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Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1254353
BCBUSINESS.CA JUNE 2020 BCBUSINESS 19 who introduced her to someone at professional services firm KPMG. Despite having no experience, she was offered a position in Vancouver and cut her teeth working on large projects in the health sector, including helping project manage the clinical plan for the $1-billion capital redevel- opment of St. Paul's Hospital. In 2018, Raina completed an MBA at the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario, then returned to Vancouver and launched a consulting firm. Through that business, she landed her current position last summer: program manager of the Spinal Cord Injury ( SCI) Accelerate division at the Praxis Spinal Cord Institute, based in the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre near Van- couver General Hospital. "I've fallen in love with health care; it's extremely analytical, and you're dealing with very human and political problems," she says. In her role, she is working on the world's first business accelerator for SCI technologies. Raina is also an author. Her first novel, When Morning Comes, a young adult work published by Vancouver's Tradewind Books in 2016, follows four people living in Johannesburg during apartheid. She is working on her next book, also for teen readers. BOTTOM LINE : The not-for- profit accelerator is providing $50,000 each to five startups whose tech- nologies could help people with SCI. Raina's team of three will be ensuring the companies are "growing, making sure they close deals," she says. If the pilot works, Raina and her team will launch Praxis Neuro Venture, a for-profit arm of the charity to ensure that Praxis gets long-term returns to invest in SCI tech. –J.N.W. L A W R E N C E B U C H A N AGE: 29 Co-founder + CEO, Arbutus Medical LIFE STORY: While doing a mas- ter's degree in biomedical engineering at UBC, Lawrence Buchan took a class called Engineers in Scrubs, which connects engineers with health-care providers to develop technologies to transform the medical field. Orthope- dic surgeons at Vancouver General Hospital challenged Port Moody– raised Buchan and four other students to solve a problem: conventional sur- gical drills cost about $30,000 each, and surgeons in Kampala, Uganda, need access to safe and affordable surgical equipment. Buchan, who did his undergrad in mechanical engineering at University of Toronto, helped develop what has become Vancouver-based Arbutus Medical's flagship drill cover product. The students took an off-the-shelf power tool–a Stanley Black & Decker DeWalt drill, which retails for around $180–and created a made-in-Canada, liquid-proof, pathogen-resistant cover for it that can be sterilized after use. "It became clear pretty quickly… that [our product] could have a global impact," says Buchan, who started as Arbutus Medical's director of opera- tions at its founding in 2014 and now leads the team of 13 as CEO, a position he's held since late 2018. The com- pany is located at Vancouver General Hospital, allowing the Arbutus Medi- cal team to continue collaborating with staff in the orthopedic trauma department. BOTTOM LINE : In his first year as chief executive, Buchan grew Arbutus Medical's revenue 3.3 times and crossed a significant milestone: the company's products had enabled 50,000 surgeries in more than 30 countries, including Canada and the U.S., plus 35,000 veterinary surgeries in North America and Europe. Arbutus has raised some $4 million and is seeking another round of funding in 2020, to help reach its goal of five million patients treated by 2027. –J.N.W. A M I N N I R I AGE: 25 Co-founder + CEO, Flex A.I. LIFE STORY: Amin Niri developed his passion for software from an early age. At 12, he started his own private World of Warcraft servers so he wouldn't have to pay the game's monthly fees. "It was really intriguing that I could make something out of nothing," he recalls. By the time he started studying computer science at UBC, Niri knew that he would one day create his own company. He didn't know what kind until he tried getting into shape and found himself wanting a low-cost app that could replicate personal training services. Niri dropped out of university in 2018 to build that product with his best friend from high school, Connor Gill. BOTTOM LINE : Flex A.I. uses a patented machine learning algorithm to create a tailored experience for each user, but its most distinguishing AI-powered feature remains secret until later this year. The company has raised $2 million in funding and grown to 15 people since its founding in May 2018. –D.H. Amin Niri Arushi Raina Lawrence Buchan