Falls company takes top honours at provincial innovation competition
Bisep flexing its muscle in seniors care
A Niagara Falls company has been crowned a leader in seniorcare innovation in Ontario.
Bisep, which operates out of the Spark Niagara building on Zimmerman Avenue in downtown Niagara Falls, won an AGEWELL National Impact Challenge in Toronto July 25. Bisep was created in 2015 by entrepreneur and registered kinesiologist Dan Bordenave.
The competition was for startup companies whose technologies or services can improve the quality of life for older adults or their caregivers.
Bisep was one of 15 finalists chosen to compete in three regional pitch events in Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto — five Canadian companies per event. The winner of each regional competition received $15,000 in cash plus in-kind prizes.
Bordenave said he was “completely overwhelmed” to win the Toronto event, adding he was up against “some tough competition.”
He said the Toronto event was held in front of an audience of more than 100 people.
“Some high-profile individuals from the health-care system in Canada (were present),” said Bordenave.
“I gave the best pitch I could and I made sure that all my ducks were in a row.”
AGE-WELL — Aging Gracefully across Environments using Technology to Support Wellness, Engagement and Long Life NCE Inc. — brings together researchers, older adults, caregivers, partner organizations and future leaders to accelerate the delivery of technology-based solutions that make a meaningful difference in the lives of Canadians.
Bordenave is the inventor of the Ambulation, Retraining and Mobility Mechanism (ARMM) device.
The device assists immobility and ambulation training without the need for extra staff and equipment. It attaches a person’s wheelchair directly to their walker. It provides lateral and posterior support for the transfer from the wheelchair to the walker and allows the user to safely practice daily exercises. The product increases frequency of ambulation and walking while decreasing sedentary time.
The ARMM has gone through successful clinical trials and by winning the regional AGE-WELL competition in Toronto will now garner even more interest from the medical and business world, said Bordenave.
He said while winning $15,000 was “nice,” the “main goal” was for Bisep to receive a yearlong
membership to the AGE-WELL accelerator program.
This will give the company access to “a whole bunch of Canadian networks” and will give Bordenave an opportunity to “kind of promote my device and my company so individuals across Canada are aware that there are innovations coming that will help our senior population and help our caregivers as well.”
Michael Chrostowski, business development and industry relations manager for AGE-WELL, welcomed Bisep to Canada’s technology and aging network.
“The start-up will receive support to help take it to the next level and to maximize its impact on the lives of older Canadians and their caregivers,” said Chrostowski.
Niagara Falls Mayor Jim Diodati said Bisep is among the success stories to come out of the Spark Niagara start-up business incubator building.
He said the public will hear more of these stories if the city is successful in its partnership effort with Ryerson University to open an innovation hub downtown.
“It’s about these entrepreneurs that have this great idea but they need guidance, coaching and mentorship to help them through the process to commercialize a good idea,” he said.
“A lot of good ideas start on the back of a napkin or in somebody’s garage. The first idea stage is great — and then you need to know what next, so this will take these entrepreneurial people through the steps where their idea becomes commercialized.”