Sabina Bruehlmann, CEO of Nimble Science, in her interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, takes us through the innovative journey of developing the SIMBA capsule, a groundbreaking approach to gut microbiome analysis. Inspired by the need for a more effective method to assess the small intestine’s state, Sabina and her co-founder Dr. Joseph Wang leveraged their expertise and the drive for entrepreneurship to bring this technology to life. The capsule’s development, significantly propelled by clinical validation and a deep understanding of the gut microbiome’s complexity, represents a leap forward in health advancements. Sabina’s story is not just about technological innovation but also about creating a more equitable landscape in the health and tech sectors. Despite the challenges of navigating a traditionally male-dominated field and balancing her roles as a founder and a mother, Sabina has successfully positioned Nimble Science at the forefront of microbiome research. Her journey underscores the importance of local and global ecosystems in supporting startups and the need for more inclusive support mechanisms for women in tech, advocating for creative networking and mentorship solutions.
Dr. Sabina Bruehlmann is the CEO of Nimble Science, a data company leveraging novel medical technology to advance microbiome health innovation. Before this, she co-founded Zephyr Sleep Technologies, focusing on innovative diagnostic technologies where she led the R&D team and developed core expertise in intellectual property, regulatory, and medical quality systems. Sabina holds a BSc in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering with 20 years of on-the-job learning in early-stage medical technology commercialization.
Can you walk us through the journey of developing the SIMBA capsule and the critical milestones that led to its creation? How does this technology revolutionize our approach to understanding and leveraging the gut microbiome for health advancements?
The SIMBA capsule was invented by my partner co-founder Dr. Joseph Wang who serves as Nimble’s chief technology officer. He developed the capsule at the request of his father, a GI doctor in China who was frustrated with the lack of options to truly assess the state of small intestine of his patients. He was the first one to swallow a capsule!
Joseph brought momentum to the commercialization journey by participation in the creative destruction labs in 2019, which is where we met and raised our first investor funds. The biggest milestone was our clinical validation work, where we were able to compare the capsule’s performance to endoscopy.
Every day the world is learning about the vast potential of the gut microbiome , for not only our brain, but every major system. But this complexity creates a substantive challenge as well. Almost everything we know about the gut microbiome is based on stool data, and stool cannot capture the intricate complexities of the gi tract that occur along its length.
Leveraging the SIMBA capsule, Nimble is able to directly access the small intestine and deliver high quality microbiome data – direct from the source. Even in this world of data, and AI, in the end it is the quality of the data that will deliver the results.
We are working with corporate partners around the world to help them develop products with a better understanding of their impact on the microbiome – and eventually as we learn more about this previously inaccessible region of the gut we will use our learning to develop better diagnostic solutions for gut health. .
Reflecting on Nimble Science’s journey, how have both the local and global ecosystems contributed to your startup’s trajectory? Could you share specific instances where this support was pivotal to overcoming challenges or seizing opportunities?
The Calgary eco-system is exploding in support of tech startups. In 2010 I jumped into my first medical device startup in Calgary and there was almost no eco-system support. Nearly 10 years later when I helped my partner to form Nimble, it was an entirely different eco-system. It was the mentorship and coaching from the Creative Destruction Labs that brought Joseph and I together, and that is where we got our first investment. I remember being stunned when I first entered a room full of investors looking to help mentor and/or financially support start ups. Since then we have received investment and mentorship from UCeed and Thin Air Health, and overwhelming support from Alberta Innovates for funding and programming. The start up path is notoriously difficult and can be at times overwhelming and isolating – feeling supported locally is game-changing. A medical technolgoy company like Nimble also has many complex infrastructure requirements – we manufacture our device as a medical device and we run a clinical laboratory service to support our clinical programs – facilities like Innovate Calgary and BIoHubx with well-equipped wet lab space and shared equipment have been instrumental in our success. I can’t imagine trying to do this without them. They say you can ‘feel the energy’ in the city towards the start up tech scene and it’s true, you can.
