieve this goal, she explains, the company needs to strategically position itself within a supply chain that has the infrastructure and resources to bring sustainable products to millions of customers worldwide. And a new deal with multinational household products manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive represents a major step in that direction. The partnership, announced earlier this month, will provide Colgate-Palmolive’s packaging innovation and sustainability teams with access to ZYA, Erthos’s proprietary AI platform. ZYA, which simulates how sustainable materials will perform and measures key metrics (such as durability, cost and compostability) was created to test in-house materials, but Siddiqui says the company realized that the tool itself could be valuable to external partners.
While Erthos will continue to make sustainable materials — such as Bioresin, an alternative to the polypropylene used for personal care products — Siddiqui notes that expanding access to ZYA will “enable brands to develop solutions locally, in the same geographies where their products will be launched.” This is an important factor from an environmental standpoint (transporting materials can be energy-intensive), and it has become increasingly crucial at a time when businesses are navigating a gauntlet of tariffs. To that end, Erthos is also working on embedding manufacturing considerations like tariffs and regional trade impacts into the platform.
This initial partnership will also allow Erthos to refine ZYA based on feedback from Colgate-Palmolive. “Moving forward, our role is evolving into being the technology driver and enabler of sustainable solutions through ZYA,” says Siddiqui.
Researchers to explore potential eczema treatment
The Johns Hopkins University Department of Dermatology has received a significant grant to explore a novel drug compound developed by Toronto-based biotech company Noa Therapeutics. Noa has found a new formulation that holds promise for treating inflammatory conditions such as atopic dermatitis, or eczema. The prestigious Catalyst Research Grant from the National Eczema Association will allow researchers from Johns Hopkins to explore applications of the treatment in preclinical trials.
Ontario aims to expedite health tech adoption
The provincial government’s new Health Innovation Pathway aims to expedite the review process and remove roadblocks in the adoption of novel medical devices, digital tools, imaging and screening systems, lab tests and other health-care technologies — with priority given to Ontario-developed innovations. As part of the program, funding has been designated to develop key areas of care in life sciences: $5 million for wound care management solutions, $1.5 million for AI-powered diabetes-related vision loss prevention screening tools, $5 million for computer-assisted navigation systems for total hip and knee arthroplasty and $500,000 for abdominal wall surgical supports to prevent post-op damage.
Albania appoints AI minister
The government of Canada recently rolled out a strategy detailing its plans to improve the public service through the adoption of AI — a commitment to the technology that builds on the appointment of Evan Solomon as the first federal minister of artificial intelligence earlier this year. Meanwhile, in Albania, Parliament has just heard from the country’s AI minister. Diella (her name is derived from the Albanian word for “sun”) appeared onscreen — the only option for a cabinet member who is actually a generative AI bot. The rationale behind creating a virtual minister to manage public procurement (Diella’s portfolio) is to eliminate potential biases related to public-sector contracts. While Diella’s role is symbolic, she’s already been hard at work. Her 1.0 version was as a virtual assistant guiding Albanians looking to obtain official documents.
SickKids tops list of world’s best children’s hospitals
According to a new list published by Newsweek and Statistica, Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) is the best pediatric hospital in the world. Three other Canadian hospitals are included in the top 50 (out of 250 institutions in total): Vancouver’s BC Children’s Hospital (#8), Calgary’s Alberta Children’s Hospital (#12) and Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital (#40). In addition to assessing accreditation data and patient outcomes, organizers surveyed “tens of thousands” of medical professionals to determine the rankings.
Carney’s Canadian cloud commitment
In August, the federal government launched its Major Projects Office (MPO), a co-ordinating body intended to minimize regulatory hurdles and accelerate the process of nation-building initiatives. Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced that the MPO’s top priorities will include the establishment of a “Canadian sovereign cloud,” the expansion of compute capacity and data centres to strengthen Canada’s competitiveness, security and independence, and maintain the country’s reputation as a global leader in AI and quantum technologies.
By the numbers
50,000: Target number of participants in the GlobalMinds project, a transatlantic study launched by U.K. startup Akrivia Health with the aim of analyzing data from subjects to learn about the causes and progression of dementia. Akrivia Health is one of eight ventures in the third cohort of a collaboration between MaRS and Innovate UK to help startups from the United Kingdom explore opportunities in North America. The cohort also includes Aisthesis Medical, Blüm Health, C-Prio, Healthy.io, Anya, Motics and Pictura Bio.
$4.8 million: The amount raised by Montreal startup FeX Energy in its recent funding round. The company will direct that money toward an Ontario-based pilot project that harnesses the iron oxidation process to sustainably store energy.
9,000: The number of Novo Nordisk employees whose jobs are being cut as the pharma firm works to reduce overhead and re-establish market dominance.
$55 million (U.S.): How much financing Toronto-based Hydrostor received from Export Development Canada to support the long-duration energy storage project it is developing in Australia.
$9 million: The amount Amii will receive from the federal governments. Amii, or the Alberta Institute for Machine Intelligence, will provide AI training to nearly 5,000 mid-career Canadians in the energy sector.
Rebecca Gao writes about technology for MaRS. Torstar, the parent company of the Toronto Star, has partnered with MaRS to highlight innovation in Canadian companies.
