Ireland-based company Standard Access, provider of secure building access solutions and expert in smart real estate management, has developed an Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology to help large organisations, entertainment venues and building owners to comply with new public health crowd restrictions in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. By monitoring building capacity in real-time, SAvant enables building operators to adhere to new pandemic-responsive rules on crowd capacity and social distancing. As people gradually return to workplaces, social spaces and public transport, reduced occupancy and physical distancing will be important for employers and venue owners in order to build trust and confidence. The company is currently rolling out enterprise level software that can be incorporated into existing CCTV systems to detect the number of people in a particular area at any one time. SAvant technology also works on 360 degree cameras.

For the past several quarters, AI has been a tremendous source of funding and hype for Canada. With a federal government directive to invest in Canadian AI and evangelists like Yoshua Bengio and Geoffrey Hinton garnering global acclaim, it's no wonder that tech companies like Samsung, Microsoft, and Uber have set up shop here. However, last quarter the sector stumbled; according to PwC's latest MoneyTree report for Q3 2018, AI funding decreased from Q2 2018's $222 million CAD ($169 million USD) to $138 million CAD ($106 million USD). Part of the reason for the bump in Canadian FinTech interest is regtech. In comparison, FinTech boasted $150 million CAD ($115 million USD) in funding, a 31 percent increase from the previous quarter.

PwC has released its latest MoneyTree report for Q2 2018, founding that the AI sector continued to thrive in Canadian venture capital. AI experienced a 104 percent funding increase in Q2 2018 compared to the last quarter, with $222 million CAD ($169 million USD) invested across 13 deals. Total quarterly deals and investment reached an all-time high this quarter; the second highest quarter was Q2 2017, when $209 million ($159 million USD) was invested across 12 deals, boosted by Element AI's historic Series A. "Approximately half of the deal volume this quarter went to businesses that provide analytics tools to their customers," said Dave Planques, national deals leader at PwC Canada. "These companies are supporting enterprises in making better data-driven decisions." "If you think of this industry as analytics on one end of the spectrum to artificial intelligence on the other, the Canadian tech sector is firing on all of those cylinders."

In PwC Canada's lastest MoneyTree report analyzing the Canadian VC landscape, there were two particular trends that stood out: a rising interest in AI, and a rise in corporate deal participation. The latter is a common story in the startup world, with financial institutions partnering with startups for access to nimble teams and emerging technology, and international tech giants like Microsoft scooping up talent within the Canadian tech community. According to the PwC report, 26 percent of all deals to Canadian companies in Q2 2017 included at least one corporate or corporate venture capital investor, reaching an eight-quarter high since Q3 2015. To PwC Canada National Deals Technology Leader Michael Dingle, this trend is expected to continue as corporates see investing in tech companies as an effective way to engage with the tech sector. "Look at other markets like the US that are trending in opposite directions, and you end up with a repatriation in talent, increased interest in Canada as a whole."