How Montreal’s Eugeria is redesigning aging as trade war tests its borderless approach

Access has always been core to Valerie Larochelle’s mission at Eugeria, which develops and sells products to improve the lives of caregivers and people living with dementia.

“I always say ‘dementia has no borders,’” says Ms. Larochelle, who co-founded the Montreal-based company in 2018 alongside geriatrician Quoc Dinh Nguyen.

The duo, who met at CEGEP years earlier, noticed a gap between the innovative products in international markets for people living with cognitive impairment and what’s available in Canada. Dr. Nguyen, who studied aging at university, told Ms. Larochelle, “If you pick aging as an industry, I will be your medical expert for the rest of my career.”

After some research, Ms. Larochelle realized the industry was ripe for disruption.

“Every time there was innovation in age-tech, it was very noisy: What’s a good innovation? Where can I buy it?” says Ms. Larochelle, Eugeria’s chief executive officer. “So, we decided we’d centralize what already exists, vet it, make sure we test a product, then import it.”

Eugeria’s online store sells everything from digital calendars with voice reminders and safety devices for aging at home to WiFi-connected pill dispensers and robotic companion pets. Products come from and are sold internationally, including France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Australia and China. The strategy has helped the company grow to $10-million in annual revenue and 40 employees across Canada and the U.S.

However, the ongoing trade war between Canada and the U.S. has tested the company’s borderless approach.

“We’ve had products stuck at customs between Canada and the U.S. Sometimes products that weren’t even Canadian or from the U.S., just coming from some other geography,” Ms. Larochelle says.

The economic uncertainty has led to delayed deals and price increases. It also fast-tracked the company’s expansion strategy. In February, 2025, the company opened an office in St. Louis to better navigate supply chain logistics. It has been distributing products in the U.S. since 2022.

“We’re shipping everything from Canada and it was more expensive in terms of shipping rates,” Ms. Larochelle says. “Then when the tariff situation happened, it made business sense, and it’s way easier to just have the goods there.”

Demographic-driven opportunities

While the uncertainty forced the business to pivot, Ms. Larochelle says the expansion is part of a broader growth mission driven by the aging baby boomer population.

“The first baby boomer is turning 85 years old in 2031, and the last baby boomer turns 85 in 2050,” she says. “The years of accelerated needs [related to] aging haven’t really started yet.”

About 771,939 Canadians were living with dementia in 2025, according to the Alzheimer Society of Canada – a number that’s forecast to reach one million by 2030.

“The world is aging faster now than it has at any time in our history,” says Allison Sekuler, president and chief scientist at the Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation (CABHI) at Baycrest Health Sciences in Toronto. “Canada is now one of the super-aged countries with more than 20 per cent of the people over the age of 60.”

Dr. Sekuler says this aging world is converging with an increasingly technology-driven care environment. “There’s an increasing awareness and interest in technology among older adults, which means there’s more opportunity for adoption,” Dr. Sekuler says. That has led to efforts to co-create products, a practice in which companies involve people with direct experience.

In 2024, Eugeria launched Idem, its technology and product development arm. The first product, released that year, is a WiFi-enabled clock that speaks more than 10 languages and lets caregivers send messages, track reminders and make video calls.

Eugeria conducted a pilot alongside government-run aging-at-home agencies in Quebec and Ontario with 50 seniors living with cognitive impairment and found the clock helped increase medication adherence. It also played into Idem’s second product: a smart, lockable pill dispenser that pairs with the Idem clock and sends real-time dose confirmations to caregivers. The dispenser hit the market last year.

The company also diversified its product portfolio by acquiring U.S.-based Eldergrow, a provider of therapeutic gardening products and programs for seniors. Ms. Larochelle says gardens stimulate all the senses.

“We changed the offering a little bit [into] a hydroponic garden, so it grows faster,” she says. “We send a subscription box every two months, so the long-term care has everything.”

How technology can shape the future of dementia care

Eugeria has been exploring how artificial intelligence could help people living with dementia navigate aging at home more autonomously. For example, Ms. Larochelle describes potentially using an AI agent that could communicate through a hearing aid to someone who seems lost or confused.

“Right now, if someone is at risk of wandering, we don’t allow them to go outside, which is horrible,” she says. “We bring the risk to zero, but then also the quality of life to zero too.”

However, it’s still an unrealized vision.

Rob Beleno, an expert on aging technology and one of Eugeria’s strategic advisors, says the age-tech sector is full of startups tackling one solution, one product or one service.

“They don’t understand the bigger landscape of how to execute and bring it to market,” Mr. Beleno says. “Here in Canada, we are very risk averse everywhere from long-term care, home care, hospitals, just in general, to bringing these innovations to the market.”

Eugeria’s advantage is that it already has the distribution channels set up. But delivering products to market also requires a high level of education. For example, the Idem digital clock retails for $285.

“Some people look at it as an expense,” Mr. Beleno says. “This is an investment in care.”

Ms. Larochelle says education has always been a part of its approach.

“The main thing with innovation in health care is getting people into the workflow without the cognitive load of learning how to use your product,” she says.

Ms. Larochelle says removing the barrier between the tool and the user is still a work in progress. But it’s a welcome challenge.

“The last baby boomer turns 85 in 2050 and I’m 63 years old in 2050, so for me this is easy; it’s the next 25 years of my life,” Ms. Larochelle says. “I don’t need another cause. I don’t need another company. My focus is going to be aging… It allows me to think long-term.”