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When people are free to move, they can fully realize their potential. That simple belief sits at the core of the Mobility Unlimited Hub, a program funded by the Toyota Mobility Foundation and delivered by MaRS Discovery District. In its second cohort, the team led by Morgan Lorimer, senior manager of innovation ecosystem and competitive acceleration programs at MaRS, turned that belief into a working platform where founders, clinicians and community partners build together, not in silos.
That spark of teamwork has roots. Before the second cohort ever took shape, the groundwork was laid by people who believed mobility innovation needed a home, one that mixed bold tech with real human stories. The Mobility Unlimited Hub launched in Toronto in March 2024 through a collaboration between the Toyota Mobility Foundation and MaRS Discovery District to accelerate innovation in personal mobility with inclusive, human-centred design. Its first cohort, announced that June, brought together seven Canadian ventures developing everything from assistive wearables to advanced wheelchairs.
With partners, the program helped founders pilot and scale real-world solutions. By early 2025, renewed funding and global interest pushed the Hub into its second cohort: 10 ventures expanding its reach and deepening its mission of affordability, accessibility and collaboration, all rooted in a vibrant co-working space at the MaRS Centre, located in downtown Toronto designed to ignite new connections and bold experimentation.
Lorimer says the design for this cohort started with listening. Before applications opened, the team mapped the connectors who shape mobility in Canada and abroad. Clinics, disability organizations, academic labs, funders and scale-ups were invited in early, then kept in the loop. Those partners helped recruit, assess and advise, ensuring selections matched real needs rather than a slide deck wish list.
Picking successful applicants from nearly 100 applicants required rigour. The team assessed stage, market size, coachability and business strategy. Then came a program-specific lens: could a solution reach many users globally at a price point that expands access? That lens opened the door for a wider range of organization types. One striking example is Victoria Hand Project, a non-profit from the University of Victoria that equips local clinics to 3D print upper-limb prosthetics for amputee survivors in conflict regions. On paper, a non-profit might sit outside a typical startup accelerator. In this case, reach and affordability ruled, and the fit was obvious.
Supporting a diverse set of technologies means moving past one-size-fits-all workshops. Lorimer’s team starts with one-to-one work to map six-month goals and blockers for each venture. Then they activate a network that stretches from hospitals to industry labs. Peer-led learning plays a central role. Founders trade playbooks, compare scars and spot shortcuts. The dynamic looks less like lecture halls and more like long Zoom sessions where no one wants to hang up. The result is a steady flow of practical knowledge that often matters more than a generic template.
The first cohort’s results speak for themselves:
- Six ventures raised over $8 million in new funding
- Products reached more than 700 new users
- Eight patents were secured, with 10 more in development
- Pilots were launched with Transport Canada and Veterans Affairs
- One venture went public
- Another logged 100 million assisted steps made possible by its device
- MaRS delivered over 280 services, including mentorship and regulatory support
- Founders achieved 100+ growth milestones and built 90 new partner connections
A new physical hub in Toronto adds momentum. Place matters, Lorimer says, and the team wants the city recognized globally for active mobility. The co-working zone offers desks, meeting rooms and a boardroom, plus an open kitchen where plans happen over coffee. Ventures receive keys and 24-7 access. Companies from other provinces can drop in on their schedule. The team is also curating displays that feature cohort products and inviting local artists to shape the space. Accessibility sits at the centre of design choices, with guidance from partners such as CNIB. The co-working space doubles as a convening spot where sponsors, clinicians and community groups associated with the hub can host office hours, pilot planning, and events.
Change happens when people join forces to turn smart ideas into everyday solutions. Lorimer points to a roster of roughly 20 community partners spanning academia, industry and non-profits. Ontario Home Health supports product listing and distribution. Linamar brings advanced manufacturing perspective. Access to Success works with earlier-stage accessibility focused businesses and has been an advisor to the hub. KITE at UHN pilots and tests devices in a world-class research facility tucked beneath the city. Students gain placements with ventures, giving teams fresh talent and giving learners hands-on exposure to assistive tech.
Measuring impact goes far beyond tracking money earned or funds raised. While the team monitors revenue, investment and customer growth, they also look closely at partnerships formed, in-kind contributions and public engagement. The goal isn’t to fill a dashboard with shiny numbers. It’s to understand how well the entire ecosystem is working together and whether founders are truly getting the right support at the right time.
This second cohort expands the circle. There are now 16 companies across two intakes, with 10 new companies that have joined this year. Many are Canadian, with a wider spread across the country, alongside a few international participants. GiveVision from London, U.K. exemplifies the new footprint. To participate, every company must incorporate in Canada, which anchors talent and investment while keeping the door open to global best practice. This global focus allows a path for ventures to international markets and a forum to swap insights with peers facing different regulatory systems and distribution models.
Selection is hard. Founders carry deeply personal reasons for building accessibility and mobility. Saying yes to 10 means saying not now to many others but Lorimer’s team stays connected with those groups, sharing referrals to partners and inviting them to broader community events. Reapplication is encouraged. The message remains consistent: the ecosystem includes everyone working on the problem space, not only the current cohort.
What fuels Lorimer personally is the daily contact with builders who push through funding gaps, perception barriers and product hurdles. She talks about being moved by their wins and determined to remove friction wherever possible. That energy shows up in the program’s constant iteration. Each cohort functions as a live experiment, with feedback loops on programming, partner value and venture outcomes. Under the leadership of Grace Lee Reynolds at MaRS, the work also aligns with a sharper focus on health and life sciences across the organization.
Looking ahead, Lorimer hopes the numbers climb, but she keeps returning to awareness. Exposure pulls in decision-makers, investors and testers. It also connects founders to each other. Without a coordinated platform, many of these teams would work in parallel, missing chances to share field notes or combine forces. With the Mobility Unlimited Hub, those collisions happen on purpose, in a space designed for speed and inclusion.
Freedom to move sparks possibility, and the founders in this cohort turn that idea into action each day, one pilot, one clinic, one user at a time. In a lively corner of downtown Toronto, a ring of keys unlocks a space where community and innovation meet, ideas become tangible and where the future of mobility is being built with purpose and momentum, piece by piece.