Clearpath is in the driver’s seat

It all began as a passion for robotics for four mechatronics engineering students at the University of Waterloo. Now Matt Rendall and his partners, Bryan Webb and Ryan Gariepy, have helped Canada gain a reputation for world class technology.

Their business, Clearpath Robotics Inc., is a successful unmanned robotics company that grew out of the need for autonomous and affordable robotic solutions. The founders got things off the ground by targeting the education and research market, but it was FedDev Ontario funding through Investing in Business Innovation that helped Clearpath expand into the industrial market with the launch of their newest division, OTTO Motors.

• Recognized as one of Canada’s Top Small &Medium Employers by Mediacorp Canada Inc.
• Clearpath partners with GE Ventures
• 2013 Silver Edison Award winner for Research and Collaborative Tools

“FedDev Ontario funding was used to accelerate the development and commercialization of our remote software management system for self-driving vehicles and to develop prototypes for client testing and evaluation,” says Rendall, who is the company’s CEO.

OTTO 1500, the first self-driving vehicle for manufacturing centres, propelled the company into serving the industrial sector with a product that can not only handle heavy loads (1500 kgs) but can also navigate on its own, using situational awareness sensors and proprietary software. In April 2016, OTTO Motors released its second self-driving vehicle, the OTTO 100, made for light-load material transport. See for yourself how OTTO is working for industry.

Today, Clearpath has become a leader in the unmanned vehicle robotics industry for research and development with such prominent clients as the Canadian Space Agency, the Department of National Defence, MIT and Carnegie Mellon University. Meanwhile, its industrial division OTTO Motors is seeing rapid adoption of its solutions from clients spanning GE and John Deere.

Based in Waterloo Region, Clearpath maintains close ties with both local universities, while also supporting the Accelerator Centre Waterloo with mentorship services and entrepreneurial insight—a program that offered them immense support in their initial year. Since their start, Clearpath has created more than 100 full time jobs across Canada in the technology sector, and exports to over 40 countries worldwide, which is a major advantage for the Canadian economy.