Artificial Intelligence · Profile from AI Research Companion
Element AI
The Montreal AI company, co-founded in October 2016 by serial entrepreneur Jean-François Gagné and deep-learning pioneer Yoshua Bengio with Real Ventures, that was meant to be Canada's answer to the US AI giants: a "research-to-product" firm that would build AI for large enterprises. It raised two of the largest venture rounds in Canadian history — ~US$102m (C$137.5m) in its June 2017 Series A and C$200m (~US$151m) in its September 2019 Series B, for ~C$340m (~US$257m) in total (BetaKit) — and grew to more than 500 staff, including ~100 PhDs. But it never found a repeatable product: consulting-style projects were costly, two flagship products stalled and revenue stayed minimal (Globe and Mail, reported). After layoffs in 2019 and 2020, ServiceNow agreed to buy it on 30 November 2020 and closed on 8 January 2021 for ~US$230m, subject to adjustments (ServiceNow). The ~US$600–700m figure often attached to Element AI is a valuation estimate after the 2019 round (TechCrunch), not money raised; the sale price was about a third of that estimate and somewhat below the capital invested. Founders' and employees' common shares were reported to have been wiped out, while most institutional investors were reported to have recovered most of their money (Globe and Mail, reported).
At a glance
- Founded
- October 2016, Montreal, by Jean-François Gagné (CEO), Yoshua Bengio, Nicolas Chapados, Anne Martel, Philippe Beaudoin and Jean-Sébastien Cournoyer (Real Ventures)
- Headquarters
- Montreal; offices reported in Toronto, London, Singapore and Seoul (2018–19, verify)
- Ownership / structure
- Private, venture-backed; acquired by ServiceNow (closed 8 January 2021); no longer exists as a company
- Leadership
- Jean-François Gagné (co-founder and CEO throughout); Yoshua Bengio (co-founder, adviser; scientific director of Mila); Nicolas Chapados (co-founder, chief science officer, verify title); first CFO and chief revenue officer hired in May 2020 (BetaKit)
- AI products
- Applied research and custom AI projects for enterprises (2017–19); Underwriting Partner for insurers (September 2019); Knowledge Scout for manufacturers (December 2019); document-intelligence and process-automation tools (2020, verify names)
- Scale
- >500 employees at peak including ~100 PhDs (BetaKit); ~350 employees in May 2020 before a 15% cut (BetaKit); revenue never disclosed, described as "minimal" in 2019 (Globe and Mail, reported)
- Capital raised
- ~US$102m/C$137.5m Series A (June 2017, led by Data Collective/DCVC); C$200m/~US$151m Series B (September 2019; new investors CDPQ, McKinsey and the Government of Quebec); ~C$340m/~US$257m in total (BetaKit); a federal loan of up to C$5m (December 2018)
- Valuation and exit
- ~US$600–700m valuation estimate after the Series B (TechCrunch, September 2019) — an estimate, not capital raised; sold to ServiceNow for ~US$230m (announced 30 November 2020, closed 8 January 2021)
- Signature moves (incl. failures)
- Founding with Bengio and Real Ventures (2016); the record Series A and the Montreal talent race (2017); the consulting model, global offices and "AI for good" (2018); the Series B and the valuation estimate (2019); the pivot to products and the first cuts (2019); the 2020 layoffs and federal lifeline (2020); the sale to ServiceNow (2020–21)
7 strategic moves analysed
Each one gets a full strategy file in the companion: context, the decision, the financing, what happened, and the lesson.
2016
Founding with Bengio and Real Ventures
Founding
2017
Record Series A and the Montreal Talent Race
Funding round
2018
Consulting Model Global Offices and AI for Good
Expansion / partnership
2019
Pivot to Products and the First Cuts
Pivot / restructuring
2019
Series B and the Valuation Estimate
Funding round
2020
Layoffs CFO and the Federal Lifeline
Restructuring / government funding
2020
Sale to ServiceNow
Acquisition (exit)