In our latest episode of What the Tech from Boast, we sat down with Sabina Bruehlmann, CEO of Nimble Science, to discuss a truly revolutionary innovation: Accessing the "dark side of the moon" of human health, the small intestine.
Sabina's journey started with free computers and straight lines. She became a mechanical engineer in the mid-90s because of a push for women to enter engineering, and because she could "draw really straight lines." But after landing at a biomedical institute, she discovered her true calling: Biomedical engineering, "the ultimate engineering because you have to reverse engineer one of the most complex machines on the planet."
Today, at Nimble Science, Sabina and her team have developed the SIMBA™ Capsule, a clinically validated ingestible device that's changing how we understand gut health, food absorption, drug effectiveness, and diagnostics. They're working with Food giants to biopharma companies developing biologics.
And in mid-2026, they're launching the first small intestinal aspirate test to clinics in Alberta, giving patients and clinicians unprecedented access to data that was previously locked away.
The Problem: You Can't Tell What Happened at the Party from the Garbage
Nimble has a perfect analogy for why accessing the small intestine matters so much:
"The small intestine is where our body digests food, absorbs drugs, and controls immunity. It's the control center of everything we put in our mouth. But it's completely out of reach."
Even with scopes from the top or bottom, you can't access the distal small intestine (ileum and jejunum), which is the real "control center." And proxy methods like blood, urine, and fecal matter? They don't tell the whole story.
"When you look at fecal matter, it's literally the garbage from the party that happened upstairs and you weren't invited to. You can't tell what was going on at the party from the garbage. It's not the same as being on that Magic School Bus and getting into the grid."
The implications are massive. We know the gut microbiome affects brain health, cardiac health, and even how oncology drugs react. But we've been locked out of the control center—until now.
The Solution: A Rocket Ship and a Data Platform
Nimble Science's approach has two components:
- The SIMBA™ Capsule– Think of it as your rocket ship to the dark side of the moon.It's an ingestible device that collects fluid from the small intestine.
- The Multi-OmicData Platform– This is where it gets interesting. "Bringing people to the dark side of the moon is not helpful when people don't know what they're looking at. That's where the data platform comes in—a way of interpreting and understanding what you're seeing."
Nimble works with companies (food, nutrition, biopharma) to help them understand what's happening in the small intestine in relation to their products. They also work with clinicians to help them understand what's happening with their patients.
The flywheel: Learnings from corporate partnerships inform clinical applications. Clinical data feeds back to support corporate R&D. "It's the typical flywheel with a rocket ship in the middle."
The Surprising Twist: Food Companies Are Knocking Down the Door
When we asked Sabina who she's working with, her answer surprised us:
"The surprising thing is it's not just in the medical space. Food and nutrition companies were knocking on our door."
Supplement companies, dairy companies, fiber companies, nutraceutical companies, chocolate companies, bread companies; they all understand that food is medicine. But to actually deliver on that promise, they need to understand what their products are doing in the gut.
"Food companies have massive R&D programs focused on gut health. The problem is they don't have any information to figure out what their food is actually doing, because it happens in the small intestine. To be food as medicine, you need to understand what it's doing and how—that's what makes medicine, medicine."
On the pharma side, the opportunity is equally massive. How much oral chemo dosing do you need? What effect is it having at the site of interest? Can you make Parkinson's levodopa dosing more effective by addressing certain microbes in the gut?
From Blunt Instruments to Precision Medicine
Sabina shared a powerful example of how this changes clinical practice:
Antibiotics for IBS have about a 44% chance of working. Why? Because clinicians don't know if your IBS is a microbial issue that needs antibiotics, a pathogenic response, or if the pathogen is antimicrobial-resistant. "They just have to throw something down the hatch and hope for the best."
The vision: "Gut health has become the default responsibility of the individual because clinicians don't really have the tools to participate in that discussion. Individuals go to consumer-based companies for tests, bring them to their doctor, and the doctor doesn't know what to do with that information because it's not from a relevant part of the body."
Nimble wants to give patients tests they can bring to clinicians, and give clinicians the ability to responsibly participate in therapeutic decisions. "It's clinically elevated gastrointestinal information."
AI, Capacity, and the Evolving Startup Ecosystem
When we asked how fundraising and building startups has changed, Sabina emphasized the role of ecosystem support (particularly in Calgary) and how AI is creating capacity, not just replacing people.
"In the small startup world, you're not replacing people with AI. You're creating capacity you otherwise wouldn't have had those people anyway. The capacity to build big and scale globally—Nimble works on four continents with 30 partnerships worldwide—we can do that all from our computer."
But there's a caution: "Your mental bandwidth is your greatest asset. If you're building strategically, you need space to think strategically. Sometimes these tools let you believe you can be the accountant and the marketer and the CFO, but you're not accounting for the ways your brain is shifting. People with experience and perspectives still matter."
The reminder about R&D tax credits: "Leaving money on the table is one of the silliest things you can do. If your R&D team is working on claiming tax credits, they're not actually doing the R&D that would get them tax credits."
What's Next: First Clinical Launch in Alberta (Mid-2026)
Sabina revealed exciting news on our podcast.
"We're flipping our focus from B2B to clinical. Mid-2026, we're launching the first small intestinal aspirate test to clinics in Alberta, then scaling across Canada as a global soft launch."
The test will assess small intestinal performance as it relates to:
- Vitamin absorption
- Gas production (bloating symptoms)
- Pathogens
- Other key markers
"It's going to be a full paradigm shift in how individuals can work with their clinicians on presenting real data that relates to how they feel."
Points clés à retenir
The small intestine is the control center – Digestion, drug absorption, immunity all happen here. It's the black box of human health.
Fecal matter is just the garbage – You can't tell what happened at the party from the garbage. Proxy methods miss the real story.
Food is medicine—with data – Food companies want to deliver on gut health promises but need to understand what's actually happening. That's where Nimble comes in.
Precision medicine over blunt instruments – Moving from 44% success rates with antibiotics to targeted interventions based on actual small intestine data.
AI creates capacity, not replacement – In startups, AI enables global scale without massive teams. But mental bandwidth and human expertise still matter most.
Ecosystem support matters – Calgary's startup ecosystem has been critical to Nimble's success.
Clinical launch coming mid-2026 – First-ever small intestinal aspirate test launching in Alberta, scaling across Canada.
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About What the Tech from Boast
What the Tech features conversations with brilliant minds behind new and exciting tech initiatives. Hosted by Paul Davenport, Boast's Head of Content.
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If you're innovating in health tech, biotech, or any industry and want to access non-dilutive funding, Boast can help you maximize Canadian SR&ED tax credits and US R&D tax credits.
