Artificial intelligence is attracting great interest in the enterprise, but most companies lack the necessary know-how to make the most out of the technology. That’s the observation that led a group of Canadian machine learning experts to establish Element AI Inc., which announced today that it has raised $102 million in funding to fill the talent gap.

Data Collective led the round, while Microsoft Ventures, Intel Capital, Nvidia Corp. and China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd. contributed as well alongside several financial institutions. Element AI will use the capital to grow its consultancy business, which offers organizations assistance with developing AI applications. The Montreal-based startup is willing to take on everything from chatbot and voice recognition projects to scientific work.

Element AI can provide guidance on how a company should go about building a machine learning application, help with development or perform some combination thereof depending on the client’s needs. It’s a fairly standard mix of services that has much in common with packages offered by more traditional outsourcing providers. What sets Element AI apart is its delivery model. 

Drawing upon the academic background of its founders (pictured), the startup actively collaborates with the research universities that are helping to advance machine learning technology. The goal is to give clients access to the same kind of expertise available for web giants such as Facebook Inc. and Microsoft Corp., which are aggressively poaching machine learning talent from other firms.

Moreover, Element AI offers to connect companies with other machine learning startups that are developing technology relevant to their project goals. TechCrunch cited Jean-François Gagné, Element AI’s chief executive officer, as saying that a part of the funding from today’s round will used to support the efforts of such startups. The executive plans to make up to 50 investments.

Lastly, Element AI intends to more than double its headcount to 250 by the end of the year. Finding the experts that the startup’s growth drive requires may not be as difficult as in Silicon Valley since Montreal has fewer tech firms competing over AI talent. However, more and more web giants are establishing a presence in the city to support their quest for new talent.

Meanwhile, investors are similarly stepping up their efforts to capitalize on the rise of machine learning. Element AI’s raise comes less than 24 hours after CognitiveScale Inc., a provider of AI-powered analytics software, secured $15 million in a round that included several of the same participants.

Image: Element AI