Several Canadian startups have made announcements and launched new features to make strides in AI. Here’s the latest on Canada’s movers and shakers.
Deep Learni.ng joins the Vector Institute
DeepLearni.ng announced that it is now a partner of Toronto’s Vector Institute, which is working to be a hub for artificial intelligence research.
At the launch of tin March 2017, the government announced that 30 companies were dedicating $80 million to the Institute. DeepLearni.ng is now a Bronze sponsor of the Vector Institute, joining companies like Helpful.com, the Chan Zuckerberg initiative, and integrate.ai in contributing $20,000 a year over the next ten years.
“In our work with enterprises around the world, our team of machine learning practitioners strives to transform the latest AI research into real-world business applications,” said Stephen Piron, the company’s co-founder and co-CEO. “Joining the Vector Institute is an exciting opportunity to give back to the community and ensure AI’s leading researchers have the resources they need to take the field to the next level.”
Earlier this month, DeepLearni.ng announced that it was partnering with NVIDIA, becoming its first Canadian partner.
NextAI expands program to Montreal as part of the AI-Powered Supply Chain Supercluster
NEXT Canada announced that it is joining the Montreal-based SCALE.AI AI-Powered Supply Chain Supercluster, one of the superclusters receiving part of $950 million from the government’s supercluster initiative announced yesterday.
The partnership will allow the company to bring its NextAI venture accelerator program to Montreal. The expansion to Quebec is NEXT Canada’s first physical presence outside Ontario.
“NEXT Canada is a critical partner in the SCALE.AI supercluster initiative,” said Hélène Desmarais, CEO of CEIM and co-chair of SCALE.AI. “They have a terrific model and a proven track record of supporting high potential entrepreneurs. The NextAI accelerator program is a shining example of how to connect talent to the marketplace, increasing the adoption of built-in-Canada technology.”
NEXT Canada is exploring opportunities to expand westward to other hubs of AI activity, including Edmonton, Alberta and other potential locations. NEXT Canada is already collaborating with groups in all three provinces, including the Institute for Data Valorization (IVADO), the Montreal Institute for Learning Algorithms (MILA) in Quebec, the Vector Institute in Ontario, and the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii).
NEXT Canada will announce the timing and other details of its NextAI – Montreal program in the coming weeks.