INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
While tech giants like Google and Amazon build and invest in a multitude of artificial intelligence applications to grow their businesses, a
startup has raised a big round of funding to help those that are not technology businesses by nature also jump into the AI fray.Element AI,
the very well-funded, well-connected Canadian startup that has built an AI systems integrator of sorts to help other companies develop and
it publicly, but PitchBook notes that as of its previous funding round of $102 million back in 2017, it had a post-money valuation of $300
million, a figure a source close to the company confirmed to me
From what I understand, the valuation now is between $600 million and $700 million, a mark of how Element AI has grown, which is especially
Previous investors DCVC (Data Collective), Hanwha Asset Management, BDC (Business Development Bank of Canada), Real Ventures and others also
participated, with the total raised to date now at C$340 million ($257 million)
Other strategic investors in the company have included Microsoft, Nvidia and Intel.Element AI was started under an interesting premise that
But not every business is a technology business by DNA, and that creates a digital divide of sorts between the companies that can identify a
problem that can be fixed by AI and build/invest in the technology to do that and those that cannot.Element AI opened for business from the
better, and then build and implement those solutions
deeper with this latest funding.One catch about Element AI is that the company has not been very forthcoming about its customer list up to
reference customers on its site.However, from what we understand, this is more a by-product of the companies (both Element AI and its
customers) wishing to keep involvement quiet for competitive and other reasons; and in fact there are apparently a number of large
enterprises that are building and deploying long-term products working with the startup
We have also been told big investors in this latest round (specifically McKinsey) are bringing in customers of their own by way of this
deal, expanding that list
CDPQ launched an AI Fund this year and this is coming out of that fund to help export more of the AI tech and IP that has been incubated and
customer pipelines, as traditional system integrators also often lack the deeper expertise needed in newer areas of computing
cutting-edge thinking and technology into AI assets which will transform a wide range of industries and sectors
