A relatively new, Steinbach-based technology company that is making a splash.
Mode 40 has been selected to work on an international innovation project called the Eureka Program.
Cameron Bergen and Matt Kehler both spent many years working for HyLife before they founded Mode 40 in 2020.
“It was really born out of something that my co-founder and I felt was really missing over the last 10 or 15 years, trying to find a service provider who can deliver on a broad base of technological needs. Technology changes quickly and what we found is that it was really challenging to find somebody who was keeping up with that pace.”
Bergen says they provide services that allow companies to collect data and process that data to improve their businesses. He notes this could help with anything from risk management, to labour optimization.
Earlier this year, Bergen says they won a challenge put out by Innovation Solutions Canada.
“This challenge was about how to help the meat industry. It was a very broad question. We came back and said ‘we think we can develop an artificial intelligence project that would help eliminate the defects caused by the cooling cycle of meat throughout the meat processing.’ This is something we have deep experience in and the team’s work was rewarded.”
That challenge garnered Mode 40 a $150,000 prize.
More recently. Bergen says Mode 40 has been selected to work on the largest international consortium of innovation in the world. He notes the Eureka Program is a project headed by Phillips Global and the goal is to use artificial intelligence to solve real-world problems.
“One example is automating the identification of problems with X-rays, so eliminating manual X-Ray review and using artificial intelligence in a practical way in hospitals, that is just one example of the use. We were selected out of everyone in the country to represent Canada in this.”
In total, Bergen says there are 26 companies and universities from six countries working on the Eureka Program. He notes he is more than excited for Mode 40 to represent Canada from right here in southeastern Manitoba.
“I am born and raised in Steinbach so I have come to appreciate the level of innovation that has always happened here. I will call it the farmer mentality, figuring out how to make it work. I have always known this area to be that but I haven’t maybe known this area to be celebrated for how good we are at innovation on a larger scale.”
What started out as a two-person company has since grown to 40 people with a huge variety of experience. Bergen says their headquarters are in Steinbach but they have teams in the United States, Vancouver, and even Ukraine.
Bergen says Mode 40 is working on the customer interface for the Eureka Program such as phone apps, sensors, and custom software.