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Canadian AI Startup Wins VivaTech With Cancer Detection Tech
Montreal's Reveal Life Science won the OVHcloud Startup Challenge at VivaTech. Its AI reads tissue in seconds to detect cancer, using Raman spectroscopy and data hosted by fellow Canadian firm Qohash.
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A Montreal-based medical AI company took the top prize at one of Europe's largest tech conferences this week, beating out dozens of international startups.
Reveal Life Science won the OVHcloud Startup Challenge at VivaTech in Paris on Thursday. The company's technology uses Raman spectroscopy, a chemical analysis technique, to read tissue samples in seconds and determine whether they are healthy or cancerous. Reveal says its AI platform holds the world's largest datasets of molecular data.
The startup's data infrastructure runs through another Canadian company, Qohash. "Control of sensitive data is a strategic advantage," Qohash founder and CEO Jean Le Bouthillier said in a statement. "Qohash ensures that the most critical medical data never leaves the control of those who hold it."
Reveal is working toward a goal that has eluded surgical oncology: ensuring cancerous tumours are fully removed during surgery, with no residual cells that could cause regrowth. The company says its technology has been validated across more than 700 surgeries and 20,000 intraoperative measurements. On brain tumours, it is currently 93 to 97 percent accurate, short of its stated target of zero margin of error.
Earlier this month, Reveal and surgical innovation centre IRCAD announced a Canada-France partnership to bring the AI to breast cancer surgery. The company has not received clearance for commercial sale but has obtained an FDA Breakthrough Device designation, a status that typically accelerates the regulatory review process for U.S. sales.
Federal AI supercluster Scale AI is leading the Canadian delegation to VivaTech, giving the country a platform to showcase its AI startups to an international audience. The trip coincides with the federal government's plan to lead an alliance of aligned democracies on AI, which it outlined in its national AI strategy. BetaKit reported this week that many AI experts support a middle-power coalition outside the U.S. and China to shape AI guardrails.