From survivor to innovator: Shane Parmar is redefining the $48B mental wellness industry by transforming personal resilience into ONDA+, the world’s most trusted wearable for proactive stress recovery
In the sterile quiet of a hospital room seventeen years ago, Shane Parmar lay drifting through the fog of hourly morphine. He had just survived a near-fatal car crash, an event that would have ended most stories. In his delirium, he repeatedly shouted a single number: “7.” At the time, it was a mystery—a glitch in a traumatized mind. Today, as Parmar stands on the stage of the prestigious AI Forge Cohort 7, that number has transformed from a random exclamation into a symbol of destiny and deep-rooted resilience.
For Parmar, the journey from a Leicester workshop to the pinnacle of London’s HealthTech scene hasn’t been a standard executive climb; it has been a rigorous process of reinvention. As the Founder of ONDA+ and the architect behind Quantum Canary Ltd, Parmar isn’t just launching a wearable device—he is pioneering a movement for Presence is Power™. He is building the tool he wished existed when the world was crashing down around him: a way to see stress before it becomes a scar.
Early Craftsmanship and Leicester Roots
Long before the glass towers of Canary Wharf, Parmar’s leadership philosophy was forged in the varied environments of Leicester. His education was not found solely in textbooks but in the diverse work ethics of his family. He spent time in a sign-manufacturing workshop with his father, learning the quiet dignity of hands-on craftsmanship, and observed the structured professionalism of his mother’s office at British Gas. Even in his first retail job at 16, Parmar was a student of human psychology. He realized early on that success was rooted in the ability to communicate across social divides and understand the subtle pressures that drive human behavior. “I always felt there was more beyond my immediate environment. That curiosity became a leadership trait. I learned to question how things could be improved rather than simply accepting them as they were,” he reflects. This early refusal to accept the status quo, combined with a burgeoning interest in sales and growth, set the stage for a career defined by high-stakes problem-solving.
From Global Finance to the Canary Wharf “Forge”
Parmar’s professional trajectory took him from the structured world of finance in Geneva to the cutting edge of medical devices and digital transformation. He proved himself a formidable commercial strategist, most notably at Webskitters UK, where he rebuilt the firm’s commercial framework from scratch and generated significant revenue within months. Yet, as his career accelerated, so did the internal pressure. He watched those closest to him struggle with the silent erosion of burnout. He saw high-performers “crashing quietly”—looking composed on the outside while their internal systems were in a state of collapse.
His transition into the tech sector was more than a career shift; it was a deliberate retraining for a greater purpose. Living and working in Canary Wharf, the scale of the skyline began to mirror the scale of his ambition. He began to see stress not just as a personal struggle, but as a massive, unaddressed economic and human cost. Former collaborators have long noted his ability to bridge gaps and identify solutions; as Ahmet Hilmi Terzi observed, “Shane is hands down the best… He’s got an eagle eye for matching talent with opportunities, making the hiring process smooth and efficient.” It was this “eagle eye” that Parmar eventually turned inward, identifying a gap in the market that the performance-obsessed fitness industry had missed: preventative emotional regulation.
ONDA+ and the Architecture of Resilience
In May 2025, the seeds planted during his recovery finally broke the surface with the birth of ONDA+. Unlike traditional wearables that focus on steps or calories, ONDA+ is designed to make the invisible visible. It is a Stress Pal™ that detects the rising tide of the nervous system and prompts a reset before a person reaches the point of no return. The impact was immediate. Parmar secured a UK patent, multiple trademarks, and fully funded the project on Kickstarter within its first week. His mission resonated with the NHS and NIHR research centers, leading to pilot interest from 29 organizations.
For Parmar, the data is clear: stress costs businesses billions, but the human cost of lost presence is immeasurable. He believes that “success is rarely about being the loudest person in the room; it is about being grounded, clear-minded, and intentional in your actions.” This philosophy is the heartbeat of Quantum Canary Ltd. Parmar is no longer interested in short-term wins or executive titles for the sake of status. He is building a long-term innovation company focused on responsible AI and preventative health. His work with the AI Forge accelerator has been a “stress test” for the company, refining ONDA+ into a tool for founders, carers, and overachievers who carry the weight of the world in silence.
A Legacy of Presence
Today, Shane Parmar stands as a founder-led missionary in the HealthTech space. His sights are set on global scale, not as a career transition, but as a life’s work. He remains committed to the idea that we create our own luck through consistent, disciplined effort—a message he frequently shares with the next generation of leaders. He encourages those entering the workforce to “focus on building real skills and developing a strong work ethic; do not chase shortcuts or status, chase competence.” It is a mantra he lives by as he prepares for the next chapter of Quantum Canary. With ONDA+, he isn’t just selling a device; he is offering a chance to pause, to breathe, and to reclaim the moment. For a man who once woke up in a hospital bed shouting for a future he couldn’t yet see, the message is now loud and clear: Presence is Power™.
Editorial Note
Shane Parmar’s journey serves as a powerful reminder that our greatest challenges often provide the blueprints for our most significant contributions. By transforming a personal recovery into a global mission for mental wellness, Parmar invites us to look closer at our own “silent signals.” To learn more about the future of preventative health or to join the movement for mental clarity, connect with Shane Parmar as he leads ONDA+ into a new era of proactive wellness.
