SpinUp at UTM

Name

SpinUp at UTM

Legal name

SpinUp at UTM, University of Toronto Entrepreneurship

Website

https://spinup.utm.utoronto.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Mississauga

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Infrastructure, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Fees: SpinUp generates revenue through highly subsidized monthly membership fees from resident startups. Rates are more than 50% below market standards, making the space affordable for early-stage companies.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

SpinUp at UTM is the University of Toronto's first wet lab incubator, providing early-stage life science startups with subsidized Biosafety Level 2 wet lab co-working space, shared life science equipment, dedicated lab bench units with fume hoods, office space, and entrepreneurship programming. Membership includes mentorship, networking events, practical workshops, and access to UTM's research talent, offered at rates more than 50% below market standards for terms up to two years.

Product overview

SpinUp at UTM is University of Toronto's first wet lab incubator, offering a unified suite of early-stage life science startup support services. The core offering combines physical lab infrastructure (wet lab space, lab equipment, and office space) with entrepreneurship programming, mentorship, and access to research talent from UTM. Additional specialized programs like the Merck Blue Ticket Award provide targeted mentorship and financial support for qualifying startups. The organization operates as a single integrated incubator rather than a modular platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wet Lab Space Membership Biosafety Level 2 wet lab co-working space in UTM's New Science Building, offered at subsidized rates more than 50% below market standards for membership terms up to two years. Targeted at early-stage life science startups developing IP for human health.
• Lab Infrastructure and Shared Equipment Dedicated 6x5ft lab bench unit with fume hood per member, plus shared life science equipment and infrastructure including cell and tissue culture capabilities and chemical storage.
• Office Space Dedicated desk within an open shared desk space and a bookable eight-person meeting room, located next to SpinUp's lab space.
• Entrepreneurship Programming Mentorship programs, networking events, and practical workshops run by U of T Entrepreneurship, one of the world's top five university-managed business incubators, plus tailored transition planning to help companies scale up.
• EDI Support Services Workshops in equity and anti-racism to support healthy lab culture and promote ventures owned by scientists from equity-deserving groups.
• Research Talent Access Access to UTM's world-leading faculty and students, opening entrepreneurs to new research partnerships and experiential education and employment opportunities.
• Merck Blue Ticket Award Provides one early-stage life science startup per year with free 1-year SpinUp membership plus mentorship opportunities with Merck scientists and business leaders, focused on therapeutic areas including atherosclerosis/metabolism, cardiovascular/respiratory, immunology, infectious diseases/vaccines, neuroscience/ophthalmology, and oncology.

Quantifiable outcome

• U of T launches more research-based start-ups than any university in North America outside of MIT
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and minor.

• Beckman Coulter Life SciencessupportingOthersPreferred laboratory partner providing automation and innovation solutions for Centrifugation, Flow Cytometry, Genomics, Particle Analysis, and Liquid Handling workflows. Provided lab supply sponsorship to help furnish SpinUp's laboratory with high-quality equipment, and event sponsorship for UTM's INSPIRE program.
• CDD VaultsupportingOthersProvided Platinum Sponsorship for the Sauga Startup Pitch and Showcase event co-hosted by SpinUp, ICUBE, IDEA Mississauga and Sheridan EDGE in November 2024. Also listed as a programming partner providing software platform for chemical and biological data management.
• MilliporeSigmasupportingOthersLife sciences division of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Provided sponsorship for UTM's INSPIRE program and lab supply sponsorship, offering reagents, consumables, and services for biotech startups.
• ExcedrsupportingOthersProvides life science startups with equipment leases on founder-friendly terms. Also provided sponsorship for UTM's INSPIRE program in June 2024.
• AvantorminorOthersSets science in motion by enabling innovation across life sciences and technology industries with highest quality products, services and solutions supporting every step of the scientific journey.
• Thermo Fisher ScientificminorOthersWorld leader in serving science with annual revenue over $40 billion, providing technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services for life sciences research and diagnostics.
• STEMCELL TechnologiesminorOthersCanada's largest biotechnology company providing specialized cell culture media, cell separation technologies, instruments and educational resources for stem cell, immunology, cancer, and cellular therapy research.
• Miltenyi BiotecminorOthersGlobal leader advancing biomedical research and cell therapy with comprehensive portfolio including tools for cell separation, tissue dissociation, flow cytometry, imaging, and cell culture for research to clinical translation.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Velocity (University of Waterloo): University of Waterloo's flagship startup incubator. Comparable to SpinUp as a Canadian university-affiliated startup incubator, though not specifically focused on wet-lab life science companies.
• Creative Destruction Lab: Toronto-based (with global satellites) seed-stage startup program affiliated with the Rotman School of Management. Comparable to SpinUp as part of the Canadian university startup ecosystem, though primarily a venture accelerator rather than a wet lab operator.

Direct peers

• JLABS (Johnson & Johnson Innovation): Johnson & Johnson's global network of life science incubators (including JLABS @ Toronto). Comparable to SpinUp in providing BSL-2 lab infrastructure, programming, and pharma mentorship, though with corporate (rather than university) ownership and broader geographic footprint.
• CCRM (Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine): Toronto-based organization developing and commercializing regenerative medicine technologies and supporting startup companies with lab infrastructure. Comparable as a GTA-based life science incubator with shared lab access.
• MBC BioLabs: San Francisco Bay Area nonprofit providing subsidized wet lab and office space to early-stage life science startups. Directly comparable to SpinUp in operating model, member profile, and BSL-2 lab access value proposition.
• LabCentral: Cambridge, MA-based nonprofit shared wet lab incubator supporting high-potential biotech startups. Highly comparable to SpinUp in mission (subsidized BSL-2 lab space, shared equipment, programming for early-stage life science founders) and selective membership model.
• BioGenerator: St. Louis-based nonprofit life science startup generator providing lab space, mentorship, and pre-seed/seed investment. Comparable to SpinUp in mission of building life science companies from academic research.
• adMare BioInnovations: Canadian nonprofit supporting life science startups from build to scale with lab infrastructure, venture building, and industry partnerships. Highly comparable to SpinUp in mission to translate Canadian life science research into companies.
• SPEC Labs: Toronto-area life sciences lab facility offering turn-key lab infrastructure to scaling life science companies. Comparable to SpinUp in providing GTA-based wet lab infrastructure, though focused on growth-stage rather than earliest-stage companies.

Broad incumbents

• MaRS Discovery District: Toronto-based innovation hub supporting health, cleantech, and fintech startups with programming, investor networks, and lab/office space. Comparable to SpinUp as a Toronto-region life science startup support organization, though broader in scope and more established.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SpinUpUTM
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/spinup-at-utm
• Instagraminstagram.com/spinuputm

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about SpinUp at UTM