Supporting social impact projects to make the world a better place
Fund Updates · Dec 21, 2023
What if startups could reshape the future? To mark Global Entrepreneurship Week, here are three inspiring stories powered by the TELUS Pollinator Fund for Good.
The story of Nectar
In 2016, Marc-André Roberge, an industrial designer and beekeeping hobbyist, started feeling concerned about the fate of the honeybee, whose survival is threatened by climate change. He realized that beekeepers were facing significant challenges and that there were still no tools on the market to help accurately track hives, so he decided to do something about it.
The young visionary surrounded himself with a team of professionals and developed the
Nectar
platform, a set of technological tools providing real-time data on bee health. Thanks to a hive geolocation system, including an app and a portal, beekeepers can identify factors that may affect the health of their hives to better manage their colonies. In addition, artificial intelligence allows them to predict the winter survival of their hives.
“Pollination plays a crucial role in the production of many of the foods we consume daily.”
- Marc-André Roberge, Nectar Co-founder and CEO
Supporting sustainable agriculture
Supporting sustainable agriculture
The TELUS Pollinator Fund invested in Nectar in 2021. Since then, the software has helped more than 70% of its users improve their management practices.
The story of Eli
Eli
, a Montreal startup, was born out of a desire to empower women to take control of their hormonal health. It all began in 2019, when Marina Pavlovic Rivas, who holds a Bachelor of Communication and a Master of Data Science, tried in vain to find a non-invasive, non-hormonal contraceptive. After talking to other women, the young thirty-year-old realized that the lack of access to hormonal data was affecting many of them. Fertility issues, perimenopause, endocrine disorders – hormonal changes are an integral part of women’s health. She decided to develop a device to track women’s cortisol and progesterone levels using a simple saliva sample and an app to track hormonal fluctuations. With the help of her husband, Thomas Cortina, and a team of experts from the medical field and other disciplines (engineering, science, computer science, regulation, etc.), Marina launched Eli. Nearly four years later, the company employs some fifteen employees and plans to put its innovative solution on the market in the near future.
“Eli gives women access to their hormonal data at all stages of their lives, in real time, and in the comfort of their homes, to improve their health.”
- Marina Pavlovic Rivas, Eli Co-founder and CEO
Transforming healthcare
Transforming healthcare
By investing in Eli, the TELUS Pollinator Fund team is committing to expand the reach of these saliva tests, which provide results in just 15 minutes.
The story of moozoom
Challenging times make us stronger, and sometimes even push us to reinvent ourselves. Jean-Philippe Turgeon is well aware of this. In 2018, his daughter suffered from serious mental health problems. Forced to review his priorities, the lawyer realized the importance of adopting a preventive approach with children.
Two years later, he left his legal career to devote himself fully to the creation of
moozoom
, a platform for teachers and their students. It offers short videos to help open the dialogue on mental health in classrooms and to better equip children. Today, moozoom is used in 1,400 schools, and the majority of teachers who use it have noted an improvement in their students’ behaviour.
“Our lessons give children strategies to deal with life’s challenges by helping them develop skills such as empathy, self-awareness and emotional management.”
- Jean-Philippe Turgeon, moozoom Founder and CEO
Improving well-being
Improving well-being
The TELUS Pollinator Fund investment will enable moozoom to create more relevant content and help children develop social and emotional resilience throughout their lives.
