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MedEssist

MedEssist is Toronto software that turns community pharmacies into pharmacist-led health clinics, covering roughly 16 conditions from contraception to diabetes supplies. Co-founders Joella Almeida and Michael Do launched it at a single independent Toronto pharmacy; 650+ pharmacies now use it.

Health techTorontoFounded 2018medessist.com ↗
650+pharmacies using MedEssist across Canada and the USThin Air Labs podcast ↗
30pharmacy health clinics launched (March 2025)Calgary.Tech ↗
~16conditions pharmacies can offer services for through the platformThin Air Labs podcast ↗

The people

Joella AlmeidaCo-founder & CEO · 2 TechTO talks
MD
Michael DoCo-founder & CTOprofile coming

What they build

Lumi AIAI assistant inside the MedEssist platformProduct page ↗
Minor AilmentsLets pharmacists assess and prescribe for minor ailmentsProduct page ↗
Pharmacy DashboardOperational dashboard for pharmacy clinical servicesProduct page ↗
Intelligent IVR Phone SystemAutomated patient phone handlingProduct page ↗

Open roles via the TechTO Job Board

Working at MedEssist

Browse open roles across the community on the TechTO Job Board — Canada’s most connected tech network. MedEssist’s roles show up here whenever they post.

Open roles on the TechTO Job Board ↗Or their own careers page: medessist.com/careers ↗

Jobs live on jobs.techto.org — the only structured source. We link to it rather than scraping career sites, so the board is always the source of truth.

On the TechTO stage

TECHTO

Reinventing How we Access Healthcare | Joella Almeida, CEO & Co-founder of MedEssist

April 2023
Watch on YouTube ↗
TECHTO

Building a Clinician-Led Tech Startup | Joella Almeida | TechTO Together Toronto

November 2025
Watch on YouTube ↗

Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about MedEssist ↗

About

MedEssist started at one independent Toronto pharmacy as an answer to the resource constraints community pharmacies face. CEO Joella Almeida came from payments, e-commerce and Shopify; her co-founder and CTO Michael Do practised pharmacy for nearly a decade. Almeida's stated goal is to make pharmacies as we know them extinct — turning them into full clinics, particularly where the nearest hospital is a long drive away. The company was selected for Google's accelerator for women founders.

Backers

Reported investors include Staircase Ventures, Google for Startups, Hyperplane Venture Capital, Middle Cove Capital, Digital Main Street Lab and the Ontario Centre of Innovation, with roughly $2.86M raised — figures from Crunchbase, not confirmed by the company

Some figures are founder-stated, not independently confirmed

More from TechTO ×4

Newsletter
Join the University of Toronto at Entrepreneurship Week March 2-6The TechTO newsletter · mentions MedEssist
2026
Newsletter
Tech, Talks & TakeawaysThe TechTO newsletter · mentions MedEssist
2025
Newsletter
Looking aheadThe TechTO newsletter · mentions MedEssist
2025
Newsletter
February 3, 2023: Talk To Your CustomersThe TechTO newsletter · mentions MedEssist
2023

Quick answers

What does MedEssist do?

It gives community pharmacies the software to operate as health clinics — minor ailment assessments, prescribing, patient outreach and clinical service management.

Who founded MedEssist?

Joella Almeida, who is CEO and came from payments and e-commerce, and Michael Do, CTO, who practised pharmacy for nearly a decade.

How many pharmacies use MedEssist?

More than 650 across Canada and the US as of late 2025, with expansion into Pennsylvania, Washington and Florida.

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Maintained by TechTO · facts sourced and dated · last reviewed Jul 20, 2026