MaRS partners with SCALE AI to grow supply chain solutions with artificial intelligence

Twelve Canadian AI companies want to scale and commercialize in fields such as robotics, forestry and food security

TORONTO, April 11, 2022 – MaRS today announced phase two of its partnership with SCALE AI, the federal artificial intelligence supercluster, to support commercialization of Canadian supply chain solutions companies. Twelve promising ventures will participate in the Supply AI program at the Toronto-based innovation hub to refine their product offerings, create and implement scaling strategies and grow their teams and brand awareness.

“The pandemic has exposed massive fault lines in our supply chains and this cohort of AI innovators are working overtime to solve many of these problems,” said Jon Dogterom, senior vice president of Venture Services at MaRS. “The partnership will accelerate their progress and ultimately strengthen supply chains here in Canada.”

With funding support from the federal and Quebec governments, SCALE AI supports startups to bring artificial intelligence from the lab to the field. The Supply AI program and access to the MaRS ecosystem will accelerate Canada’s growth as a leader in the field of smart supply chains.

This cohort of artificial intelligence companies spans the worlds of high precision robotics, autonomous vehicles and carbon emissions reduction. The group includes a maker of first- and last-mile delivery robots, a company that reduces food waste by creating logistics efficiencies and another that is using AI to create more sustainable forests while reducing the cost of lumber at the same time.

The members of this cohort of Supply AI ventures are:

MaRS will work with the cohort ventures to grow their revenue, help them access capital and attract the right talent, as well as tap into new markets and enable operations.

“Canadian AI ventures have an opportunity to grow their leadership in the supply chain space and a program like this is a great way to accelerate that development,” said Hakim Merah, Senior Manager, Acceleration and AI Ecosystem at SCALE AI.

“MaRS’ unique ecosystem of experts who specialize in growing tech- and science-based  startups is perfectly suited to partner with this cohort,” said Osh Momoh, chief technical advisor at MaRS . “It’s an exciting time to be working with Canada’s artificial intelligence community.”

This is the second iteration of the Supply AI program and this strategic collaboration between MaRS and SCALE AI.  Success stories from the first cohort include autonomous trucking company NuPort Robotics, smart email platform Sedna Tech and supply chain analytics provider The Owl Solutions.

 

About MaRS

MaRS is North America’s largest urban innovation hub. A registered non-profit, MaRS supports high-growth startups and scale-ups tackling key issues in health, cleantech, fintech and other sectors. In addition, MaRS convenes all members of the tech ecosystem to drive breakthrough discoveries, grow the economy and make an impact by solving real problems for real people — in Canada and around the world.

 

About SCALE AI

The Canadian supercluster specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), based in Montréal, SCALE AI acts as an investment and innovation hub that accelerates the rapid adoption and integration of AI and contributes to the development of a world-class Québec and Canadian AI ecosystem.

Funded by the federal and Québec governments, SCALE AI has nearly 120 industry partners, research institutes and other players in the AI field. SCALE AI develops programs aimed at supporting investment projects of companies that implement real-world AI applications, the emergence of future Canadian flagships in the sector, as well as the development of a skilled workforce.

 

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