A crisis can bring out the best in humanity.

While the world battles with COVID-19, as everyone focuses on keeping themselves and their families safe and healthy, communities are coming together like never before.

In Waterloo Region, we pride ourselves on an outsized ability to solve problems. It’s in our DNA.

This focus on solving problems is evident in the actions of our civic leaders, who are coming together – along with Waterloo EDC’s leadership – to ensure some degree of economic stability and continuity in our community. It’s also present in the working group of tech leaders who have begun coordinating with each other and the local health authorities to supply much-needed resources.

Individual businesses and organizations are also doing what they can on the local, national and international stages. They’re applying their expertise and transforming their products/services to help local health authorities with shortages, assist companies around the world with telecommuting and simply keep people informed.

This is a community of problems solvers. Here’s our (growing) list of local companies and organizations that are helping businesses and communities cope with COVID-19:

JobJunxion



A talent startup that specializes in helping young job seekers find employment, JobJunxion is ideally suited to helping students and new graduates find employment in a challenging post-COVID environment. To address the problem, the company has launched a Technology Boot Camp to help prepare graduates for entry-level positions. In the first half of the 12-week program, students work with the JobJunxion team to hone fundamental coding skills while helping with resumes and interview skills. The second half is an on-site placement with an organization that needs coding help.



Systems Plus

An industry-leading manufacturer and supplier of sampling and testing equipment, Systems Plus has 35+ years experience providing high-quality products used for health, food safety and water testing, as well as environmental and agricultural sampling. With the need for bottled disinfectant increasing, the company pivoted to help get disinfectant supplies into the hands of health care workers – so far, they’ve donated 1,700 bottles. Read about them in the New Hamburg Independent.

Medical Innovation Xchange

Canada’s first industry-led medtech hub, the Medical Innovation Xchange (MIX) is well-equipped to help companies innovate and adapt to new business opportunities. To help with the fight against COVID-19, the hub is collaborating with the Government of Ontario to offer advisory services to those non-medical manufacturers that have been tasked with filling orders for medical supplies. Read about MIX in Kitchener Today.

Vertical Interiors by McIntyre

A company that specializes in building custom corporate interiors, Vertical Interiors by McIntyre sees a key role for furniture manufacturers and suppliers in ensuring that – as restrictions are lifted – workplaces are safe. To fight COVID-19 and ensure workplaces are virus-free, the company is partnering with Protect Technologies to apply a Health Canada-approved, environmentally friendly and non-toxic anti-microbial spray that remains active for 12 months.

Day Dreamer Accessories

A new company that specializes in eco-friendly accessories, Day Dreamer paused the launch of their initial product offering due to COVID-19. Instead, the company has pivoted to offer The Dream Mask, a non-medical reuseable cloth face mask made from Repreve, which is one of the most certified, earth-friendly fibres available. A portion of each sale is also donated to the Canadian Mental Health Association and you can donate to the company in order to provide Dream Masks for those who cannot afford personal protection.

Membio

An innovator that aims to make blood donation a thing of the past, Membio reduces the need to rely on blood donation by manufacturing fully functional red blood cells. To help fight COVID-19, the company is adapting its technology to enable the rapid, cost-effective scaling of a high-quality vaccine. Read more on Velocity’s round-up of eight of the incubator’s companies that are helping during COVID.

Pi&Power

A recent addition to the Velocity Incubator program, Pi&Power is working on developing RF waveform-based sensor technology to rapidly detect and identify pathogens. Read more on Velocity’s round-up of eight of the incubator’s companies that are helping during COVID.

Serapis Labs

Developing an at-home test kit for COVID-19 as an answer to the current pandemic, Serapis Labs is working to achieve what normally takes months in the medical space within a week. Their current solution can detect novel coronavirus at levels comparable to existing lab tests. Read more on Velocity’s round-up of eight of the incubator’s companies that are helping during COVID.

