UCeed Health venture Illucidx shares entrepreneurial journey

Becoming an entrepreneur starts with the desire to want to make an impact. Wanting to avoid working 9 to 5 in a cubicle. Once you have that desire, ideas start to form and take shape and you can use the skills and passion you have at your disposal to start something.

My entrepreneurial journey started when my brother Jared and I developed a chartered sailing business in Vancouver in 2013. We didn’t want to sit at a desk all day, we wanted to be outside. We had the skills on the water and felt like running sailing charters would be a low-risk opportunity to gain business experience. What we didn’t know then is that the dive into entrepreneurship running boats would provide a lot of parallel experiences for the future.

After pursuing my Bachelor of Science degree from Dartmouth College, my interest in infectious diseases grew and I came to the University of Calgary in 2018 to pursue my master's in microbiology and infectious diseases and expand my research expertise.

My time in the lab began with my supervisor Dr. Dylan Pillai and colleague Dr. Md Abu Naser Mohan. We were interested in advancing diagnostic technology in low- and middle-income countries, where access to modern technology and infrastructure is limited. We were eager to improve health outcomes for patients in neglected populations, and we quickly realized a gap in the market: reliable and affordable rapid diagnostics tests that provide accurate results.

This gap led to an opportunity that would not only improve the health and quality of life for patients, but also presented a unique business opportunity in biotech social enterprise. Together, we co-founded Illucidx and focused on developing ultra-sensitive, rapid, dynamic, and customizable pathogen diagnostic solutions.

We initially began advancing our research as it related to malaria, specifically in pregnant women. We found that even in endemic areas, the disease has widespread health impacts during pregnancy. We wanted to make a positive impact in impoverished regions by providing accurate test results so patients could seek the proper care, and avoid adverse long-term health outcomes.

While we started out developing a technology that would help this underserved population, we quickly had to adapt our business model to also address the urgent need resulting from the global pandemic. I successfully secured a Life Sciences Fellowship through Innovate Calgary’s Life Sciences Innovation Hub, and our small UCalgary lab-based startup quickly gained traction, supporting the Government of Alberta in the fight against COVID-19.

The pandemic presented a diagnostics problem for which we had a solution. And UCalgary’s innovation ecosystem provided the foundation we needed to get our business off the ground. Through a supportive startup culture and access to resources, we were able to face challenges head on.

As the company gained momentum, so did my need for resources. I decided to bring Jared on the team in December 2020. I knew he had the same entrepreneurial foundation I did, and his expertise in engineering, project management and operations would be valuable. Together, we could leverage the skills we learned as young entrepreneurs to expand the Illucidx business model.

The pandemic removed the need to convince people that infectious disease diagnostics was important, but the time was coming for us to think beyond COVID-19 and what could be next. The challenge for many young startups is gaining access to capital — an essential component for commercialization, proof-of-concept, and scaling a business. We wanted to build a platform technology that could address multiple indications that would go beyond a traditional rapid diagnostic test.

Through my Life Sciences Fellowship, I learned about UCeed — a group of early-stage investment funds that accelerate startup companies. In 2021, Illucidx applied for funding through the UCeed Health Fund and after our second attempt, successfully received investment. Illucidx is now developing reliable and accurate technology that will work with more sample types and detect a broader range of pathogens.

The new platform technology, developed as a result of this funding, aims to accurately detect multiple infectious diseases and work with more complex sample types, including swabs, blood and stool. The key differentiator is that the platform can be taken into any remote or urban area and administered by anyone. We want the same level of sensitivity as high-tech infrastructure and modern lab-based results but at the point of care where patients and clinicians need these results.

As a dual citizens, Jared and I could have chosen to develop and commercialize Illucidx’s technology in the United States. We chose to grow the business here because of this wealth of support and resources, which is not always easily accessible for early entrepreneurs. The Canadian startup culture is young, so the ecosystem is smaller than what you would experience in the U.S. but because it continues to develop, the network is tight knit with easier access to key players. There are also fewer competitors in the market vying for resources and funding, so we felt our greatest chance for success was here.

The support system provided to us from UCalgary and Innovate Calgary was instrumental in the impact Illucidx has been able to make in this field. As an early-stage startup we would not be able to have access to the infrastructure, equipment and resources that have allowed us to grow, create jobs, and further develop our technology if we weren’t apart of this community.