Startup founder Olga Koppel remembers the academic rigour of the early days: hypotheses, experimentation, long timelines and the slow burn of discovery. Koppel was a PhD candidate at uOttawa’s Faculty of Science when she created her company to develop real-time sensor networks at the intersection of environmental science and applied technology . Her startup is grounded in research and shaped by the mentorship of leading scientists, including her PhD supervisor Professor Jeremy Kerr.
But the most meaningful shift in her journey came when theory met deployment.
Koppel says that “the biggest change has been having immediate, real-world feedback.” In academia, moving from hypothesis to conclusion can take years, but as an entrepreneur, it took weeks. Today, she can pivot quickly, test in live environments and see how clients interact with her technology almost instantly.
That shift from research-driven innovation to operational reality has deepened her understanding of both the impact and the stakes. “Moving into real-world deployments made me understand the operational and financial stakes in a much deeper way,” she says. She has learned that technology development is not just about “proof of concept” : it involves proving reliability, demonstrating value and providing measurable outcomes.
A community to learn from
The University of Ottawa’s Entrepreneurship Hub (eHub) and its accelerator program, Startup Garage, played a formative role in this project and helped normalize both uncertainty and ambition.
“The community mindset really stuck with me,” Koppel says. “Startup Garage showed me that feeling uncertain or ambitious is normal, and that others are going through the same challenges.” Instead of trying to solve every problem alone, she learned to reach out to mentors, peers and partners, a habit that continues to shape how she leads and grows EcoSafeSense today.
From lab to live deployment
For Koppel, seeing her technology operate in a live environment has been transformative: EcoSafeSense sensors are now being installed on the University of Ottawa’s Kanata North campus, with future deployments planned for the Smart Shuttle ecosystem and along Legget Drive in Canada’s largest technology park. “It is huge,” she says. “It boosts my confidence, increases visibility and gives credibility that is hard to replicate in a lab setting.” While these live deployments have kept Koppel grounded, they have also accelerated the growth of her startup: when sensors collect data in real time, feedback loops shorten, refinements sharpen and investor conversations shift from projections to proof.
Powered by an ecosystem
Koppel is quick to credit the Kanata North community for much of the momentum behind the progress of EcoSafeSense. “Partners have helped with testing sites, introductions and visibility,” she says. “Having people who are genuinely invested in seeing local startups succeed has accelerated our momentum a lot.”
Collaborations with uOttawa, Area X.O, Invest Ottawa, and Kanata North Business Association (KNBA) have been instrumental in building and refining the company’s cleantech hardware. These connections have opened doors to funding opportunities and real-world test environments, two key factors in scaling up hardware-based innovation.
Programs and milestones, such as the Bootstrap Awards, L-Spark, and last fall’s KNBA autonomous shuttle deployment, have also helped position EcoSafeSense within a broader range of smart mobility technology and sustainable infrastructure.
For a hardware startup, support from a startup-friendly ecosystem is no luxury: it is vital.
Thinking at scale
Looking ahead, Koppel intends to focus on building a larger-scale infrastructure through a mesh network of sensors that can visualize and predict trends across entire communities. “I hope to see the health outcomes of communities and cities improve with the help of our technology,” she says. The vision is ambitious: EcoSafeSense would provide real-time environmental intelligence that informs better decisions, supports healthier urban planning and strengthens community resilience.
On a personal level, the journey has been just as transformative. “Entrepreneurship has been the fastest way I have ever grown, both professionally and personally,” she says. “I’m stoked to continue meeting amazing people, learning from new mentors and building partnerships.”
For Koppel, EcoSafeSense is no longer just a company. It is a living, breathing network embedded in streets, campuses and communities. And just like the data her sensors collect, the startup experience provides real-world feedback.
