Validate your idea as a business
Think your idea has potential? As a researcher, you may be curious as to if your idea has potential in the entrepreneurial landscape, but don’t know how to go about it. With Lab2Market Validate, you’ll be given the opportunity and space to explore the possibilities of your work.
Our Program
Lab2Market Validate gives researchers the opportunity to critically test and evaluate their idea in the entrepreneurial landscape. This carefully curated 16-week experience is complemented by funding, exercises, workshops, and mentorship from industry experts – all with exploration at its core.
The program will take participants through the process of unlocking the business potential of a research idea – from meeting customers, building a network, and most importantly, developing entrepreneurial grit. The 16-week program is a full-time commitment broken into the following phases:
Phase 1: Pre-Program (4 weeks)
Get inspired to take the first steps toward validating your idea. You will be welcomed into a community of like-minded and driven individuals with diverse research backgrounds, hearing from successful founders who have been there and done it. You will learn principal market research methodologies and techniques to put into practice.
Phase 2: Core-Program (8 weeks)
“Get out of the building” and put your learnings into action by meeting with your customers. This is an intense and fast-paced period, but you will be supported by a vast entrepreneurial network of industry experts and will also receive in-depth presentations on various entrepreneurial topics.
Phase 3: Post-Program (4 weeks)
Analyze your findings and determine the appropriate path forward for your project and celebrate your successes with the Lab2Market community.
Eligibility
Lab2Market Validate is offered free of cost and is open to researchers (Masters, Ph.D., and Postdocs) from all disciplines, in Canada, with the National Lab2Market Health Cohort being open specifically for those with Pharmaceutical, Medical Device, Med-Tech, Human and Animal Health, and Health IT projects.
Lab2Market Validate is run nationally and runs various cohorts throughout the year, check out the links below to find the program for you!
Still have questions? Email us at validate@lab2market.ca to request more information.
Not ready for Validate? Check out Validate Foundations, a three-day intensive virtual training program aimed at providing participants with a comprehensive understanding of the process and best practices for research commercialization.
Apply to Upcoming Validate Cohorts
L2M Validate National Defence - Fall 2026
Eligibility: Graduate researchers (Masters, PhD and Postdoc) from Canadian universities or colleges, who are developing defence-related or dual-use technologies, and are interested in research commercialization and entrepreneurship. This program will be delivered by Dalhousie University.
Expected start date: Sept 2, 2026
Application deadline: April 17, 2026 11:59 PM AST
L2M Validate Alberta - Fall 2026
Eligibility: Graduate researchers (Masters, PhD and Postdoc) from the University of Alberta, University of Calgary, University of Lethbridge from all disciplines who are looking to critically test and evaluate their idea in the entrepreneurial landscape. This program will be delivered by the University of Alberta.
Expected start date: Sept 2, 2026
Application deadline: April 20, 2026, 11:50 PM MST
More cohorts for Lab2Market Validate will be announced in the near future.
Complete the form to join the programming waitlist. Joining the waitlist also subscribes you to our email list and newsletter.
“I have been trained as a scientist all my university life, but I have always dreamed of starting my own business. There was a huge gap between my fantasy and reality, and Lab2Market Validate built a bridge. When I started this program, I was a green hand with zero experience in the market, but everyone I met during the program taught and helped me both enthusiastically and patiently.”
- Hao Guo
Ph.D. Candidate in Medical Physics at Dalhousie University