And yet! A successful company needs to be globally recognized and globally connected, and most importantly – you need a global mindset. And this is where global accelerator like Google for Start ups, or Plug and Play and the Canadian Trade Accelerators are so important. Our customers are global, our investors are global and deciphering the full potential of the gut microbiome is going to be a global win.
Deep tech startups often face unique challenges, from R&D to market adoption. As a female founder in this space, what has been your primary challenge, and how have you navigated it? Moreover, how has the Calgary startup ecosystem played a role in addressing these challenges?
Before I was a female founder, I was a female mechanical engineer. So it has always felt normal to me to be in the minority and rarely have I found it to be a disadvantage. Female founders are really hitting their stride and sometimes it feels like more of the norm from the exception. Yet this week I was at the NVIDIA GTC Ai Conference in San Jose, and I couldn’t believe the sea of men that I was in – so the work definitely needs to continue.
I’ve been in the innovation eco-system in Calgary for 20 years and have a well developed network – but the older I get the more I am starting to notice the lack of female mentors and peers. There are many women, but they tend to be younger and often on the scene before they have children. Are there mom start up founders? Absolutely. Are they able to come to the traditional networking and industry events… not usually. The supports for female founders follow all of the traditional models that were set for a generation of young, new start up founders. Invites for evening receptions, workshops, breakfasts. for those of us with kids those are some of the busiest times. As a female founder with kids, I would love to connect with others in the same situation, to form relationships and bonds among women that struggle with similar passion – life balance. But these women are also busy, and so we are all hidden from each other. There has to be a more creative way to help us form and maintain these very important networks.
One of the things I am most proud of as a female founder is the modeling that I am doing for my kids, but it is also the thing that scares me the most. A few years back my son then still in elementary school told the school administrator when he was sick and needed to go home to ‘Not call my mom, because she is building a company!’. He was full of pride and beaming at the thought, but also heartbreaking that he would place himself second to what he saw me doing. Let’s have a call to action to get creative, and figure out how to bring women together in a way that acknowledges the many roles woment tend to carry, both in their companies, and their homes.
What does meaningful support for women in tech and startup roles look like? Are there any initiatives or changes you believe are critical to fostering a more inclusive and supportive environment for women entrepreneurs and professionals?
The environment is super inclusive, in fact, it is so inclusive we may have to soon start to make it inclusive for men again! As I described above, finding new ways for women to connect and network – other than the traditional after work reception with drinks is needed. Fostering community is one of the important roles the incubator spaces are having. Let’s be more creative and find ways to build community – ha! Maybe founder yoga classes, or an afternoon walk and meet. Non traditional community building could be pivotal for all founders trying to fit it all in, whether they have kids or not.
The pandemic presented unprecedented challenges for many startups. You mentioned a pivotal moment for Nimble Science when you pivoted to validate your technology with Lallemand Health Solutions. How did this experience influence your strategic approach and open new business opportunities, particularly in consumer health?
The pandemic hit mere moments after we received health canada authorization to conduct our pivotal validation clinical study – where we would compare the intestinal samples collected by the Nimble capsule against the gold standard endoscopy. I am sure we can all remember how impossible it was going to be to be allowed into a hospital to collect a sample, let alone to send a healthy volunteer for a procedure. Through a connection we were introduced to Lallemand Health Solutions and they readily accepted our offer to collaborate on a clinical study. Not only did this work allow us to verify the capsule’s safety and performance, but it provided us insight into how the capsule could serve the need of these consumer health companies. These companies have been working tirelessly for generations to ‘improve gut health’ without being able to directly measure and assess their progress. The SIMBA capsule is providing them with a data set that is helping them to close the gap and develop better products. And so, while we were working towards the development of new diagnostic applications for the capsule, these consumer health companies continued to reach out. Now we actively work with corporate partners, in biopharma and consumer health, to help them develop their products, while they help us to develop ourts. Its exciting to think what impact this could have.
