In November, 2023, Diana Virgovicova (middle) launched Xatoms alongside co-founders Kerem Topal Ismail Oglou (left) and Shirley Zhong (right). The tech company uses AI and quantum chemistry to discover new materials that clean polluted water.Supplied
It’s no secret that the tech industry in Canada has resulted in some incredible discoveries and innovations. But Canadian women entrepreneurs are finding ways to create a social impact with their technology businesses. Here are a few of their stories.
Lianna Genovese from ImaginAble created a device that helps people with limited hand mobility write, paint and use a tablet
It was in a first-year design course in 2018 that Lianna Genovese, a biomedical and mechanical engineering major at McMaster University in Hamilton, met Elissa, a woman living with cerebral palsy. “She mentioned to our class that she loved painting, but couldn’t paint because of limited hand mobility,” Ms. Genovese explained. That inspired her to design an assistive technology device – first out of pipe cleaners, straws and a sponge and later using 3D-printed parts – called Guided Hands.
The device helps people with muscular dystrophy, ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and spinal cord injuries to write, paint, draw and use devices like an iPad. In 2022, Ms. Genovese started a business, ImaginAble Solutions Inc., to produce Guided Hands. Operating out of a rented space in the McMaster Innovation Park, ImaginAble employs a full-time team of eight people.
The assistive tech device, priced at $1,099, is covered by most school boards under “specialized equipment allocation” funding and is also purchased and used by hospitals. Some people purchase Guided Hands out of pocket, but since its cost is out of reach for many families in the disability community, Ms. Genovese created a pricing structure that allows the company to donate a portion of every sale to someone who can’t afford Guided Hands.
Lianna Genovese founded ImaginAble Solutions Inc. and created Guided Hands, a device that helps people with limited hand mobility write, paint and use a tablet. The company also donates a portion of each device sale to help fund the purchase of devices for those who can’t afford them.Supplied
“We didn’t want price to be a barrier, so we had to adapt our business model to align with our core values and our mission of helping the disability community,” says Ms. Genovese.
For tech businesses that want to have a social impact, it can be tricky to balance profits with philanthropy. There can be a temptation to cut costs to increase profits. But this isn’t the end game for businesses like ImaginAble, which aim to do social good.
“We don’t want to source our materials and suppliers overseas,” says Ms. Genovese. “We’re proudly manufacturing in Canada, staying true to our values, and we’re making a healthy margin to continue innovating new devices.”
Maham Khalid from Revohub, an AI-integrated training platform for newcomers to the sustainability industry
Maham Khalid has first-hand experience of how challenging it is finding a job as a newcomer. She immigrated from her native Pakistan to Canada in 2008 and struggled to integrate into the job market, especially when employers didn’t recognize her credentials. With time, she found her footing in the human resources industry and noticed two things: there was a demand for labour in clean technology and sustainability but the pathways to these jobs were unclear, especially for new entrants. In addition, skilled immigrants and newcomers were struggling to find work in this industry.
That prompted Ms. Khalid to start Revohub in January, 2024. It’s a training platform targeted at newcomers and people who have taken a long career break who want a role in the sustainability industry. She describes the platform as a “training marketplace” where vendors can sell courses in subjects like cybersecurity, biodiversity, building construction and procurement, alongside in-house developed courses. The platform uses AI, too.
“When you come in as a learner, you will have a conversation with AI and it does a comprehensive training needs assessment to map out the kind of skills you really need to get into the job market,” says Ms. Khalid.
The platform will go into beta testing at the end of 2025, but she’s already offering free certifications as part of a campaign called “1,000 Learners, One Planet,” along with delivering training programs to corporate clients.
As she gets her business off the ground, Ms. Khalid says that she won’t just be laser-focused on profits. “Success, to me, is not just revenue growth,” she says. “It is the number of people that we are actually helping to transition into roles that actively contribute to our mutual climate goals and community wellbeing. If a small effort from me can make a difference in someone’s life, I think that’s amazing.”
Diana Virgovicova from Xatoms, a tech company that uses AI and quantum chemistry to discover new materials that clean water
Diana Virgovicova was only 14 years old when she went on a backpacking trip to Asia with her mother and saw how pervasive water pollution was. She reached out to a professor in her home country of Slovakia who specialized in water purification and he introduced her to quantum chemistry and how it can be used to discover new materials that can clean polluted water.
In 2020, Ms. Virgovicova came to Canada to study computer engineering at the University of Toronto, where she furthered her knowledge and research by using AI to discover new photocatalysts – that is, light-activated structures which make contaminated water drinkable. By November, 2023, Ms. Virgovicova launched her business, Xatoms, alongside two co-founders: Kerem Topal Ismail Oglou and Shirley Zhong.
In December, 2024, Xatoms made its first full-time hire and received venture capital funding, encouraging Ms. Virgovicova to adopt more of a business mindset.
“There’s a big gap between being a researcher and being an entrepreneur,” she says. “There’s so much more pressure because you know that you don’t have an infinite amount of time to pursue your research.”
Ms. Virgovicova was prompted to seek out more commercialization opportunities, like projects with mining companies to remove heavy metals from water. Revenue from commercial projects allows Xatoms to run water purification programs in regions like Kenya and South Africa, impacting over 5,000 people.
Xatoms now employs 11 full-time staff. So far, their lab has discovered eight patented photocatalysts, received $100,000 in funding from Reddit founder Alexis Ohanian and over $500,000 in award and prize money.
Ms. Virgovicova firmly believes that profit doesn’t have to be in contradiction with having a positive social impact.
“If you go after the impact, it might take you longer to build,” she says. “But, in the long term, you can have a huge impact and the profits are huge as well.”