Marina Massingham

CEO, Aifred Health

Marina first discovered her passion for healthcare entrepreneurship 10 years ago, on arriving in Canada. Prior to that, she spent her career in strategy, marketing, innovation, and talent management roles across the pharmaceutical (Novartis), consumer goods (Cadbury), and management consulting.

In 2014, she co-founded TeOra Health, a specialty pharmaceuticals startup, which had a successful exit in 2015, and in 2019 she joined award-winning deep tech startup Aifred Health as CEO.

During her five years at Aifred, Marina built up the team and raised $6 million in venture funding. Under her leadership, Aifred achieved significant milestones, including placing #1 in North America and #2 in the world in the Global IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, graduating from CDL Montreal, and forming research partnerships with organizations such as the US Department of Veterans Affairs. This journey led to the development of a patented, AI-based, medical device platform for mental health, which recently received Health Canada approval and is now on the path to FDA approval. During this time, Marina was also a member of the Canadian Life Sciences Strategy Council, served as a jury member for the Canadian Space Agency’s Deep Space Healthcare Challenge, and as a board member of MEDTEQ+, one of the largest early-stage Healthtech funding bodies in Canada.

After spending 16 years in Canada and Switzerland, Marina has recently returned to her home city of London with her family. She holds a BSc from the University of Leeds and an MSc in International Management from King’s College, London. Today, she continues to serve on Aifred Health’s board, coaches startups in healthcare and tech, and speaks on AI in healthcare topics at events such as The MedTech Conference, C2 Montreal, and LSX USA.