International Women’s Day Spotlight: Meet BVZ’s Newest Innovators in Healthcare
As we celebrate International Women’s Day, Brampton Venture Zone (BVZ) is proud to highlight the incredible women entrepreneurs leading innovation in healthcare. The 2025 BVZ Launch cohort is filled with visionary founders who are addressing critical gaps in women’s health, medical technology, and patient care. All nine of our health-tech startups this year are either women-founded or co-founded, demonstrating the power of female leadership in the industry. These women are not only pushing the boundaries of healthcare innovation but also paving the way for future generations of women entrepreneurs.
Meet the 2025 BVZ Launch Founders

Ati Zarabadi leads AiimSense with a strong background in neuroscience and medical imaging, focusing on innovative brain healthcare solutions. Zarabadi’s expertise includes: Neuroscience, Medical Imaging, & Business Strategy.

With 13 years of expertise in translating materials science from bench to scale, Dr. Raghunanan has 5 granted patents and extensive R&D leadership experience. At BVZ, she will spearhead the development and pilot testing of Maman Biomedical, leveraging her strategic foresight to refine the product based on clinical feedback and regulatory standards.

Nanette Sene has a background in Physical Therapy, a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Eng. and a Master’s in Industrial Eng. focused on innovation and technology management (Polytechnique Montréal, 2020 and 2022). She was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year by Mitacs and was a finalist for Young Entrepreneur of the Year (Arista Awards). Her experience includes roles as a mechanical engineering consultant at Hatch Ltd, R&D project manager at ContinuumRD, and data analyst at HEC Montréal.

Neelam Bance has held a number of commercial roles in pharmaceutical companies over the last 20+ years and was the Director of Marketing and Business development at another pharmacogenomics company, Inagene Diagnostics Inc.

Olivia Charles is a University of Toronto 4th year student finishing her last few credits of a Bioethics Specialist. She has worked for Envisagenics, a JLABS company in NYC, on FDA/NIH regulatory compliance. She has nearly completed a mini MBA certificate at Schulich. She leads the Veridocx team, bringing them through ChaiTech, a York accelerator, and forging partnerships with relevant stakeholders.

Parisa Agahi has 6+ years of experience in the biotechnology industry following her masters studies from the Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization program at McMaster University. She saw her mother struggle with the challenges of living with varicose veins as well as the limited and discouraging compression therapy solutions available to manage her condition, so she took on the mission of revolutionizing the decades-long stagnant compression apparel industry.

Yvonne Osagie is the founder of Med Melanin with over 5 years of healthcare experience and over 6 years of experience in partnerships, sales and marketing. Yvonne holds a BSC in Neuroscience & Mental Health and a Masters in Business, Entrepreneurship and Innovation from University of Waterloo.

Zahra Islam has 8+ years of experience in product design, specializing in healthcare technologies in companies like edX and ServiceNow. She brings her expertise in product and design thinking to create an all in one, intuitive, user-friendly, convenient healthcare platform at Migranium.
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Zaya MacDonald is a seasoned business professional and brings remarkable proficiency in product management and operations, garnered from her tenure at Phillips as an IoT product manager and supply chain lead.
The Future of Women-Led Health Innovation
At BVZ, we believe that supporting women entrepreneurs is key to driving meaningful change in the healthcare industry which has historically been male-dominated. Through mentorship, funding opportunities, and a collaborative ecosystem, we empower our founders to turn their ideas into reality. As they continue to innovate, their impact will extend far beyond their own startups — shaping a healthier, more inclusive future for all. To learn more about the 2025 BVZ Launch cohort, visit this page.