Collision 2019 Recap — Through Senso.ai’s Perspective
Post By: Andy Tran, Product Manager at Senso
It’s been two weeks since #CollisionConf 2019! Inspired after an amazing event, we’ve prepared a recap of the event from our perspective. As a growing leader in the Fintech AI space, attending Collision was extremely valuable, and we will highlight some of our main takeaways below:
Collision coming to Toronto at the right time
We joined thousands of companies and investors at the Collision Conference in Toronto, Canada. As Chris Albinson, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of our main investor, Breakaway Growth mentioned, “Silicon Valley is now expensive and rigid and dominated by large, vertically integrated, and secretive companies like Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook.” Toronto, now considered the new Silicon Valley, with over 82,100 jobs created in the tech industry between 2012 and 2017, proved to be an ideal location for Collision, as there were over 25,000 attendees from over 125 countries.
By having both a booth at Collision along with multiple 1:1 meetings with potential investors and partners, it created the perfect environment to receive validation on our product. We also announced our $1.5 million dollar seed round led by BreakawayGrowth, NEXT Canada, and TechStars.
The Mix between Emerging and Established Companies
Senso’s Co-Founder and CEO, Saroop Bharwani, participated in a panel discussion alongside Neil McLaughlin, Head of Personal and Commercial Banking at RBC; Jacqui Allard, EVP of Personal Finance at RBC and Board Member at NEXT Canada; and Chris Albinson, Co-Founder of The C100 and, his newest fund, BreakawayGrowth Fund. The four discussed how savvy corporates have discovered the benefits of working closely with leading accelerators and investors to help bridge the gap and identify innovative solutions earlier. Titled “The Lion and the Mouse”, this was the story of the relationship between Senso.ai and RBC, one of the largest banks in Canada.
Some of the insights that arose from the panel discussion included Jacqui Allard’s remark on how “RBC knows Canada can’t sit on the sidelines when it comes to investing in AI.” In addition to this, Neil McLaughlin commented on how “our market is going through unbelievable change. We need innovation to maintain our lead.”
Ideas, Inspiration and Networking Opportunities
There were numerous inspiring panels, ranging from machine learning to data and privacy. Whether you were interested in the future of design, fintech, or learning about the application of technology throughout different markets, there was a presentation available to drive inspiration and conversations with like-minded individuals.
Concluding Thoughts
There’s no doubt that building a Fintech AI company in Toronto couldn’t have come at a better time. We‘re also amazed to see so many fellow companies in the Toronto ecosystem doing innovative things and supporting each other. Stay tuned for how Senso is forging partnerships with others to build the world’s most robust vertical-specific data infrastructure to fuel AI product innovation within the financial services industry.
Connect With Senso.ai
Want to learn more about us? Come visit our website at www.senso.ai or send us a message at hello@senso.ai to learn more about how we are transforming the financial services industry.
