THE RETINA FOUNDATION OF CANADA

What THE RETINA FOUNDATION OF CANADA does

The Retina Foundation of Canada is a registered Canadian charity (Registration No. 853965416RR0001) founded in 2011 and headquartered in Westmount, Quebec, that funds clinical research, specialist training, and medical equipment for retinal disease care. Its core offerings include Junior Clinical Research Grants (up to $5,000 CDN annually), Senior Clinical Research Grants (up to $20,000 CDN annually), a $45,000/year Fellowship Program to train retinal surgeons, and co-funding of advanced surgical equipment such as the NGENUITY 3D Visualization System. The foundation's customers are medical researchers and retinal specialists (who receive grants and fellowships), patients with retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy, and the general public (for awareness campaigns), with primary clinical operations partnering with the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) and Montreal General Hospital.

The foundation generates revenue exclusively through charitable donations from individuals and organizations, including cash contributions by cheque and donations of marketable securities, with tax receipts issued for all gifts. Cumulative donations since founding total over $1 million, and in 2018 the foundation disbursed approximately $120,000 across two fellowships and two research grants. Its GTM motion is donor-driven via a bilingual WordPress website (en.retinacanada.com, retinacanada.com), direct mail, and public awareness events such as Retina Health Day held at McGill University. The organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors (Donald Walcot, Chair; Allan Berger, Treasurer; Joe Jospe; Bruce Norton) with Dr. Sean Murphy as Honorary Chairman, and guided by a Medical Advisory Committee chaired by Dr. John Galic with representation from Toronto, Calgary, St. John's, and Montreal.

The foundation operates within a national ecosystem that includes strategic partnerships with the Montreal General Hospital Foundation, Lions International, the Canadian Retina Society, and McGill University. It is currently formulating a 5-year strategic plan to expand retinal research and care across Quebec and Canada, and accepts grant applications from researchers coast-to-coast (Newfoundland to Vancouver). The organization has no commercial products, no parent company, no subsidiaries, and no institutional or venture capital investors.

Name

THE RETINA FOUNDATION OF CANADA

Legal name

Retina Foundation of Canada

Website

https://retinacanada.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Retina Foundation of Canada is a registered Canadian charity that funds clinical research grants, fellowships, and medical equipment for retinal disease care, primarily partnering with McGill University Health Centre and supporting researchers and patients across Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Ophthalmology Medical Research Charity

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAKAL

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

SECONDARYBPAGAKAI

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Philanthropy, Foundations & Grantmaking

Keywords

• Retinal disease research
• Clinical research grants
• Ophthalmology fellowships
• Medical charity funding
• Vision preservation programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Montreal

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Others, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The foundation receives donations from individuals and organizations to fund retinal research, fellowships, clinical care equipment, and public awareness initiatives. Tax receipts are issued for all donations. The foundation has received over $1 million in total donations and disburses funds for clinical research grants, fellowships, retinal equipment, and public awareness campaigns.

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

The Retina Foundation of Canada is a registered charity that funds clinical research grants (Junior up to $5,000 and Senior up to $20,000), specialist training fellowships ($45,000/year), medical/surgical equipment purchases for Canadian hospitals, and public education about retinal diseases. Its deliverables are funding programs and educational content rather than commercial products.

Product overview

The Retina Foundation of Canada is a charitable organization that funds clinical research grants, fellowships, and medical equipment to advance retinal disease treatment and preserve vision. Its core offerings include Junior and Senior Clinical Research Grants (up to $5,000 and $20,000 respectively), a Fellowship Program for training retinal specialists ($45,000/year), comprehensive patient educational resources about retinal diseases, and funding for surgical equipment such as the NGENUITY 3D Visualization System. The foundation does not offer a software product but rather provides financial support to researchers and healthcare institutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Junior Clinical Research Grant Annual research grant program providing up to $5,000 CDN to junior investigators conducting clinical research in retinal disease. Awarded annually with a November application deadline. Intended for early-career clinical researchers at Canadian institutions.
• Senior Clinical Research Grant Annual research grant program providing up to $20,000 CDN to senior investigators conducting clinical research in retinal disease. Multiple awards available annually with a November application deadline. Intended for established clinical researchers pursuing innovative retinal research.
• Fellowship Program Specialized training fellowship of $45,000 per year (with potential renewal for a second year) to develop qualified Canadian retinal specialists and increase access to retinal care. Targeted at physicians pursuing vitreoretinal surgical training.
• Retinal Disease Educational Resources Comprehensive bilingual (English/French) collection of medically accurate descriptions of retinal diseases and their treatments, covering 14 conditions including diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, retinitis pigmentosa, retinal detachment, macular hole, epiretinal membrane, and retinoblastoma. Designed to help patients and families understand conditions affecting the retina.
• Medical Equipment Funding Funding for advanced surgical and diagnostic equipment to improve retinal surgery and patient care at Canadian hospitals, including partnerships to acquire technologies such as 3D surgical visualization systems for teaching and clinical use (e.g., the NGENUITY 3D Visualization System at MUHC).

