Kardium Inc., a Canadian medical-device company specializing in heart treatment technology, has secured $31.25 million in funding from the federal government to expand its manufacturing operations in the greater Vancouver area. The funding comes through the Strategic Response Fund (SRF) and will support a $125-million investment by the Burnaby, British Columbia-based company to more than double its clean-room facilities as it scales production of its devices designed to treat atrial fibrillation.
Kardium’s key product is a catheter that is inserted through the femoral vein into the heart. The device, which expands into a small disco-ball-like globe about three centimeters in diameter, identifies erratic electrical signals in the heart and delivers therapeutic energy to correct the problematic cells. The company claims its device shows improved clinical outcomes compared to competing technologies.
The device has received regulatory approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in August 2025 and from Health Canada last month. Founded 19 years ago, Kardium is privately held and plans to go public as early as the second half of 2027. Although it faced challenges raising capital domestically, the company attracted close to $500 million from international investors including Fidelity, T. Rowe Price Associates, and Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund.
“We’re building Kardium to be an independent company and in order to do that we want to have control of our own destiny. That means controlling our own manufacturing,” said CEO Kevin Chaplin. Kardium’s manufacturing process requires stringent clean-room environments to assemble each device. The company currently operates 10,000 square feet of such space and plans to expand to 25,000 square feet with the new investment. Kardium employs more than 700 people and has added 200 manufacturing staff this year.
In addition to the Burnaby facility, Kardium intends to open a manufacturing site in Costa Rica by 2029, which will supply the majority of its global demand. The Canadian facility will remain a key component of the company’s manufacturing network as it expands internationally.
The funding support for Kardium is part of a broader federal initiative to bolster British Columbia’s life-sciences and biomanufacturing sectors through the Strategic Response Fund. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly announced the Kardium investment alongside a $68-million contribution to a $150-million project by the Canadian subsidiary of German chemical company Evonik Industries AG. Evonik plans to establish a nucleic acid competence center to enhance production capacity for mRNA vaccines and therapies.
These latest commitments mark the ninth and tenth SRF investments focused on B.C. out of 38 total in the country’s biomanufacturing and life sciences sector. Recent beneficiaries include Aspect Biosystems, which specializes in 3-D printed live tissue implants, and Providence Health Care’s new incubator facility. Other recipients have been Stemcell Technologies Canada Inc. and Vancouver-based AbCellera Biologics, which has received hundreds of millions in government funding to develop antibody treatments and expand drug development capabilities.
The government’s targeted investments aim to strengthen Canada’s position in the global medical and biotechnology markets by supporting companies with innovative technologies and growth potential.