L I F E S T O RY: Andrea Palmer grew up
in Port Moody and studied mechanical
engineering with a minor in commerce at
UBC. In her final year, as part of a course
for commerce and engineering students,
Palmer had to design a business plan. Her
group's idea was a wearable device that
would measure stress indicators (heart
rate, perspiration, skin temperature) and
transmit data to a smartphone app. It was
envisioned to help parents and caregivers
of children with autism and people with au-
tism so they could monitor signs of anxiety.
After graduating in 2015, Palmer kept
working on the idea. She won a spot in
several accelerator programs, first a 10-
week residency at Silicon Valley think tank
Singularity University, and then a three-
month program in Santiago, Chile. Paul
Fijal, one of the original
UBC group, joined
her at Awake Labs in January 2016. In April
she won entry to the Next 36, a Toronto ac-
celerator, where she took business courses
and worked with mentors. Her team is
looking at how the device, called Reveal,
can help other groups, including those with
neurological disorders and addiction. "It's
extremely motivating to get emails from
families, telling us exactly how they see
Reveal fitting into their lives," Palmer says.
T H E B O T T O M L I N E : Awake Labs is
now a team of five. The Vancouver-based
company just finished its first trial, and
about 110 people have pre-ordered the
$350 Reveal via an Indiegogo campaign.
Palmer expects it will be ready to ship later
this year. —M.G.
■
A N D R E A PA L M E R
Founder
AWAKE LABS
A G E : 2 7
ABOVE: PHOTO SUPPLIED APRIL 2017 BCBUSINESS 51
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