- Investment aims to bolster Canada's technology sector on the global
stage
VANCOUVER, BC, July 3, 2024
/PRNewswire/ - Sanctuary AI, a company on a mission to create the
world's first human-like intelligence in general purpose robots,
has announced a strategic investment from BDC Capital's Thrive
Venture Fund and InBC Investment Corp. (InBC). This brings the
total investment in Sanctuary to over $140
million to date. BDC is Canada's most active venture capital investor,
and InBC is a strategic investment fund created by the Province of
British Columbia (BC) to benefit
BC. The additional funds will be used to further accelerate
Sanctuary's progress towards bringing AI into the physical
world.
Sanctuary's existing investors include Accenture, Bell, Export
Development Canada, Evok Innovations, Magna, SE Health, Verizon
Ventures, and Workday Ventures. It also received a $30 million Strategic Innovation Fund (SIF)
contribution from the Government of Canada in November
2022.
"Following the incredible impact of pre-trained transformers on
the digital world over the last seven years, with acceleration in
the last few, we see AI in the physical world as being the next
major frontier for impacting the way we work and live." Said
Olivia Norton, Co-founder, Chief
Technology and Product Officer of Sanctuary AI. "With aging
populations, plummeting birth rates, and a changing view on work,
intelligent embodied systems, or general purpose robots will play
an important role in provincial and national productivity. We
believe that Canada has an
opportunity to be a world leader in this space. It is great to work
with organizations like BDC and InBC who understand and share this
vision."
"At BDC capital, we're proud to invest in Canada's most innovative women-led businesses,
like Sanctuary AI, that are disrupting today's market. We're
thrilled to support Sanctuary AI's team as they realize their next
groundbreaking achievements.'' Said Michelle Scarborough, Managing Partner at BDC
Capital's Thrive Venture Fund.
"We have invested in Sanctuary whose mission is helping to build
a new growth industry in British
Columbia." Finished Leah
Nguyen, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) at InBC.
"Sanctuary is a great example of the creative and innovative spirit
in BC, and by investing in leading innovators like Sanctuary we
will continue to grow our technology sector, creating new jobs and
anchoring IP in the province for a stronger, more sustainable
economy that works for everyone."
Olivia Norton will be interviewed
by Leah Nguyen on the theme of
''Solving hard problems'' at BDC's 5th anniversary
edition of the Women in Tech Bootcamp at StartupFest on
July 10th in Montreal.
About Sanctuary AI
Founded in 2018, Sanctuary AI is a multi-award-winning company
based in Vancouver, Canada.
Sanctuary AI is on a mission to create the world's first human-like
intelligence in general purpose robots that will help us work more
safely, efficiently, and sustainably, helping to address the labor
challenges facing many organizations today. Sanctuary AI's growing
list of customers and investors represents a wide variety of
industries across Canada, the US,
and other countries around the world.
Members of the Sanctuary team founded D-Wave (a pioneer in the
quantum computing industry), Kindred (first use of reinforcement
learning in a production robot), and the Creative Destruction Lab
(pioneered a revolutionary method for the commercialization of
science for the betterment of humankind). With experience at
startups and technology leaders such as Amazon, Microsoft, and
Softbank Robotics, the team has experience launching
market-defining innovations rooted in previously unsolved and deep
scientific problems.
About BDC Capital
BDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, Canada's bank for entrepreneurs. With over
$6 billion under management, BDC
Capital serves as a strategic partner to the country's most
innovative firms. It offers businesses a full spectrum of capital,
from seed investments to growth equity, as well as fund
investments, supporting Canadian entrepreneurs who have the
ambition to stand out on the world stage.
Visit bdc.ca/capital.
About InBC
InBC Investment Corp. (InBC) is a strategic investment fund
created by the Province of British
Columbia (B.C.) to invest in growing companies and venture
funds to generate financial returns alongside economic, social or
environmental impacts for B.C. To learn more:
www.inbcinvestment.ca
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SOURCE Sanctuary AI