Over a period of almost 10 years, the National Research Council Canada has created about 65 companies as a result of its researchers' work. In my presentation, I gave the example of IMRIS, now well established in Winnipeg. It was set up to bring to market a technology, developed by the council, that enables magnetic resonance imaging to be brought into operating rooms. That is one example, but there are many others. In the same period, the companies have been able to raise half a billion dollars in venture capital.
Among the companies we create, some are very successful; others unfortunately less so. IMRIS is an example of a successful company. Novadaq is another example. Those two companies are now publicly traded.
We also grant licences each year. Last year, we signed just over licence agreements with Canadian companies for technologies developed by NRC. We grant the licences so that the companies can bring the work done by NRC researchers to market. Averaged over a number of years, we grant about one hundred licences per year.