Revolution AI: Waterloo veterans putting artificial intelligence to the test in the real world

Not every artificial intelligence venture is a startup. In fact, there's a sizable community of established entrepreneurs that are well ahead of the AI game: Waterloo, Ont. It's home to a burgeoning population of robotics/AI companies, many of which have landed substantial VC financing deals over the years. Aeryon Labs, a developer of unmanned aerial systems (drones) for example, raised $60 million of growth equity from Summit Partners in October 2015. Clearpath Robotics, makers of autonomous mobile robots, raised $30 million in October 2016 from backers that include the venture arms of Caterpillar and General Electric Co. Thalmic Labs, creators of interactive wearable technologies (the Myo gesture control armband), received close to US$120 million, led by Intel Capital, the Amazon Alexa Fund and Fidelity Investments Canada in September 2016 – one of the biggest Canadian VC deals in history.