Cyno, a virtual healthcare startup, announced at the beginning of January that it has signed a service agreement with Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify.
The St. John’s Newfoundland-based company has developed a technology platform that uses encrypted live stream video to connect employees with ergonomists. The ergonomist provides an assessment and then develops a plan to create a more ergonomic workspace for that employee.
“There is a massive need for a workplace ergonomics solution that is easy to roll out on a global scale.”
“We noticed that corporations are starting to cultivate a large global workforce and they’re facing challenges to ensure that all employees are working in an ergonomically safe environment” said Peter Barbour, CEO and founder of Cyno. “With the growing trend of global and remote workforces, there is a massive need for a workplace ergonomics solution that is easy to roll out on a global scale.”
Through the service agreement, Shopify employees will have access to the virtual assessments that will review their workstations. Through video sharing and chat messaging the ergonomists then provide a report that recommends equipment, if required. Once Shopify approves that equipment it is then shipped directly to the employees’ location.
Founded in 2017, Cyno is looking to address what it calls an industry that typically requires ergonomists to physically travel to the location to conduct assessments. “We realized that up to 50 percent of the service costs and delivery wait times was due to the barrier of travel,” the company stated.
A member of St John’s-based incubator Genesis, Cyno raised more than $1 million in 2019. In September, the startup closed a $600,000 pre-seed round from local investors, with the rest of the funding coming from the federal government’s Atlantic Opportunities Agency (ACOA). Cyno has also participated in Saint John, New Brunswick-based accelerator Propel’s Incite program.
Image source Unsplash by Alex Kotliarskyi