Wrnch wriggles funding from Nikon

Wrnch, a Canada-based developer of deep learning-powered tools partly based on Concordia University technology, has received $7.5m in funding from camera and imaging technology developer Nikon.
Founded in 2014, Wrnch provides software development kits and other tools that allow computer applications to exploit computer vision and machine learning to evaluate human movement and activity.
The company has also partnered unspecified entertainment and communications companies to deliver advanced technologies for estimating the pose of human beings.
Nikon believes its investment will help it expand its imaging operations into business-to-business markets, complementing its existing business-to-consumer product lines.
The firm will integrate Wrnch’s pose estimation technology with its imaging applications and those of its subsidiary Mark Roberts Motion Control, with the aim of enhancing the automated shooting functionality of products such as sport-focused cameras.
Wrnch previously attracted $1.8m in a 2016 series A round backed by Aligo Innovation, a commercialisation firm partnering several Quebec-based universities including Concordia, and TandemLaunch Ventures, a seed fund aligned with academic invention-focused accelerator TandemLaunch.
Venture capital firm Radical Ventures led the round, which also featured Gr0k Technologies, a commercialisation firm founded by Wrnch CEO Paul Kruszewski.