Theraphage

A company that designs and develops specialized and safe immunotherapeutics, Theraphage is working toward a future where infectious diseases are prevented and cancers are cured. The company is currently working with researchers from the University of Waterloo to develop a vaccine that can be administered intranasally. Read more on Velocity’s round-up of eight of the incubator’s companies that are helping during COVID.

Deep Trekker

A company that prides itself on developing robots capable of working in some of the most inhospitable environments on Earth, Deep Trekker made its name with underwater drones. Realizing that COVID-19 would create dangerous environments in the most mundane spaces – workplaces and airplanes, for example – the company has begun developing new robots that can spray disinfectant or use UV light to eradicate coronavirus. Read more in a feature article from the Waterloo Region Record. Read our Q&A with CEO Sam Macdonald to learn more about Deep Trekker.

Arylla

A nanotechnology company that uses proprietary ink to print invisible identifiers on products, Arylla’s product offers new types of customer experiences, helps fight counterfeiting and improves traceability. To help during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company is retooling their production line to create filtration media for N95 masks and is working with manufacturing partners to help deliver 4 million masks per month to frontline healthcare workers. Read more on Velocity’s round-up of eight of the incubator’s companies that are helping during COVID.

Avro Life Science

Developers of a technology for the passive delivery of medications, Avro Life Science’s transdermal patch can hold and deliver a wide range of drugs over a 1-7 day timespan. With their unique expertise on drug delivery, the company will develop a transdermal patch program that can be prototyped and trialed in time for treating the 2nd and 3rd waves of COVID-19 (when a suitable therapeutic candidate is identified). Read more on Velocity’s round-up of eight of the incubator’s companies that are helping during COVID.

DG-OD

A company that provides an AI-driven medical supplies delivery platform, DG-OD will apply its technology to streamline the supply chain and logistics management processes to help address the supply chain shortcomings exposed by COVID-19. Read more on Velocity’s round-up of eight of the incubator’s companies that are helping during COVID.

Life Sciences Key Technologies

The innovators behind a product that enables decentralized lab capacity, Life Sciences Key Technologies can conduct traditionally lab-based tests – those that are usually done in clinical and research laboratories – outside of the lab. The company is currently working to boost COVID-19 testing capacity with devices that can each run 1,200 patient tests per day. Read more on Velocity’s round-up of eight of the incubator’s companies that are helping during COVID.

eleven-x

An Internet-of-Things (IoT) company that helps to build intelligent buildings and cities, eleven-x excels at collecting data from “things” that could not be connected previously, which has led to a unique response to the COVID-19 crisis. The company has put together a suite of sensor solutions aimed at facilitating a safe environment as we return to office spaces – helping to ensure we minimize factors that lead to the spread of coronavirus. The company is also using their 3D printers to help produce PPE for frontline healthcare workers and has set up a program to solicit donations for The Food Bank of Waterloo Region. Want to help them hit their $10,000 goal? Donate here.

Swift Components

A manufacturer of acoustical and thermal attenuation components, Swift Components works with Tier 1 suppliers to support the development of new products and contract manufacturing of production components. To help fight COVID-19, they have developed an intubation shield to protect physicians from potential exposure to aerosol particles released during intubation.

Prescientx

An infection prevention technology innovator, Prescientx has extensive expertise and experience in the creation of ultraviolet disinfections systems. To help fight COVID-19, the company has built a portable conveyor-style system for disinfecting N95 face masks – 500 every hour – using UV technology.

Gateman-Milloy

A general contracting firm specializing in commercial building construction and land development, Gateman-Milloy’s portfolio includes some well-known Waterloo Region developments, including The Boardwalk, Innisfree House, the Wilfrid Laurier University Pool and Wildcraft Grill Bar. Through one of their affiliate businesses, Gateman-Milloy is providing hundreds of free packaged lunches each week to local frontline health workers to show support for their dedication and selfless work.