Backgrounder: details of the grants awarded to the 10 winning companies in the CED Fast Forward Challenge

$50,000 grant

CANN Forecast applies artificial intelligence (AI) to help protect the most precious resource on Earth: water. The dynamic multidisciplinary team develops innovative tools to help clients proactively manage water, which reduces waste and protects public health during recreational activities.

Project description: the company has designed an AI-based software program for managing municipal water (a solution for targeting water pipes at risk of breaking and a solution for predicting water quality in real time).

Head office: Montréal

$50,000 grant

Cigogne Technologies provides innovative biomedical transporting solutions to ensure the integrity of the products delivered and to improve accessibility of them in remote regions.

Project description: the company has developed an intelligent refrigerated compartment that keeps vaccines and medications between 2°C and 8°C during transporting. Lightweight, accurate and unique, the compartment adapts to all delivery modes, including transporting by drone.

Head office: Sherbrooke

$50,000 grant

Femtum is a company that markets the next generation of fibre optic lasers for leading-edge applications in advanced machining and photonics. With its unique patented technologies, the mid-infrared spectral region has never been more accessible.

Project description: the company provides a fibre optic laser for precision machining of non-metallic materials such as organic and plastic materials.

Head office: Québec

$50,000 grant

Innodal is an innovative company that develops natural antimicrobial agents that replace conventional chemical preservatives. These natural agents inhibit and protect food from microbiological pathogens. Innodal helps maintain trust between consumers and food-processing companies by preventing costly microbiological recalls.

Project description: the company produces natural antimicrobial agents from probiotics. These antimicrobials effectively eliminate contaminants such as E. Coli, Listeria, Salmonella and mould. It is an effective, natural alternative to conventional chemical agents.

Head office: Québec

$50,000 grant

By combining advances in cardiac surgery and interventionist cardiology, Puzzle Medical Devices makes hemodynamic support safer, more accessible and reduces the global economic burden of heart failure. Puzzle Medical Devices was hugely successful in carrying out its first in vivo implant.

Project description: Puzzle Medical Devices develops the first long-term hemodynamic support that is implanted using an innovative transcatheter technology for patients with advanced heart failure.

Head office: Montréal

$50,000 grant

Pyrocycle offers a new, cost-effective technology for recycling electronic waste, which prevents environmental pollution and supports a circular economy.

Project description: this is a new thermo-chemical, non-polluting, economical and inexpensive process for recycling electronic waste through the recovery of contaminated plastics and the extraction of base and precious metals.

Head office: Montréal

$50,000 grant

SB Technologies develops and markets diamond-based quantum magnetometers for commercial and research applications. Their goal is to revolutionize magnetic anomaly detection by revealing faults in hidden environmental structures and enabling new capabilities for surveillance and rescue missions.

Project description: SB Technologies provides a new type of magnetometer for inspecting the integrity of hidden structures (e.g. underground pipes, very large industrial retention ponds, etc.).

Head office: Sherbrooke

$50,000 grant

Keenoa enables dietitians to use state-of-the-art technologies for accessing their clients’ consumption data. With these tools, dietitians are able to increase their reach and maximize their impact on population health.

Project description: Keenoa is an intelligent food diary that connects dietitians to their patients in real time. Through photo recognition of foods, patients can easily track their eating habits, which are instantly available in their dietitian’s web application.

Head office: Montréal

$50,000 grant

Plastics are now found everywhere in our environment, including the entire world’s shores. Hoola One Technology has set itself the challenge of designing a machine for effectively filtering out plastic particles on beaches so that the flora and fauna no longer suffer from plastic pollution.

Project description: the technology developed by the company helps restore a beach’s ecosystems by collecting and separating out small plastic particles using the density of various components.

Head office: Sherbrooke

$50,000 grant

Wastack automates landfill operations for improved performance while reducing their environmental impact. The company starts by automating the way that the presence of birds is mitigated at the sites using AI-compatible deterrents that compete with falconers and birds of prey.

Project description: Wastack pursues an automated management system for controlling birds at landfill sites. The system uses AI to recognize the various types of birds and triggers the appropriate combination of lasers, speakers and/or propane guns to keep birds away.

Head office: Montréal