Ontopical, a data and intelligence platform that assists businesses in discovering and winning government contracts, has secured $3.3 million in a Seed Extension round. The round was co-led by Rhino Ventures and Graphite Ventures, with support from Accelerate Fund III and a grant from Alberta Innovates. To date, Ontopical has raised over $6 million in funding.
The platform leverages artificial intelligence (AI) to provide equitable access to government contract opportunities for qualified businesses. It analyzes public sector data to detect early signals about upcoming contracts and policy updates, enabling businesses to efficiently compete for government work.
Ontopical plans to use the funding to further develop its AI-driven intelligence platform and expand its presence across North America. The company also intends to triple its team over the next two years, hiring data engineers, data scientists, AI/ML specialists, and new members for its sales and marketing teams, with most of the roles based in Calgary.
Clayton Feick, CEO of Ontopical, highlighted the significance of the funding for the company’s mission to improve the efficiency of public sector markets for private sector clients. The platform empowers businesses of all sizes to discover and compete for government contracts by mining various public sector data sources.
Ontopical’s platform is designed to modernize the procurement process for municipal governments, making it more accessible and scalable for businesses while improving outcomes for local government constituents. The platform’s customers include large telecom companies, architectural, engineering, and construction firms, energy and utilities providers, health services, software, IoT, and technology companies.
Dave Hogarth, Partner at Rhino Ventures, emphasized how Ontopical’s platform expands opportunities for the best government service providers to bid on a wider range of projects, improving outcomes for both businesses and local governments.
Craig Leonard, General Partner with Graphite Ventures, praised Ontopical’s data-focused approach to solving procurement challenges in both the public and private sectors, highlighting the meaningful use of AI in their platform and the company’s emergence from the Alberta ecosystem.