Science and technology accelerator Creative Destruction Lab (CDL) is launching a new program focused on bolstering efforts to fight COVID-19.

CDL Recovery will be a joint project with Montreal-based artificial intelligence hub Scale AI. It will aim to rapidly commercialize innovations that could help protect public health or accelerate the economic recovery.

The program will be open to businesses, informal groups, individuals, social ventures and non-profits.

Once applicants are selected, they will participate in a series of “objective-setting sessions” between now and August, before starting CDL’s virtual incubator. The program will be similar to CDL’s usual, nine-month offering, but will take only half the time in recognition of the urgency of the crisis.

CDL participants take part in a series of “sprints” towards pre-defined growth metrics, with the startups that make the most progress moving on to the next stage and those that lag too far behind being ejected from the program.

CDL’s Atlantic division is based out of the Rowe School of Business at Dalhousie University, and usually has two streams: the generalized, technology stream and an ocean-focused stream. Graduates include construction AI firm Harbr, and biotech specialists Motryx and Coloursmith Labs.

An application portal for Atlantic companies is available here.