Imagine a city where every decision, from traffic flow to public safety, is powered by precise, real-time insights. That’s the vision driving LIVESENS, an innovative urban data company founded in 2024 by three ambitious engineers: Ali Hamdy, Chief Executive Officer, Jase Jin, Chief Operations Officer, and Eddy Su, Chief Technology Officer. They saw a gap and challenged the limitations of urban data capturing and data use.
Based in Burlington, Ontario, LIVESENS is a combination of the words ‘Live’ and ‘Census’, capturing the core mission of the start-up. It captures live data of the local environment and offers organizations a pool of information that can be used to make critical business decisions — making it an ‘oil rig for urban data.’
Hamdy’s “aha!” moment struck on a drive to Toronto, when he saw a billboard and wondered, “Is anyone truly measuring how people move and engage in real time?” That seed grew into LIVESENS, a platform to sense, digitize, and unlock the flow of physical environments. What originally started as a marketing agency later pivoted to focus on urban data collection to build smarter and more efficient cities.
So, how does the technology work? A modular sensor suite is mounted on fleet and transit vehicles, turning ordinary vehicles into roaming satellites for the street. These units capture and process real-time data on environmental metrics, traffic patterns, and foot traffic. This continuous stream of information is then used to create digital twins, providing insights that can be leveraged by different organizations, including commercial real estate, logistics, infrastructure, and urban planning.
Despite their technical background, the team had to learn how to run a tech start-up. “We really didn’t know what we were doing, and that’s where joining Innovation Factory helped us a lot,” shares Hamdy. Through their involvement, Hamdy and his team participated in Innovation Factory’s New Venture Pitch Challenge, where they had the chance to refine their pitch through weeks of training and feedback from experts.
The LIVESENS team also leveraged the expertise of advisors to fine-tune processes like finances, business strategy, and more. While working one-on-one with their Innovation Advisor, the team was asked an important question: “Have you thought about the transportation sector applications?” LIVESENS then pivoted and got involved with the Centre for Integrated Transportation and Mobility (CITM) ecosystem.
Powered by the Ontario Vehicle Innovation Network (OVIN), CITM is an accelerator program helping innovators with smart, connected, and electrified transportation and infrastructure solutions to build viable and successful businesses. CITM’s hands-on support helped LIVESENS not just with their product, but with building the business.
“The connections were valuable, and we’ve used so many resources, like webinars, events, and conferences, that CITM and other ecosystem members offer,” Hamdy explains. “I really appreciate how actively the team is involved in your growth and progress.”
CITM facilitated crucial introductions to industry leaders and provided pathways for real-world impact. LIVESENS is engaged in discussions with McMaster University for a campus-wide deployment, looking to build a live digital twin for risk prevention and smart maintenance.
The team is in conversation with the City of Hamilton to revitalize its downtown, with early pilot results detecting potholes and urban decay. The company is also having discussions with industry leaders like Union Pacific Railroad and Quarterhill to potentially deploy their solutions on shipping containers and rail yards. And that’s not all, the LIVESENS team has also received a $40,000 grant to develop its visual recognition privacy algorithms with capabilities to blur faces and license plates, maintaining anonymity. LIVESENS has also leveraged valuable resources like the IP Assist Program through Innovation Factory to protect its intellectual property, a critical step for any tech start-up.
The team currently has a functional prototype and has secured over $200,000 in non-dilutive funding from various sources, including NRC-IRAP, OVIN, and the Futurpreneur program. “We are now focused on fusing satellite imagery, open municipal data, and real-time feeds from Remora units to build the most granular urban intelligence platform on the market,” shares Hamdy.
As their vision expands, so does their team, welcoming new interns and full-time employees. The start-up’s goal is to be a provider of urban data, helping cities optimize traffic flow, improve pedestrian safety, monitor environmental conditions, and make data-driven decisions that enhance urban living. With its data collection approach and the support of the ecosystem, LIVESENS is positioned to contribute to the future of integrated transportation and urban planning.
Want to learn more about how CITM can support your transportation or mobility start-up? Explore our programs and connect with our team today!