Driven by Canada’s growth as a global leader in artificial intelligence (AI), Kebotix, a U.S.-based technology platform company for new chemicals and materials, today announced Kebotix Canada, a wholly owned subsidiary that will focus on AI and machine learning (ML) development.
“Establishing a stronger presence in Canada makes perfect sense for Kebotix on many levels,” said CEO and founder Dr. Jill S. Becker. “As one of the world’s largest innovation centers, the Toronto-Waterloo region has tremendous talent and opportunity. With demand for Kebotix’s expertise going up steadily since we came out of stealth mode in November 2018, we definitely want to tap more aggressively into an area second only to Silicon Valley in the number of technology workers and companies.”
COVID-19 actually accelerated the founding of Kebotix Canada, according to Becker.
“The shelter-in-place orders in response to the pandemic taught us how to be a 100 percent virtual company,” she said. “The breadth and quality of our work have never been higher, and with our workforce taking on some of science’s greatest challenges remotely while maintaining operational excellence, clearly we’re not tethered to the Boston area. Our project load in the Toronto area is getting heavier and we’re confident we’ll fill our workforce needs with strong candidates as we plunge deeper in Canada’s talent pool.”
Reinventing the materials industry with a new age of discovery using AI, ML and robotics, Kebotix has seen its work in the Ontario region intensifying since launching in November 2018. High-impact projects have benefited from collaboration with such top computer science programs as the University of Toronto and University of Waterloo. With a dedicated Canadian office, Kebotix expects to widen its draw from what Deloitte has declared as the third-largest concentration of AI experts in the world.
Kebotix’s Canadian ties are rooted as deep as its founding. In addition to doctorate and master’s degrees from Harvard University, Becker holds an honors bachelor of science degree in chemistry from the University of Toronto. Becker resided in Ontario for much of her youth. Another founder, Alán Aspuru-Guzik, is a professor of chemistry and computer science there, leading breakthrough research at The Matter Lab. Aspuru-Guzik, Kebotix’s chief visionary officer, also serves on the faculty of the Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence, an independent, not-for-profit corporation dedicated to research in the field of AI, excelling in machine and deep learning.
More Canadian influence: Strategically located directly across the street from The Matter Lab is ArcTern Ventures, Kebotix’s second-largest backer in its recent Series A financing. The venture capital firm that invests in breakthrough clean technologies is bullish on Kebotix investing more in the Canadian promise.
“A considerable amount of Kebotix’s work in AI and ML has a Canadian connection, and with Toronto having the highest concentration of AI startups in the world, Kebotix needs to be at the core of this dynamic technology ecosystem,” said Murray McCaig, ArcTern co-founder and managing partner. The Winnipeg-born McCaig holds an MBA from Ivey Business School at the University of Western Ontario and sailed for Canada in the 1992 Summer Olympics.
About Kebotix
Kebotix partners with the private and public sector in harnessing the power of its breakthrough platform that combines artificial intelligence and robotic automation to discover chemicals and materials significantly faster and more affordably. Kebotix is backed by a growing, talented and dedicated team led by world-class scientists and serial entrepreneurs – plus the world’s first self-driving lab for materials discovery – to develop AI/machine learning roadmaps and define problems and solution properties for its partners, and solve the world’s most urgent problems for everyone else. Kebotix provides its partners technology access to its digital R&D solutions – including ChemOSTM – and complete end-to-end materials innovation programs to stay ahead of competition in the digital revolution. For more information, visit www.kebotix.com.
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