On February 19th, the AI Salon Montréal Chapter launch showed how we can transform challenges into opportunities by uniting academia, startups, government, private sector, and investors.
This ecosystem initiative fosters collaboration, amplifies local innovation, unlocks access to capital, and connects Montréal’s impactful AI founders to global networks.
A Night of Innovation and Insights
Representing Innovobot was Michel Dubois, Head of our AI Lab, who described the event as “a dense gathering of smart people and impactful discussions while remaining an evening strikingly informal and interactive.”
“This initiative isn’t about catching up to other ecosystems; it’s about unlocking the incredible potential we already have.’’ said Nicholas Nadeau, who was MC’ing the evening. ‘’By breaking down silos and providing resources, networks, and capital, we’re ensuring the long-term success of Montréal’s AI ecosystem.”
Michel also highlighted the importance for Innovobot to shape AI innovation. “Innovobot aims to invest in the best deep tech entrepreneurs out there. We combine capital with extensive industry networks and deep engineering expertise in Robotics, Human-Machine Interfaces including Haptics, IoT, Advanced Materials, and of course Artificial Intelligence.’’
Inspiring Keynote by Jean-Simon Venne, CTO & Co-Founder of BrainBox AI
The kickoff keynote was given by Jean-Simon Venne from BrainBox AI, the only large exits that has happened across the Quebec ecosystem in the past year. He delivered an engaging and humorous keynote about his journey from startup building to university collaborations, leveraging data, acquiring companies with zero capital, and ultimately selling his company in December 2024 to an industry leader capable of dramatically increasing the adoption of a solution designed to help to commercial and residential buildings’ carbon emissions. His insights on scaling impact and encouraging others to adopt his model set an inspiring tone for future AI Salon events.
Startups Pitches
Each of our guest startup had 5 minutes to pitch and 5 minutes for Q&A:
Maket (Patrick Murphy, CEO): Democratizing architecture with generative AI, simplifying design and renovation planning, even a kid can do it!
CRBNX.ai (Katya Shabanova, CEO): Startup that enables companies in the commercial real estate sector to optimize their decarbonization processes, increase operational efficiency, and achieve measurable results. Currently raising $0.5M to $1M.
Trampoline AI (Gabriel Lespérance, COO/CTO): AI-native solution streamlining the RFP response process through automated data handling and expert collaboration.
Community Engagement & Recognition
Despite challenging weather, a diverse audience (investors, startups, students, and industry leaders) joined for an evening of thought-provoking discussions.
Highlights:
- Fasken: AI Salon’s champion sponsor, reaffirmed their support to the AI ecosystem with legal expertise.
- Community Ask (Sylvain): Encouraged attendees to share their needs and collaboration opportunities, which led to ecosystem matches and offers of support.
- Book Giveaway: All pitchers and community ask participants received a signed copy of Just Evil Enough by Alistair Croll.
- The informal networking chats after the presentations were diversified and impactful thanks to the varied and complementary background of the participants: investors, startup founders, Applied AI experts, Academic AI experts, students, ecosystem partners (legal, accounting, consulting, incubators…), etc.
Thank You to Our Sponsors & Partners
A huge thank you to our sponsors: Fasken, Amazon, GuruLink, and Montréal International. We also appreciate our community partners: ElanTech, NEXT AI, IVADO, CEIM, Front Row Ventures, Fulko Films, and Creative Destruction Lab. Special thanks to Innovobot, our AI Salon team, and our volunteers for making this event possible.🏢 Need office space? Contact Mike Merten (merten@srescorp.com).
Join Us for AI Salon #2 on March 26!
Did we achieve our goal of creating an engaged AI community? Absolutely! The strong turnout and high engagement proved Montréal’s AI ecosystem is thriving.
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