Meet the top ten finalists of the KBH+ Pitch Competition
TUESDAY OCTOBER 20th
On Tuesday, October 20, from 1:45 to 4:45 p.m., 10 finalists take the stage at KBH+ Conference 2026 to pitch high-potential Canadian innovations improving outcomes for children and youth (0–25) with neurodisabilities and their families, competing for $50,000 across three prizes.
This national showcase celebrates entrepreneurship within the neurodisability sector. Finalists will pitch their companies live in Calgary before our judges and their peers. The KBH+ Pitch Competition is an opportunity to catalyze promising ideas into lasting real-world impact.
Thank you to our incredible Pitch Review Committee, who selected our top 10 from more than 50 high-quality applicants, all dedicated to improving outcomes for our community.
Emerging Innovations Stream
Designed for earlier-stage innovations that are implementation-ready, pilot-tested, or near-commercial while still building validation, adoption, or operational maturity.
Anttara builds AI-powered tools that help identify developmental concerns earlier, giving clinicians better triage and families greater clarity when it matters most. By combining AI with evidence-informed screening, Anttara makes early developmental screening more accessible, scalable, and privacy-first, helping every child reach their full potential.
HoloBoard
HoloBoard is an augmented-reality communication tool for nonspeaking autistic people, first used by a man named Jeremy in 2023. It grew from an interdisciplinary study — led by developmental psychologist Vikram Jaswal (University of Virginia) with engineer Diwakar Krishnamurthy and computer scientist Mea Wang (University of Calgary) — testing whether AR headsets were tolerable and debunking claims that nonspeaking autistic people lack language or can’t handle AR.
MORO helps caregivers understand and respond to a loved one’s unique way of communicating, capturing subtle cues, routines, and personal expressions. By passing that knowledge on, it keeps care consistent across families, schools, and healthcare settings. Available on Google Play and the App Store, MORO grows through partnerships with the people it serves.
BRIDGES OS, built by NeuroAI, is a clinician-designed platform giving families structured, evidence-informed support from the point of referral — not just when an appointment opens up. Families get an AI coaching companion, developmental questionnaires, and curated resources; clinicians get AllieID, a secure layer that lets a child’s information follow them across care settings. Privacy-by-design, on Canadian infrastructure.
Power of Play
Power of Play brings a child-friendly tool to pediatric rehabilitation, capturing accurate, objective measures of grip and pinch strength. By tracking fine motor development precisely, it supports better therapy decisions — aiming to improve rehabilitation outcomes and set new standards in pediatric care worldwide.
PROVA Innovations builds wearable technology for in-home gait training and neuromuscular rehabilitation for patients with brain injury, neurological disorders, degenerative disease, or mobility challenges. Its devices promote exercise and neuro-recovery non-invasively, giving patients consistent biofeedback and coaching during everyday activity.
Scaling Innovation Stream
Designed for organizations or innovations that are already operating in-market or in-system, demonstrate implementation success, and are positioned for broader scale and adoption.
Fledge is a proactive wellbeing education platform helping children ages 3–12 build the emotional skills to thrive at school, home, and beyond. Built on its research-validated Brain–Body–Breathe™ framework, Fledge’s short, curriculum-aligned digital activities make social-emotional learning practical on any device. Beyond the platform, Fledge runs in-person Mind & Move programs and educator training.
Jooay is a free app that helps children with disabilities and their families find leisure activities that are close by, accessible, and matched to their needs, abilities, and preferences. It’s also a community — connecting parents, therapists, educators, and researchers. Developed at McGill University by occupational therapists Dr. Keiko Shikako-Thomas and Dr. Annette Majnemer alongside families and practitioners.
Ora Medical designs inclusive medical devices that help people with mobility challenges explore the world with confidence. Ora’s flagship Levity Gait Trainer brings quality, functionality, and compassion to pediatric care, reflecting the company’s focus on building mobility technology around the children who use it.
Possibility Neurotechnologies helps people with disabilities participate in life on their own terms, grounded in the UN Conventions on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and of the Child. Its Think2Switch™ turns thoughts into actions, giving people with communication and movement challenges new ways to connect and create. Built on “Nothing About Us Without Us,” it’s co-designed with the families it serves.
Meet the KBH+ Pitch Competition Judges
Varun Chandak is the Founder and Executive Director of Access to Success, a Toronto-based non-profit on a mission to Enable Everyone. As a leader in accessibility innovation, assistive tech, and inclusive design, Varun often speaks at events across 5 continents. He has been recognized as a Top 50 Changemaker in Canada and was awarded the inaugural Tom Wilson Leadership in Disability Award.
Cheryl Holden is a senior executive with extensive experience driving innovation, economic growth, and health system transformation across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. Her career spans healthcare, life sciences commercialization, pharmaceutical industry engagement, and public policy, with a proven track record of building partnerships that translate research and innovation into economic and societal impact.
Luke J. Sheen is the Founding Executive Director of HaloHealth, a Venture Partner at Spring Impact Capital and the former Director at Redesign Health Canada. To give back to the community, Luke serves as an appointed mentor at Plug and Play Tech Center – Health, mentor at the University of Toronto, Temerty Faculty of Medicine – Health Innovation Hub (H2i), advisor at W21C SPARK, and expert advisor at University of Calgary – Innovate Calgary.
Chetan Srivastava
Chetan Srivastava is a Principal at TELUS Global Ventures (TGV), the corporate venture arm of TELUS (TSE:T). TGV is one of the world’s largest, most active CVCs, with over $1B in AUM and 75+ portfolio companies. TGV investments range from Seed to Series D across Digital Health, IoT, AgTech and AI & Data. At TGV, Chetan leads investment strategies across Healthcare and AI/Data wherein he conducts due diligence on target companies and supports driving value creation back to TELUS.
Sponsors & Partners
PITCH SPONSORS
David & Tracey Kuik in honour of Paige Kuik
