On the Rise with DaoAI
The VentureLabs team caught up with Xiaochuan Chen, CTO and co-founder of Perago company DaoAI.
DaoAI is shaping the future of visual AI in industrial automation by bringing cutting-edge AI and computer vision solutions to modern manufacturing.
Their solutions empower businesses to enhance product quality, detect and prevent manufacturing defects, optimize production costs, and deliver products that consistently surpass customer quality expectations.
DaoAI developed an automatic inspection system that helps check for defects in manufactured products, as well as an AI training platform that allows their customers to train customized AI models for their specific business needs.
Other than manufacturing inspection, they also help with lab automations. Typically done for pharmaceutical, biometrics, or chemics industries, DaoAI helps to analyze images of labs with their AI models.
Chen did his graduate studies at Simon Fraser University, completing his Masters of Computer Science in the field of computer vision AI. After graduation, he wanted to utilize what he learned from SFU.
After lots of brainstorming and industry research, Chen and his co-founder saw an opportunity in the manufacturing industry. In this industry, there are many manual labourers checking for defective products. Chen noted, “Just imagine you're a worker, and you stay in the factory checking products one by one for the whole day. It's a very challenging process for a human being.” This is where the DaoAI team found the gap, utilizing AI and vision to automate this process.
DaoAI was founded back in 2018, and has been with SFU VentureLabs since 2019.
Prior to this Chen had graduated from SFU and studied at UBC, and has now hired many co-op students and other graduates from these schools to join the DaoAI team. Some of the co-op students who worked for him went on to work at places like Apple and Tesla. “We grow with the students from BC,” said Chen.
They also often collaborate with professors from both UBC and SFU, as they are working in the AI field and rely on much of the talent in BC - particularly the professors. The professors have frontier research that DaoAI helps bring to industry.
DaoAI has also been working with the BC Trade Commissioners who help them navigate foreign markets like Japan and Germany. In March 2025, DaoAI joined a group of Canadian companies that went to the UK and Germany, facilitated by the BC Trade Commissioners, promoting foreign business investments in Canada.
DaoAI is currently in an expansion stage, with products that are already validated in many industries.
“When I think of Perago, to me it’s like an all-in-one program,” noted Chen. Deeptech companies have different needs compared to typical startups. Sometimes they may need support in marketing, sales strategy planning, hiring talent, or even connecting with investors or professors. Chen said about the Perago program, “It's like an all-in-one place that gives us access to everything we need.”
Chen’s favourite thing about the VentureLabs office is the view of the Vancouver Harbour. “We see the ocean view everyday, especially when you’re working hard and you’re tired, I always like to see the view outside, ” said Chen.
He also notes that it is very convenient to be right at Waterfront Station. Having employees from Richmond, North Vancouver, and Burnaby, the VentureLabs office is a central location for everyone.
Chen believes that VentureLabs and the Perago program provide many benefits for startups. He notes, “As a startup, I don't know what I don't know. Perago has mentors who help us to know what we need, and what direction we should go.”
Learn more about DaoAI here: https://daoai.com/
