BCBusiness

46 B C B U S I N E S S . C A M A R C H 2 0 2 5 and Vancouver Community College. "I created courses in cloud security fundamentals and attackers' meth- odology and so together you can take those and get a micro-credential," he says of his UBC work. B O T T O M L I N E >> Green oversees some 20 people in his work at the CPABC and develops curricula for both UBC and VCC. He's also been carrying out some work for the provincial government on trade commissions and delegations. "I just took every opportunity I could to the point where it's compounded and I have enough behind me that now people want to bring me," says Green. "Before it was kind of like, 'Oh great, we can pass some stuff off to him.'"—N.C. KEELEY MCCORMICK Age: 29 CEO and co-founder, Revyn Medical Technologies Inc. T H E J O U R N E Y >> Group assignments in university are often a source of frustration, but for Keeley McCor- mick and her fellow engineering students at the University of Victoria, one was the impetus for innovation. The assignment was somewhat simple: pick a medical device that could be improved based on the needs of the end users. "Anything can be improved a certain amount, right?" says McCormick. When the one male member of the four-person team attended an emergency gyne- cological procedure with his partner and saw a vaginal speculum for the first time, he returned to the group shocked at the archaic but necessary device. "We were like, 'Why didn't we think of that?'" she recalls. "But I think that it speaks volumes about gynecology and the way that you accept what's available because you don't want to cause a stir or you're not sure if you'll be listened to." So, the group set about designing a new speculum, one that's meant to increase patient comfort, practitioner usability and device effectiveness. McCormick explains that they've done this by speaking with over 600 patients and dozens of practitioners to discover their pain points—such as the fact that 42 percent of patients delay or avoid gynecological care due to the speculum in particular. The research led to innovations like using a silicone material instead of uncomfortable metal and implement- ing endoscopic technology to avoid the current widening mechanism. The group's redesign of the device didn't stop with university, though; they offi- cially founded Victoria-based Revyn Medical Technologies and are actively working on bringing their product to market. McCormick believes that, once available, the speculum can help increase the uptake of preventative care and in turn help to reduce mortality rates of cervical cancer — particularly in global regions where HPV vaccines and at-home tests are not widely available. B O T T O M L I N E >> McCormick and her team at Revyn are continuing with product development and moving closer to regulatory approval. Meanwhile, their prototype is gar- nering attention—McCormick has represented Revyn at several pitch competitions including four at the team's alma mater, where they won first place in each. They're currently participating in the Life Sciences BC Investor Readiness Program and preparing for their first round of funding in 2025. After that, the goal is to sell directly to practitioners both in Canada and abroad and eventually expand their reach by partnering with a distributor. "I definitely see us being able to help on an international scale by getting this to places where there is limited access to cervical cancer or gynecological care," McCormick says.—D.W. JESSICA BOSMAN + BRYN DAVIS WILLIAMS Age: 29 Co-founders and co-CEOs, Doubl T H E J O U R N E Y >> Best friends Jessica Bosman and Bryn Davis Williams met at the Ivey School of Business in London, Ontario, over a decade ago. After graduating, Williams went into fashion buying and merchandising for brands like Herschel and MEC while Bosman went into brand manage- ment at Unilever, working across international brands like Dove and Ben & Jerry's. This combined experience primed the two for creating their own prod- uct—one that responds to an almost universal pain point for people with breasts: bras. "We were really fascinated by industries that hadn't had a lot of innovation in many years and we thought there must be a better way to create the bra," explains Williams. Adds Bosman: "Women wear their bras every single day and more than one in two women feel daily discom- fort due to their bra." That better way includes both the manufacturing process as well as the fitting process, which utilizes 3D-scanning AI technology (done right on your phone) to get an accurate measurement for an individual's breast size, depth, weight and more to manufacture bras that are 100- percent custom—unlike traditional bra measurements, which mostly focus on rib size and the widest point of the breast. It took the pair four years from concept to launch due to a massive amount of research and development, as well as continuously iterating and evolving technology. Where they could, Bosman and Williams licensed existing tech, since much of it was already quite advanced (like the 3D measurement tool that does the initial scan), but they also built a pat- ent-pending proprietary end-to-end process that customizes the fit. B O T T O M L I N E >> To date, Doubl has brought in over $250,000 in non-dilutive funding from grants and pitch competitions. In 2023, the brand's soft launch led to over 900 percent year-over-year growth, with 40 percent of customers re-ordering the product. In April 2024 the brand launched on Kickstarter and was funded in under 11 hours (closing at $32,000). The duo is now forecast- ing $1.3 million in revenue for the company's first year. "Doubl is the first AI-fitted bra, and this is our first step into making clothing that's fitted just for you from your smartphone at home," explains Bosman. Though Doubl is currently focused on the bra market, Bosman and Williams are looking to lead a size-free clothing revolution, where made-to-measure clothing is accessi- ble for all.—D.W. ATIKA JURISTIA Age: 25 Founder and CEO, J Healthcare Initiative T H E J O U R N E Y >> At 14 years old, Atika Juristia moved to Vancouver to escape a difficult life in Indonesia. But the years that followed were no easier: with no parents to support her, Juristia lacked stable housing, relied on food banks and knocked on doors for scholarships. In high school, she began advo- cating for harm reduction policies to help people who use drugs. "I have

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