The Rise of the Venture Scientist

Inside Amiral’s October 15 event at Mila

On October 15, Amiral Ventures brought together founders, researchers, and investors at Mila for The Rise of the Venture Scientist—an evening dedicated to a simple but powerful idea: the next generation of enduring companies will be built at the intersection of deep science and entrepreneurship.

Across three distinct conversations—a founder-led AI panel, a VC panel, and a keynote fireside chat with Joëlle Pineau—the message was clear: Canada, and Montréal in particular, has all the ingredients to turn world-class research into global category-defining companies

AI Founder Panel: From Research to Real-World Impact

The founder panel featured operators who have repeatedly crossed the bridge from lab to market, including Paul Kruszewski (WRNCH / Hinge Health), Jean-Simon De Venne (BrainBox AI), and Jacomo Corbo (PhysicsX), moderated by Marc Bellemare (Reliant).

A common theme emerged: papers don’t change the world, products do. While scientific excellence is the starting point, real impact requires shipping, iterating, and confronting messy reality. The founders shared candid stories of early failures, broken systems, destroyed prototypes, and uncomfortable pivots, all part of translating theory into scalable products.

Several key lessons stood out:

• Product-market fit cannot be forced; when it clicks, momentum becomes unmistakable.

• Speed matters: today’s AI startups can be built with small teams, but execution windows are short.

• The real moat is not IP alone, but deep domain understanding combined with relentless execution.

For researchers in the room, the takeaway was empowering: the skills required to do great science, hypothesis testing, fast iteration, intellectual rigour are the same ones needed to build great companies.

VC Panel: Capital Is Here, and It’s Ready to Work

The VC panel brought together leaders from Inovia Capital, Radical Ventures, and BDC Capital to address a persistent myth: that Canada lacks the capital to back ambitious AI companies.

The reality presented was the opposite. AI now represents a significant share of venture investment in Canada, with large, globally competitive funds actively deploying capital across stages, from pre-seed to growth. More importantly, investors emphasized that Canada’s AI advantage is structural, rooted in institutions like Mila and a dense concentration of technical talent.

Key messages from the panel:

• There is ample capital in Canada for AI founders who are building real businesses.

• Canadian and U.S. investors are complementary, not adversarial—global companies benefit from both.

• Founders should think intentionally about where they incorporate and how they anchor value creation in Canada.

For aspiring founders, the guidance was clear: don’t self-select out—engage early, build relationships locally, and think globally from day one.

Keynote with Joëlle Pineau: Owning the Full Arc of Impact

The evening culminated in a fireside chat with Joëlle Pineau, offering a powerful reframing of what it means to be a scientist today.

She challenged the traditional caricature of researchers as paper-producers, arguing instead for a broader ambition: scientists should feel empowered to take their work all the way into the world. Research is not the end goal—it is the foundation upon which real systems, products, and institutions can be built.

For students and early-career researchers, her message resonated deeply: you don’t need to wait for permission to create your ideal job or your ideal company. The path of the venture scientist is about agency, responsibility, and embracing impact at scale.

Amiral’s Commitment to Mila and the Canadian AI Community

At Amiral Ventures, this event reflects a long-term commitment. Mila is not just a venue—it is a cornerstone of Canada’s AI ecosystem and a global reference point for responsible, world-class research.

Amiral is proud to support Mila and the broader Canadian AI community by:

• Backing founders who emerge from deep technical roots

• Bridging research and entrepreneurship through capital, networks, and operational support

• Helping ensure that globally significant AI companies are built—and stay anchored—in Canada

The rise of the venture scientist is not a trend. It is a generational shift. And Canada is uniquely positioned to lead it.