Québec AI institute Mila and Montréal venture firm Inovia Capital have partnered to launch an early-stage venture fund as they seek to bridge a commercialization gap that has plagued Canada’s AI sector.
“Amii, Vector, and Mila have created ecosystems [toward which] some of the world’s greatest AI talent gravitates.”
Valérie Pisano, Mila
Mila and Inovia announced the Venture Scientist Fund, a national initiative with a target amount of $100 million USD ($125 million CAD), today at Mila headquarters in Montréal. The fund aims to identify and back AI research concepts with the potential to turn into a successful startup. Inovia will co-develop and co-manage the fund with the Mila team, and a separate legal entity will be set up to deliver it.
In an interview with BetaKit on Wednesday ahead of the announcement, Mila president and CEO Valérie Pisano said the fund initiative is a direct response to the federal priorities laid out by Prime Minister Mark Carney and AI and Digital Innovation Minister Evan Solomon—namely, to speed up Canada’s commercial efforts in AI.
“We’ve been very much inspired by the tone that Prime Minister Carney and Minister Solomon have set,” Pisano said.
The fund will also run venture lab-style programs to harness promising research talent across three of Canada’s national AI institutes: Mila, the Alberta Machine Intelligence Institute (Amii) in Edmonton, and the Vector Institute in Toronto. Pisano said the fund will aim to accompany researchers at the earliest stages of turning their ideas into a potential startup.
“This is where we have diamonds,” Pisano said. “Amii, Vector, and Mila have created ecosystems [toward which] some of the world’s greatest AI talent gravitates.”
The fund began formally fundraising on Wednesday, but Pisano told BetaKit that she expects to reach its target amount “fairly quickly,” given the “high degree of interest” within the Canadian ecosystem.
Stéphane Marceau, Mila’s managing director of AI ventures, will manage the fund with assistance and advising from entrepreneur-in-residence Alex Shee, former Pender Ventures partner Isaac Souweine, and former Circle K Ventures managing partner Jonathan Shaanan. More details on specific roles and team members will be announced, Pisano said.
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This marks Mila’s first official foray into venture capital, as it seeks to better commercialize the cutting-edge AI research the institute is known for. On Monday, Mila and consulting firm Bain & Company released a report titled “The Rise of the Canadian Venture Scientist,” arguing that Canada can secure the AI advantage it has squandered so far by tapping into its vast network of promising researchers and helping them create companies.
“Venture scientists are researchers equipped to translate frontier ideas into companies,” the report reads, “In short, they bridge the lab, the startup, and the corporation.”
Funding these “venture scientists” is how Mila hopes this initiative sets itself apart from typical VC funds. The initiative also comes as Mila’s new scientific director, researcher Hugo Larochelle, has put an emphasis on supporting both high-quality research and the creation of new startups.
Feature image courtesy Madison McLauchlan for BetaKit.