Axl Venture Studio: Launching AI Companies

Tovi Grossman, Daniel Wigdor, and David Sharma founded Axl with the goal of launching 50 artificial-intelligence companies over the next five years. Daniel Wigdor is an example of the problem he wants to address. After completing his computer-science PhD at the University of Toronto, he went to work for Microsoft Corp. in the United States. He came back to Canada and started a company focused on human-computer interaction, which he then sold to Meta Platforms Inc.

Mr. Wigdor now aims to launch more Canadian technology companies and ensure that Canada benefits economically from publicly funded university research, giving entrepreneurs a reason to remain in the country. He believes Canada has been underperforming in leveraging its innovation. He co-founded Axl to address this, aiming to launch 50 artificial-intelligence companies in five years. Mr. Wigdor anticipates that at least half will fail in the first six months. Axl will identify business problems and task entrepreneurs with solving them using AI, drawing on academic research. Axl has recently secured a $15-million investment fund, with Mr. Wigdor as the primary investor.

Mr. Wigdor, a computer-science professor at the University of Toronto, has partnered with Tovi Grossman, Ray Sharma, and David Sharma to create Axl. Investors include Rob McEwen and David Martin. Axl was inspired by Mr. Wigdor’s experience watching Steve Jobs introduce the iPhone in 2007, which used a touch-screen interface. Mr. Wigdor had worked on similar technology at U of T. He noted that foundational technologies invented in Canada often do not benefit Canada economically. Emeritus U of T professor Geoffrey Hinton sold his company to Google, and former students left Toronto to co-found OpenAI and join xAI.

Axl is located at the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus in Toronto, near the Vector Institute, providing access to AI and computer-science talent. Co-founder David Sharma aims to establish Toronto as a hub for AI development by creating these 50 companies. Mr. Wigdor believes that Canada's opportunity lies in developing AI applications rather than focusing on infrastructure or large language models.

He compares the current state of AI to a Charlie Chaplin movie, and he wants to create Citizen Kane. Axl is working on an AI agent for coding education called CodeAid, where students teach the AI agent to fill in its knowledge gaps. Axl will identify concepts from the research community and is partnering with Canadian corporations to find AI applications. Dillon Consulting is a partner, and Axl has arrangements in the legal and accounting fields. Mr. Wigdor views acquisitions by foreign tech giants as a necessary step for entrepreneurs and researchers to gain experience and invest back into the Canadian tech ecosystem, describing it as his “retirement project.”