Hometown: New Minas, Nova Scotia
Alma mater: Acadia University (BSc); Dalhousie University (MD)
Headquarters: Port Williams, N.S.
Founded: 2021
Employees: 1 (she also contracts a handful of students and consultants)

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What does your company do?
As a family physician who practiced medicine in Nova Scotia for over a decade, and the mother of four kids, Jennifer Johnston knows well the importance of safe, effective family planning. She could have waited for someone else (some guy?) to invent a better contraceptive device, or she could do it herself. Enter, last year, her early-stage business and its signature innovation, The Better Ring. “

Elle, MD was created to develop a non-hormonal, intra-vaginal contraceptive that allows women to access reliable, convenient birth control without the side effects of hormones,” she explained. “What we have is a reusable silicone ring that can be placed by the user for part of her cycle and then removed during her period. It’s kind of similar to the [vaginal] ring, except that our device doesn’t use hormones. We’re using a well-proven spermicidal agent that has the benefit of also acting as an emergency contraceptive.”

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