From left: Maxime Bolduc, Co-founder and CEO, Azimut Medical; Vanessa Lo, Co-founder and CEO, VanTech Med; and Ivan Yuen, Co-founder, Yuen Family Foundation.

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2025 AGE-WELL Emerging Entrepreneur Award: Maxime Bolduc, Co-founder and CEO of Azimut Medical, and Vanessa Lo, Co-founder and CEO of VanTech Med. The awards were presented on October 23 at the AGE-WELL 10th Annual Conference.

The AGE-WELL Emerging Entrepreneur Award is designed to give new entrepreneurs the financial resources to focus on making their ideas viable and rapidly deployable in service to older adults and caregivers. The award supports the development of emerging entrepreneurs to create and grow an innovative startup with potential social and economic impact in Canada, while addressing one of AGE-WELL’s 8 Challenge Areas. AGE-WELL is immensely grateful to the Yuen Family Foundation for their generosity in supporting the Emerging Entrepreneur Award Program.

Both award recipients were driven by personal experiences to develop their technology-based products.

For Maxime Bolduc of Azimut Medical, a Montreal-based startup, it was his grandmother’s hip fracture that motivated him to create Air-Sequr, a smart, inflatable pair of trousers designed to prevent hip fractures in older adults. “I set out to build a solution that would prevent this outcome for others,” he said.

Maxime Bolduc with the Air-Sequr.

Each year, more than 30,000 hip fractures occur in Canada. The cost of fragility fractures exceeds $4.6 billion annually and is expected to increase in the coming years. Existing rigid hip protectors are rarely used because they are uncomfortable and stigmatizing, Bolduc noted.

Air-Sequr uses embedded sensors and edge artificial intelligence to detect falls within milliseconds and instantly deploy airbags around the hips to absorb impact. Unlike foam pads, it is lightweight, comfortable, washable and integrates discreetly into everyday clothing, said Bolduc.

With the new funding, Azimut Medical will move Air-Sequr from pilot-ready status to commercialization. Over the award term, the company will complete a 45-resident clinical trial with the Centre-Sud-de-l’Île-de-Montréal hospital, refine manufacturing for scalable production, and establish partnerships with major retirement home networks for early adoption.

Bolduc said he is thrilled and grateful to receive the award, calling it “a reflection of the work our team has put into preventing fall-related injuries for older adults and making them more manageable for caregivers.” He added that the recognition “gives us momentum for the next chapter of Azimut Medical – helping refine our technology through upcoming trials, accelerate deployment in residences, and support our mission to give older adults the confidence to stay active and independent.”

Vanessa Lo with the polar bear version of SundaeDoll, which comes in a variety of forms.

The other award recipient, Vanessa Lo of VanTech Med, a Vancouver-based startup, is a geriatric nurse who has worked in long-term care homes. “I’ve seen residents struggle with loneliness and staff stretched thin, unable to provide 1-1 emotional care or psychosocial monitoring to every person,” said Lo.

Her solution is SundaeDoll, an intelligent AI-enabled companion doll designed to deliver comfort, connection and emotional insight for older adults living in care homes or at home. Combining tactile therapy with empathetic AI, Sundae engages users through talk, music and memory games. It can detect early signs of distress such as pain, anxiety or depression, and gently alert caregivers via a connected app.

Lo said she was surprised and extremely grateful to receive the award. “It opens doors to new collaborations with long-term care organizations, researchers and investors who share our goal of improving quality of life for older adults. The recognition also adds credibility as we move through our next phase of pilot studies and prepare for wider deployment. Most importantly, it supports us in taking SundaeDoll one step closer to full commercialization,” said Lo.

“This award is really a reflection of our whole community ─ our team, research partners, care providers and residents who’ve believed in our vision from the start. It reminds us that blending empathy with technology isn’t just possible ─ it’s meaningful, and it matters.”

The AGE-WELL Emerging Entrepreneur Award is a one-year $50,000 salary award. Recipients are matched to key mentors who help support the funded entrepreneur in building or growing their business. They are also given access to AGE-WELL member benefits and specialized services from AGE-WELL partners, such as legal guidance, commercialization and knowledge mobilization support, access to prototyping labs, and entrepreneurship training.

“AGE-WELL launched the Emerging Entrepreneur Award in 2018 to empower innovators whose ideas can meaningfully enhance the lives of older adults and caregivers,” said Dr. Samantha Sandassie, Director of Education and Training at AGE-WELL, Canada’s technology and aging network. “This year’s awardees exemplify creativity, passion and purpose ─ bringing forward solutions that address real challenges in aging. We are proud to champion these entrepreneurs as they advance their ventures and strengthen Canada’s growing AgeTech ecosystem.”

AGE-WELL has funded 15 entrepreneurs through the Emerging Entrepreneur Award Program between 2018 and 2025. The support of the Yuen Family Foundation has allowed AGE-WELL to increase the financial and in-kind support offered to recipients, enabling them to build and scale their businesses more effectively and efficiently.

“The Yuen Family Foundation is proud to support the AGE-WELL Emerging Entrepreneur Award. By investing in tomorrow’s entrepreneurial leaders, we hope to empower visionary individuals whose innovative solutions will improve the lives of older Canadians,” said Ivan Yuen, Co-founder of the Yuen Family Foundation.

AGE-WELL is committed to investing in innovators of tomorrow and offers a variety of awards open to everyone from college and CEGEP students to postdoctoral fellows, early career researchers and recently graduated entrepreneurs. To learn more, visit: https://agewell-nce.ca/awards-scholarships.

Lean more about Air-Sequr and Azimut Medical: https://www.azimutmedical.com/

Learn more about SundaeDoll and VanTech Med: https://shopsundaedoll.com/