SE Health held the 2nd run of its SE Health Chrysalis Innovation Challengepitch competition on March 5th under the themes Living Well, Aging Well and Caring Well. Compared to the 2024 Chrysalis, this event was more streamlined in structure and in the end most of the eight finalists focused their AI capability, no less highlighted by the ultimate $30K winner, Kitchener/Waterloo based NewGen Health with their chronic disease detection solution.
Shiv Naik and Mazhar Shahen, Co-founders of NewGen Health pictured left.
However there seems to be a twist to this story. NewGen Health was not on the top eight finalist list I received which invited me as an SE Health frequent follower to vote in the People’s Choice Awards. Apparently, a few days before the final event, an entry BioTrillium dropped out and NewGen Health, which in 9th place, was thus invited to move forward; which only goes to prove that a late arrival cannot be counted out.
In any case, all the others in the pitch selection were solid, worthy contenders in terms of the specific health detection and prevention solutions they addressed, from NewGen Health’s at-home testing and digital monitoring solution for early detection and management of chronic diseases, to Hyivy Health (one of the two Runner-Ups) for its pelvic rehabilitation system for women. Hyivy Health was also the 2021 winner of the AGE-WELL National Impact Challenge.
The other 2026 Chrysalis $10K Runner-Up was Vessl Prosthetics, a pressure-stabilizing technology that “adapts to the body’s natural, dynamic changes, hour by hour, day by day just like the limb it replaces”. Vessl was also this year’s People’s Choice award winner. As an aside, with my own honourable mention, my People’s Choice selection was ManagingLife a digital platform that helps people living with pain measure and manage their symptoms.
Congratulations and thank you to John Yip, Tazim Virani and all the team at the SE Health Chrysalis Innovation Challenge for once again highlighting Canadian talent in this field.
