Qvyon Technologies, a Montréal start-up that helps companies test and validate AI-driven robots and self-driving vehicles before they go to work, launched publicly on Thursday with $8 million (CAD 11.4 million) in seed funding. Its co-founder and chief executive is Frantz Saintellemy, the former chief executive of LeddarTech.
The round closed in April. BKR Capital, Mac Venture Capital, Spotlight VP and BDC Capital's Black Entrepreneurs Fund put in $6 million as equity, and RBCx added $2 million as venture debt.
Qvyon's software, MIMIC Core, combines a company's own camera or sensor recordings with an AI system that makes many variations of each recording, so engineers can see where their systems make mistakes. Its first customers include the autonomous trucking company NuPort Robotics and the US manufacturer Voltava, which Qvyon says will use it to check inspection systems in factories.
The company has about 20 staff and plans to use the money to deploy MIMIC and win customers in the US, Europe and Japan, with two more products planned for 2027. “We see an opportunity for us to scale very rapidly and to create a foundational company here in Canada,” Saintellemy said.
Background
Qvyon Technologies
Physical AI company
A Montréal-based start-up that helps companies test and validate AI-enabled robots and self-driving vehicles before putting them to work.
BDC Capital
Investor
An investor whose Black Entrepreneurs Fund took part in Qvyon Technologies' seed round.
