As a child growing up in Iran, Narjes Allahrabbi had a passion for helping people through innovation. While at the National University of Singapore, as a postdoctoral fellow in chemical and biomolecular engineering, she realized she could combine this passion with a lasting career. That’s where she developed her patented at-home fertility technology, the first of its kind.
Today, Allahrabbi’s venture Fertilead Inc. is incubating at TMU’s Science Discovery Zone (SDZ) and Innovation Boost Zone (IBZ). She is developing a kit for couples experiencing male infertility that includes a cassette for separating healthy sperm from the collected semen sample and an insemination tool.
“There are other products for at-home collection and insemination, but ours is the first to improve the quality of sperm being inseminated, increasing the chances for success,” says Allahrabbi, master’s, Biomedical Engineering ’24.
“Many couples face emotional, financial and physical strain undergoing fertility treatments to start their family. I want to make the process of family planning smoother.”
While working on her master’s, Allahrabbi started Fertilead in 2022 after taking part in the Scientist to Entrepreneur Program. She joined the SDZ, IBZ and the Lab2Market launch program where she refined her business model and strategy and gained more insight into the Canadian regulatory and financial landscape.
For her innovation, she’s won two Norman Esch Awards (a program for TMU engineering students with entrepreneurial projects) and the IBZ Startup Incubation grant. Allahrabbi also received the Women Entrepreneurship Day Organization national scholarship, and Zone Learning’s Gordon and Helen Love Family Entrepreneurial Award.
“I couldn’t imagine myself as an entrepreneur without TMU’s help,” she says. “The zones equipped me with fundamental knowledge.” As part of her master's program, she did an internship at a medical device company in Montreal where she now works part-time, shadowing the CEO. “It’s an incredibly valuable experience for early-stage startup founders to be engaged in another startup.”
Best advice for future founders: “Immerse yourself in hands-on learning opportunities. Connect with mentors who can advise you. Take advantage of available resources. Accept and be adaptive to changes. Openness to learning is very important.”
What keeps Narjes Allahrabbi motivated?
“As a mother of two wonderful sons, I am motivated by the desire to help couples struggling to form their families. The time and energy I’m investing in developing this product will impact lives.”
