Vanessa Sueppmayer’s BabyNest app to fill health-care resource gap
When Vanessa Sueppmayer (Digital Media and IT – Computer Software Development ’25) moved from Germany to Alberta, she didn’t come here with plans to be an entrepreneur or innovator. She came for family.
Her mother and stepfather had settled in Alberta in 2007 and Sueppmayer’s sister joined them soon after. After visiting, Sueppmayer also decided to move, drawn by the security of reuniting with loved ones and the possibility of a new start.
What she couldn’t have predicted was the success she later saw at NAIT, and the beginnings of a new career.
Sueppmayer has a background in health care, and became a licensed practical nurse in Alberta. But everything changed after an injury forced her to take time off and reconsider her next steps.
During recovery, Sueppmayer gravitated toward a long-standing curiosity: web design and coding. After being encouraged by her partner, also a NAIT alum, she enrolled to study software development.
Then she found a way to bridge her two passions of health care and technology.
Sueppmayer is the creator of BabyNest, a mobile app concept designed to provide medically accurate, peer-reviewed information to expecting and new parents, along with practical tools like baby trackers and appointment reminders.
The project earned her the top prize in the Best Community Solutions category at NAIT’s 2025 Business Innovation Showcase.
“I didn’t expect to build something like this,” Vanessa says. “But NAIT gave me the tools and the confidence. Now, I want BabyNest to grow and help as many parents as possible.”
A career pivot shaped by care
“Even though I’m still passionate about nursing, I realized I wanted to explore this new interest, and do it properly,” says Sueppmayer.
That applies to her decision to go to NAIT, but also to her approach to building BabyNest.
The latter began with an invitation to a group in Edmonton’s tech community on the coworking app Slack, which led her to a session hosted by Dale Schaub, lead entrepreneurship consultant at NAIT’s Mawji Centre for New Venture and Student Entrepreneurship.
“He welcomed me into this amazing entrepreneurial ecosystem,” says Sueppmayer. “Competitions, mentorship, opportunities – it was incredible. And Dale knew how to keep me motivated, even when I was stressed or burned out.”
He also recognized her aptitude. “Vanessa has all the qualities we look for in a founder: curious, driven and grounded in real-world experience,” says Schaub. “With her background in health care and her growing technical skills, she’s uniquely positioned to build something meaningful with BabyNest.”
The idea for the app came from a conversation with Sueppmayer’s sister, who was newly pregnant and surprised by the lack of reliable information in Canada. It reminded Sueppmayer of Mutterpass, a comprehensive, personalized pregnancy health booklet used in Germany.
“That conversation lit a fire in me,” Sueppmayer says. “I wanted to make sure people had access to real, medically vetted information – not a Facebook post, not a Reddit thread, but something people can actually trust. And I wanted it to be accessible.”
BabyNest is meant to fill what Sueppmayer sees as a gap, combining a development tracker, evidence-based education, calendar features and support resources in a single tool.
If people were already using apps to compare the size of their unborn child to a fruit or vegetable, thought Sueppmayer, “why not build one that’s designed by someone who actually understands both tech and health care, and really cares about the user’s well-being?”
“I want to do so many things”
BabyNest is still in the early stages of development, with Sueppmayer continuing to nurture it in between continued shifts as an LPN and applying for software development roles.
She hopes to begin building out the educational section of the app first and is actively exploring partnerships to help ensure the content is accurate and trustworthy.
And BabyNest isn’t the only thing on Sueppmayer’s mind. She’s also working with a classmate and friend on another entrepreneurial idea they hope to pitch to NAIT and the NAIT Students' Association soon.
“I want to do so many things,” she says with a laugh. “I believe a person can have more than one passion, and I’m trying to build a life where I get to pursue both.”
Schaub would encourage Sueppmayer’s ambition.
“It’s been a privilege to support her early on, and while I wish we had more time together, I’m genuinely excited to see where she takes her ideas next,” he says.
Where that is may be uncertain but Sueppmayer’s outlook is grounded, thoughtful and deeply motivated. Thanks to family, friends and her own skills and determination, she’s well-positioned to make the most of her new opportunities, and carefully crafting a career at the intersection of care and code – a place where empathy meets innovation.
“I want to do this right,” she says. “I don’t want to rush and make mistakes.”
And if BabyNest is any indication, a new stage of Sueppmayer’s career is in its infancy.