Press release

$1M Leaders Prize to Be Awarded to Solution Combating “Fake News” Using Artificial Intelligence

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Communitech, in partnership with the Schulich Foundation and Leaders
Fund, revealed the problem statement for the Leaders Prize Competition
Wednesday. This first-of-its-kind competition in Canada will award $1
million to the winning team using artificial intelligence (AI) to solve
a global problem that is undermining our democracies: fake news and the
spread of misinformation.

Teams across Canada are invited to create solutions to automatically
verify a series of claims, flag whether they are true, partly true, or
false and provide evidence to support their determination. The prize
will ultimately be awarded to the most effective and efficient AI based
fact-checking solution.

“This competition will inspire the creation of breakthrough solutions
that inform our citizens if the online content they consume is accurate,
before and as they read it,” said David Stein, Co-Founder and Managing
Partner, Leaders Fund. “It is our goal that the solutions developed
through this competition provide the foundation for new companies and
solutions that have a distinctive edge and global applicability.”

Individuals or groups can register at www.leadersprize.ca,
provided they reside in Canada. Applicants will have one year to solve
the Leaders Prize, with the winner announced and awarded in June 2020 in
Waterloo Region.

“Canada is leading the way in artificial intelligence,” said Iain
Klugman, CEO, Communitech. “The Leaders Prize is an opportunity to focus
talented Canadians on solving this global problem in a meaningful way.”

Further competition details, rules and regulations are outlined on the
website.

About Communitech

Communitech was founded in 1997 by a group of entrepreneurs committed to
making Waterloo Region a global innovation leader. At the time it was
crazy talk, but somehow this community managed to pull it off. Today,
Communitech is a public-private innovation hub that supports a community
of more than 1400 companies — from startups to scale-ups to large global
players.

Communitech is a member of the Ontario Network of Entrepreneurs and
helps tech companies start, grow and succeed in three distinct ways.

● Communitech is a place – the center of gravity for entrepreneurs and
innovators. A clubhouse for building cool tech and great companies.

● Communitech delivers programs – helping companies at all stages with
access to capital, customers and talent. We are here to help them grow
and innovate.

● Communitech partners in building a world-leading ecosystem – making
sure we have all the ingredients (and the brand) to go from a small
startup to a global giant.

About Schulich Foundation

Founded by leading businessman and philanthropist Seymour Schulich, The
Schulich Foundation is one of Canada’s largest foundations. They have
donated over $350 million, with a focus on scholarships, education, and
health care centers. The Schulich Foundation is investing heavily to
create the next generation of technology leaders.

About Leaders Fund

Leaders Fund is a leading venture capital firm investing in high growth
enterprise software companies. Their $100 million, Fund I has made
investments in Canada, USA, and Israel. They use their experience
successfully building and exiting nine software companies to help
entrepreneurs build world class enterprises.