Building Resilience Through Health Tech Innovation
Relocating to a new country involves far more than just crossing borders; it requires entirely rebuilding a life. For Nargis Rahimi, the move from Afghanistan to Norway in 2016 was driven by a need for family security. She arrived with a deeply ingrained entrepreneurial mindset and a genuine interest in problem-solving. These qualities eventually led her to found EVA, an impact startup developing cannabis-driven products and technological solutions to aid in the safe consumption of cannabis for medical applications. But she hasn't stopped there; she has already started her new project, Elham Retreat, a holistic trauma-informed retreat program for immigrants and refugees.
Her journey is a masterclass in resilience, challenging cultural stigmas, weathering constant criticism and navigating the complexities of the Norwegian startup ecosystem.
Finding the Solution: The Birth of EVA
The journey to founding EVA began with a deeply personal motivation rooted in her upbringing. Growing up in Afghanistan, Nargis witnessed the toll that drug abuse took within the communities, where addiction and unregulated substances caused real harm to individuals and families. That early exposure left her with a lasting conviction: the line between harm and healing often comes down to quality, knowledge, and responsible use.
Years later, she encountered a very different side of the same conversation, witnessing the therapeutic benefits of cannabis for mental health and seeing firsthand how it could help people when consumed safely and consciously. The contrast stayed with her. If cannabis was going to be used for medical purposes, she believed it had to be held to the highest standards of product quality and safe consumption, the very things whose absence she had seen caused so much damage.
While completing her master's degree in International Business in California, she watched the industry move toward legalization and commercialization. That environment helped her see how her goal of helping people with psychological distress could become a sustainable, structured business. Her aim was no longer just to learn about the medicinal benefits of cannabis, but to educate others and make safe consumption more accessible.
Technology Meets Safe Consumption
EVA began with a clear idea: to bring a distinctive medical cannabis product to market. Nargis and her team set out to develop a physical product line that combines medical cannabis with saffron, a unique formulation with a deeper purpose. The saffron is sourced to support Afghan women, many of whom rely on saffron cultivation as a source of income.
As she dug into the realities of medical cannabis, one challenge kept surfacing: safe and responsible consumption. Because medical cannabis affects each person differently, both patients and health personnel often struggle to find the right treatment and dosage that works best. That problem became the seed for EVA's next step, a pilot project EMMA (Eva Mental Monitoring App).
EMMA is an AI-powered monitoring application that uses predictive modeling to analyze both active and passive user data, such as sleep patterns and social engagement, helping patients identify the most suitable treatment approach and optimize their medical cannabis use. The platform also includes a clinical portal that gives the health personnel access to patient data, enabling them to make more informed decisions and adjust treatments when needed. Together, these tools help patients and clinicians find what works while reducing costly trials and errors.
Building EVA allowed Nargis to pursue her vision, but the journey came with both cultural and regulatory challenges.
Navigating Cultural and Regulatory Challenges as a Founder
According to Nargis, working in the medical cannabis sector is demanding in itself, but being an Afghan woman also meant navigating cultural barriers, including community stigma around cannabis and misconceptions about her work. Within the Afghan community, discussions around cannabis, even for medical purposes, are often considered taboo. When the startup first launched, the nature of her work was misunderstood by the extended community, leading to criticism directed at her and her family.
At the same time, she notes that initial reactions within the Norwegian ecosystem were marked by caution, with partners and investors often hesitating to engage in conversations around the project. That caution gradually shifted as stakeholders developed a clearer understanding of the project, and over time, they became more open and interested in the work.
Rather than allowing these experiences to become obstacles, Nargis says they became motivation to keep building the company and raising awareness about the therapeutic/medical benefits of cannabis. The shift in attitudes is now evident: individuals who were once skeptical are engaging in more open and informed conversations, proof that perceptions and long-standing cultural beliefs can evolve.
Beyond cultural perceptions, Nargis also faced practical hurdles. Operating in the medical cannabis sector often involves complex regulatory and administrative processes that move slowly and create additional barriers for early-stage startups. As she recalls, "It took us over eight months to open a bank account as part of the company registration process." These difficulties were intensified by the absence of a clearly established regulatory framework for medical cannabis ventures in Norway. As one of the first startups in this emerging field, EVA frequently had to navigate unclear procedures and create new pathways for both national and cross-country collaborations, making progress frustrating and time-consuming. Facing these challenges reinforced the importance of finding a strong support network, something Nargis found through CHARGE's entrepreneurship programs and its community of early-stage founders.
Finding a Home at CHARGE
While Nargis already had an extensive professional network in Oslo, she describes missing a real sense of community and belonging within it. That experience slowly began to change when she joined CHARGE’s incubation program (Changemaker) in 2019. The program offered her two critical assets:
Community: Charge connected her with a network of immigrant founders who shared similar experiences and entrepreneurial ambitions.
Credibility: Support from an established Norwegian organization strengthened the company's credibility among investors and partners.
In addition, the program provided valuable guidance from experienced advisors, helping refine both the business model and overall business strategy. While the support from CHARGE helped accelerate the company's development, the demands of building a startup still came at a personal cost.
The Reality of Burnout
The commitment to building something meaningful from scratch, combined with using work as an emotional escape from past traumas, eventually led to severe burnout. She explains: “Using work as a coping mechanism carries a cost, the same momentum that feels like ambition can quietly turn into avoidance, and there's no natural point where it stops.” Like many founders, Nargis ignored the warning signs, pushing herself to do "just one more thing" until she physically and mentally could not continue.
This breaking point was a crucial lesson in balance. She realized that the business would survive if she took time off for herself. Today, she has learned to prioritize her well-being, noting that resting actually makes her far more creative and clear in her strategic decisions.
Looking Ahead: Introducing Elham Retreat
The lessons Nargis learned from burnout, combined with her own experience of rebuilding a life in a new country, ultimately inspired her newest project: Elham Retreat. A retreat program designed specifically for immigrants and refugees. Often, newly arrived individuals are pressured to quickly choose a career path before they have processed their transitions, reconnected with themselves, or recognized their own unique strengths in a new environment.
By combining trauma-informed self-discovery practices, Elham Retreat aims to give immigrants the space to reconnect with themselves, discover their values and skills before taking their next big step.
Through her entrepreneurial journey, Nargis has gained valuable insights into personal growth and resilience. Reflecting on these experiences, she shared several lessons for aspiring founders.
Advice for Early-Stage Founders
Reflecting on the past five years, Nargis shared several key lessons for aspiring founders.
Focus on execution rather than waiting for every detail to be perfect.
Take practical first steps and build momentum through consistent action.
Be open about your ideas and engage with others to create valuable connections and opportunities.
Make time to disconnect and recharge to maintain clarity and long-term focus.
Who you let in at the start matters. A cofounder, advisor, or investor who truly understands your mission is worth far more than one who simply has resources or interest.
Final Thoughts
As she continues building both EVA and Elham Retreat, Nargis remains committed to creating spaces where innovation, healing, and community can intersect. Her journey has shown that meaningful change rarely happens in isolation; it grows through collaboration, shared experiences, and the willingness to support one another along the way.
For aspiring founders, immigrants, refugees, and anyone navigating their own path of reinvention, Nargis welcomes opportunities to connect, exchange ideas, and offer support where she can. She believes that some of the most impactful ventures begin with a simple conversation, and that strong networks are often the foundation for lasting change.
To connect with Nargis or learn more about her work, you can reach out via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nargis-rahimi-61ab49a6/
