Client Spotlight: Whale Seeker
When we met the CEO of Whale Seeker, a Montreal-based startup that leverages AI to simplify whale monitoring, we were in awe of her and the passion she exuded when she talked about her company. You can only imagine how thrilled we were when she asked if Probity could help take her company to the next level. The thrill was subsequently followed by slight panic, “AI-powered whale-detection technology” were terms we weren’t necessarily familiar with.
But we got to work, and the more we learned about Whale Seeker the more Emily’s passion transferred over. Whale Seeker is living proof that it is possible to be for-profit and for-good, and as such, it was a big inspiration for focusing Probity’s mission on impact companies.
Here are just a few reasons why, at Probity, we love working with Whale Seeker.
It’s a female-led AI company.
As of June 2021, only 8.1% of Fortune 500 CEO spots were occupied by women leaders. This statistic made the news for being an all-time record for the highest number of women in leadership positions. It’s no secret that despite advancements over the past few years, the gender disparity at the c-suite level across the world remains, and “wins” like this one distract from the real picture: there has been little progress made toward gender equality since 2015.
When we look at the tech industry the picture is even starker. Only 1 in 10 CEOs of the world’s biggest tech companies are women, and male leaders in the field still earn considerably more than their female counterparts.
We love that Whale Seeker doesn’t just have a female CEO, Emily Charry Tissier, she also happens to be a co-founder. Diversity and inclusion are great for businesses, companies with higher levels of diversity and gender equality have greater returns, and Whale Seeker’s commitment to gender equality (50% of their employees are women as of October 2021) is inspiring and sets the tone for other tech companies.
It has a unique value proposition.
Whale Seeker lives and breathes its purpose: “bridging the divide between profitability and sustainability by making whale detection fast, accurate, and accessible”. For them, for-profit and for-good are not mutually exclusive propositions, and we couldn’t agree more.
One of Whale Seekers’ UPDs is their human capital: biologists, ecologists, data scientists, software developers, and AI specialists - all under the same roof. When you talk to anyone on their team it’s evident that sustainability fuels their work. Bringing this incredible team of in-house experts together is no easy feat, and it’s only made possible by having a strong purpose and conviction in an organization’s ability to make the world a better place.
It was created with sustainability in mind.
Whale Seeker’s founding team set up to build a sustainable company from the beginning. Laying out frameworks that allowed them to grow and scale-up while staying true to their purpose was a top priority.
From a very early stage, they used the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals as a north star to measure their impact and set objectives. They abide by the Montreal Declaration for the responsible development of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and protect their technology from cyberattacks and irresponsible use thanks to their Troj.AI partnership. They are committed to paying their employees a living wage as established by Le Living Wage movement.
Sustainability was integral to their foundation and allows them to have a positive impact on the environment, community, and the economy.
It’s a certified B Corporation®.
Certified B Corporations® are for-profit companies that use the power of business to build a more inclusive and sustainable economy. B Corps™ meet the highest verified standards of social and environmental performance, transparency, and accountability. Unlike traditional companies, B Corps™ are legally required to consider their impact on all stakeholders, not just shareholders.
The first generation of B Corporations® was certified in 2007, and the number of firms earning certification has grown exponentially ever since. Today there are over 4,000 Certified B Corporations® from more than 153 industries and 77 countries. However, less than 1% of globally certified B Corps™ are AI companies.
When they received their certification in September 2021, Whale Seeker made history as the only B Corp™ certified AI company specializing in wildlife services in the world and the only B Corp™ Certified AI company in Quebec, a region known for being the AI hub of Canada. We are honored to be working with an organization that aims to lead the movement towards ethical AI, and is taking concrete steps to achieve it.
It’s forward-looking and innovative.
As creative problem-solving marketers, we thrive on challenges. While we like to always be prepared for client meetings when the founders of Whale Seeker call said meetings it’s hard to know what to prepare for: they keep us on our toes, and we love it.
Being a lean start-up means they get to try new things all the time, and they’re not afraid to do so - pushing the boundaries of tech-for-good is their middle name.
We are incredibly lucky Whale Seeker let us join in on their adventure, and we can’t wait to see where they go next.
