When Albert Mansour stepped onto the stage at the Communitech Fast Track Cities showcase in Kitchener in November, something clicked.

“We’ll always look back and call that an inflection point for our company,” said Mansour, CEO and co-founder of ConeLabs. “I think we realized how much energy is here.”

That November 2024 event — a packed, high-energy showcase at the Kitchener Public Library — brought together 10 startups from across Canada, all pitching solutions focused on helping cities solve municipal challenges, such as transportation innovation, administrative efficiency, tourism management, autonomous technology and the inspection of large sanitary trunk sewer systems. ConeLabs walked away with a $25,000 prize for best pitch and the Audience Choice Award.

More importantly, the startup walked away with momentum.

The showcase, part of the Communitech Fast Track Cities initiative in collaboration with the City of Kitchener and the Municipal Innovation Council and its member municipalities of Bruce County, led to ConeLabs being one of three companies selected to participate in the Pitch Kitchener program. Through this pilot initiative, the company is now working with the city on inspections of local bridges and roadways, supported by $100,000 in pilot funding.

“Pitch Kitchener was a turning point,” said Mansour. “It opened the door to government work that we always thought would be slower to get. We’re now working with municipalities beyond Kitchener to inspect bridges and government-managed assets in multiple provinces.”

Addressing a critical need

ConeLabs specializes in improving the visual inspection of infrastructure. Its technology captures images of structures like bridges and buildings, converts them into 3D models, and uses artificial intelligence (AI) to detect, identify and categorize defects that inspectors typically look for.

“There’s a shortage of qualified inspectors right now,” said Mansour. “At the same time, our infrastructure is aging across North America. We have to monitor it more closely. Technology is the bridge that needs to be adopted to keep up with the problem. Otherwise, we’ll keep seeing structures fail.”

Several recent incidents highlight this urgency. In August 2024, the Rainy River Rail Lift Bridge near Fort Frances, Ontario, collapsed. South of the border, the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore collapsed in March 2024 after being struck by a cargo ship. Locally, Elizabeth Ziegler Public School in Waterloo was closed after a large concrete slab fell from its facade in early 2025, which prompted serious safety concerns. An interim report deemed the building unsafe and led to its closure through at least the 2025–26 school year.

“If a structure is properly inspected, there should never be a structural failure,” said Mansour. “So if there is one, it was missed. That means there wasn’t enough time or resources, or it wasn’t inspected early enough.”

Building bridges

ConeLabs is currently focusing its work on bridge inspections. One of its flagship projects is the Blue Water Bridge near Sarnia, Ontario, which is part of an initiative in connection with the Ontario Centre of Innovation (OCI).

The company’s approach allows for inspections without shutting down roads and disrupting traffic. Using drones to capture images, the process is also non-intrusive. 

“We’re not a drone company. The drones are just a tool to collect data,” said Mansour. “The real innovation is in how we process and analyze that data.”

Finding their footing in Waterloo Region

ConeLabs was founded by a group of engineers who met in Toronto and decided to set up their address in Kitchener.

“We chose this region last February, moved here, and didn’t do anything beyond physically being here,” said Mansour. “After Communitech Fast Track Cities, we realized what being in the ecosystem means. We immediately felt the supercharge of the ecosystem.”

“As soon as we read the call for solutions for Fast Track Cities, we were like, this is us,” said Mansour. “It was remarkable how one of the challenges was such a good fit for us. We built ConeLabs with governments in mind. The chance to go directly to government decision-makers through this program was perfect for us.”

The road ahead

ConeLabs plans to expand its technology to other types of infrastructure, including buildings and roadways. For now, bridges are the priority.

"The technology can be applied to most structures," Mansour said. "Bridges are our focus for the next three months. Down the road, it can be applied to buildings and other infrastructure."

Reflecting on his team’s journey, Mansour offers advice to other founders and their teams.

"Tap into the ecosystem that exists," he said. "There’s a strong recognition around the world of the strength of Waterloo Region’s startup ecosystem. A lot of notable people or grads from this region have done amazing things around the world. So we feel like talking about this community brings some strong clout."

For more information about ConeLabs, visit conelabs.ai.

For more information about Communitech Fast Track Cities, visit communitech.ca.