Marine Queffoulou: Mitacs Canadian Start-Up Innovator of the Year
Marine Queffoulou arrived at Université Laval with a researcher’s curiosity and a builder’s drive. While pursuing her PhD at the Infectious Disease Research Centre, she and biomaterials expert Jacopo Profili began exploring how cold plasma could change the surface properties of materials in ways that matter in clinics and on factory floors. That exploration became Kalego Solutions, which develops next-generation plasma treatments to improve the performance of critical devices. One practical target is a simple, permanent anti-fog coating that keeps endoscope lenses clear during procedures—a long-standing pain point for clinicians and patients alike.
Marine’s journey moved quickly from concept to company. She joined the Quebec Scientific Entrepreneurship Program (QcSE) to pressure-test her idea outside the lab, learn the language of customers and investors, and map a path to impact. The experience reframed how she thought about research, turning a promising technology into a value proposition that decision-makers could understand. She learned to structure experiments around market needs, to present the work clearly, and to ask sharper questions of potential partners.
“For me, the program first gave me the vocabulary of entrepreneurship—business models, intellectual property, customer outreach, market studies—words we don’t often hear in an academic lab. It helps you build entrepreneurial skills that fit with your research projects.”
-Marie Queffoulou, Co-Founder and CEO of Kalego Solutions
Recognition followed. Mitacs named Marine the Canadian Start-Up Innovator of the Year for her leadership in launching and rapidly scaling Kalego’s plasma platform, citing the company’s potential to enhance the characteristics of any flat surface or material and to solve persistent challenges such as fogging in endoscopy. The award highlighted a broader vision that extends beyond one product to a toolbox of plasma-based surface treatments for health care and industry.
Today, as CEO of Kalego Solutions, Marine leads a team working to bring reliable, maintenance-free anti-fog performance to medical devices while advancing new plasma processes for other industrial problems. She continues to balance scientific rigor with entrepreneurial urgency, keeping the focus on where the technology improves safety, cost, and workflow.
For students and faculty who are curious about entrepreneurship, Marine’s advice is direct: learn the vocabulary of the field just as you would master a new method at the bench. The shift in perspective can open doors to partnerships, funding, and careers you might not have considered. Her path shows how research excellence, guided by customer insight and steady execution, can turn a lab idea into a company that solves real problems.