Participated · Seed · Oct 2022

Spexi develops earth imagery technology using automated drone systems and autopilot software to capture standardized ultra-high-resolution aerial data. The company operates a blockchain-based "Fly to Earn" network that pays onboarded drone pilots to fly automated paths with sub-250g drones across 24-acre hexagonal plots. Its dataset is used to train AI models and supports applications including disaster preparedness, smart city planning, infrastructure inspection, resource monitoring, and gaming. Since closing its Seed round in late 2022, Spexi has expanded into Canada, the USA, the UK, and Mexico, imaging over 140 cities and capturing more than 1.2 million acres. The company intends to use the Series A funds to expand operations and development efforts. Bill Lakeland leads the company as CEO. Spexi, led by CEO Bill Lakeland and based in Vancouver, offers a software platform to plan autonomous drone flights, task drone pilots, and process aerial imagery into actionable and shareable insights using AI and computer vision. The company is building Spexigon, an aerial-imagery marketplace that lets operators earn rewards by collecting and uploading drone imagery; contributors are to be paid in dollars and a new cryptocurrency called $SPEXI. Spexi processes imagery to identify high-risk areas — for example, projects with the Canadian Federal Government are underway to image forests prone to wildfires and detect dry areas likely to ignite. The platform targets multiple use cases including building inspections for insurance underwriting, construction project management, infrastructure maintenance, surveying and mapping, urban planning, and real estate marketing. The company plans to use new funding to expand operations, accelerate development, and grow its business reach.

Participated · Seed · Aug 2021

Seedata.io is a cybersecurity deception-technology SaaS that helps businesses identify previously undetected data leakage incidents. The platform combines deception technology and threat intelligence, deploying decoys and traps so attackers interact with fake data rather than real data. Seedata.io says this approach enables faster breach detection and can significantly reduce incident costs. The company is incorporated as seedata.io LTD. In August 2021 it raised £640,000 in a pre-Seed funding round. Seedata.io plans to use the funds to expand its development team and accelerate its product roadmap and go-to-market strategy.

Participated · Seed · Jul 2021

Valarian Technologies develops ACRA, a software layer described as a sealed operating room for AI workloads and sensitive applications that controls what data leaves systems, who can access it, and who can shut it off. The product is positioned to let governments and enterprises retain control while still using major cloud providers by enforcing policy and access controls outside those providers’ native stack. The company was founded and is led by Max Buchan, with co-founder Josh McLaughlin joining from a senior role at Palantir, and is based in London. Valarian’s positioning responds to geopolitical risks such as the U.S. CLOUD Act and recent restrictions on access to U.S.-based AI services. Financially, the company has raised $70 million to date, including a $50 million Series A led by NEA.

Participated · Seed · Feb 2019

SenseOn provides a cloud-based, AI-powered cybersecurity platform that triangulates data from endpoints, networks and microservices to increase accuracy and speed of detection and response. The company builds core platform components and apps while integrating and organizing data from other security tools. Founder and CEO David Atkinson, formerly of Darktrace and the U.K. Ministry of Defence, leads the London-based team. SenseOn counts financial services firms, consumer businesses and government organizations among its customers. The business has seen strong commercial growth, with revenues and engagements up over 350%. The platform approach aims to consolidate fragmented point solutions into more complete security pictures and actionable data. Senseon offers an AI-powered cyber defence platform built around an 'AI triangulation' system that is designed to learn and adapt to organisations' network environments. The system was developed by founder David Atkinson, who served as the first cyber operative within the UK’s specialist military units. Senseon positions its technology to separate genuine cybersecurity threats from benign noise that can confuse traditional tools. The article highlights the platform's adaptive learning approach as a response to increasingly complex networks and attacker innovation. Senseon has recently raised $6.4 million, providing capital to support its product and operations.

Participated · Seed · Oct 2018

Beauceron Security provides a cybersecurity SaaS platform that helps organizations execute security awareness programs and turn employees into active participants in discovering and resolving phishing-based attacks. The company launched a patent-pending technology last year to give feedback to employees who report suspicious emails. Customers have seen an 85% decrease in phishing simulation clicks and a 99% increase in emails reported within 90 days; the company also says it delivers results 4x faster than market leaders. Beauceron serves over 680 clients worldwide, including large financial institutions, telecoms, government organizations and enterprises. The firm plans to leverage a growth capital facility from CIBC Innovation Banking to build new features and products and support market expansion. To date Beauceron has raised $5 million in equity capital from investors including BankTech Ventures, Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), Mariner Partners and the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation. Beauceron Security is a Fredericton-based, cloud platform that helps organizations manage and reduce cyber risk. Born from innovation developed at the University of New Brunswick’s IT department, its solution uses a proprietary algorithm to produce personal, departmental and organizational risk scores. The company serves more than 55 customers across finance, insurance, energy, manufacturing, IT, higher education and government, and counts tens of thousands of users in 27 countries. Beauceron has doubled its client base in the past three quarters and has partnered with national and regional security firms in Canada, the United States and Europe. It was the first Canadian company accepted to the CyLon accelerator. The funding announced will be used to build out the product roadmap, increase sales and marketing, and recruit new partner firms worldwide.