Health

Entrepreneur of the Year 2024: Cyrus Greenall is fast-tracking medical treatment with Vancouver-based Firstline

Firstline is a healthtech company that helps physicians diagnose and treat infectious diseases

By Alyssa Hirose /

THE KICKOFF: Designing video games sounds like a dream job for many software developers, but after a decade in the biz, Cyrus Greenall was looking to level up. “I was attracted to the idea of doing something with more meaning,” he says. So he ventured into health care, where he, Jason Buck, Michael Campsall and Michael Long collaborated on a digital tool to support physicians in diagnosing and prescribing for infectious diseases. “We were black sheep, in a way, because most people start health-care technology companies with a background in health care—we came with a strength in technology and design,” he explains.

ACTION PLAN: Through surveys and research that account for what Greenall calls “the human factor,” Firstline became an intuitive, efficient app that hospitals (and physicians themselves) actually wanted to use. While visiting with a customer—the New York City Department of Health—Greenall heard about a new virus spreading through Wuhan. “Potential customers didn’t have time to talk to us about our solution, because they were focused on preparing for COVID,” he remembers. “I realized very quickly that if we didn’t somehow adapt to support this, our business would stop.” Under Greenall’s guidance, the company switched gears, serving as a tool focused on supplying physicians with the latest updates available on symptoms, research and treatment for COVID-19. “They needed something to get this information out quickly, so that became our tool,” he says.

CLOSING STATEMENT: Vancouver-based Firstline has a team of 20 staff and over 500 current customers, who range from small hospitals to the World Health Organization. This spring, the company announced its partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada—they’re working to develop the country’s first official antimicrobial prescribing guidelines. “The results that we’ve seen—that’s what’s most important,” says Greenall, noting that Firstline is improving the accuracy of prescribing for infectious diseases worldwide. 

Q+A

What’s YOUR proudest moment in business?

When WHO partnered with us to tackle antimicrobial resistance around the world.