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Lions InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 31 May 2021Partnered with Montreal General Hospital Foundation and Lions International to provide a new 3D surgical microscope for the MUHC. Lions International contributed to funding the advanced surgical visualization equipment.
• Montreal General Hospital Foundation (Fondation de L'Hôpital général de Montréal)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 December 2017Partnership to fundraise for medical equipment to improve retinal surgery at MUHC. Jointly funding purchase of NGENUITY 3D Visualization System at $110,000 (each party providing 50%). Also partnered for 3D surgical microscope acquisition. The Montreal General Hospital (part of MUHC) is the first hospital in Canada to adopt 3D visualization technology for retinal surgery.
• Canadian Retina SocietycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAssociated with the Canadian Retina Society, a group of retinal surgeons from across Canada. The foundation provides funding for an annual lecture at their yearly conference.
• McGill University / MUHCcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary clinical research and care partner. Foundation provides equipment and funding for retinal surgery at Montreal General Hospital and MUHC. Hosts Retina Health Day at McGill University.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Retina International: Global umbrella organization for national retinal disease charities, coordinating research and advocacy across member organizations. Comparable in retinal disease focus, though operating at an international federation level rather than as a country-specific grantmaker.
• Fighting Blindness Canada: Canada's largest charitable funder of vision-loss research, offering research grants and fellowships for retinal disease and related ophthalmology research. Directly comparable to the Retina Foundation of Canada in mission, country of operation, and grantmaking model.
• BrightFocus Foundation: US-based nonprofit that awards research grants for macular degeneration, glaucoma, and Alzheimer's disease. Closely comparable to the Retina Foundation of Canada in funding clinical research grants, with a focus on macular degeneration that directly overlaps the foundation's primary disease area.
• Macular Degeneration Foundation: Charitable organization dedicated to macular degeneration education, awareness, and research support. Comparable in disease focus (age-related macular degeneration) and educational content delivery, but operates primarily in the US.

Others

• Lions Clubs International Foundation: Global service organization and major funder of vision-related causes, including a co-funded partnership with the Retina Foundation for the 3D surgical microscope at MUHC. Comparable as a vision-health funder and ecosystem partner, though operating as a much larger international service club rather than a focused retinal research grantmaker.
• Fondation Antoine Turmel: Quebec-based family foundation that supports medical research, university research chairs, and healthcare causes in Quebec. Comparable as a Quebec-headquartered grantmaking entity in the medical research space, though focused across multiple diseases rather than retinal disease specifically.

Emerging players

• Canadian Ophthalmological Society: National professional society for Canadian ophthalmologists that supports physician education, research dissemination, and clinical standards. The Retina Foundation's Honorary Chairman is a former President of COS, indicating close institutional ties and comparable engagement with Canada's ophthalmology community.

Broad incumbents

• Foundation Fighting Blindness (US): Major US-based nonprofit funding retinal degenerative disease research and gene therapies, with a comparable mission of curing inherited retinal disease. Serves as a comparable reference point for grantmaking scale and research-funding model in retinal disease, though it operates in the US rather than Canada.
• CNIB Foundation (Canadian National Institute for the Blind): Large, established Canadian charity supporting people affected by blindness and vision loss through rehabilitation, advocacy, and research funding. A broader incumbent that overlaps the Retina Foundation's patient-education and public-awareness remit, though it operates across all vision conditions rather than retinal disease specifically.

Regional players

• Diabetes Canada: National Canadian charity addressing diabetes and its complications, including diabetic retinopathy. Overlaps with the Retina Foundation on diabetic retinopathy awareness and research, and is a potential co-funding partner for retinal disease programs in Canada.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/retina-foundation-of-canada

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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