Montreal’s Stradigi AI has closed $53 million in Series A funding to evolve its AI platform and expand its reach.

Basil Bouraropoulos, CEO and co-founder of Stradigi AI, says the company’s goal is to be one of the top-three AI platforms in North America, and the funding will help with its expansion, with a particular focus on U.S. growth, hiring 50 new staff.

Stradigi AI will also use the funding to “accelerate the evolution” of Kepler, the company’s AI platform that launched in May. Kepler’s capabilities include image and video recognition, natural language understanding, predictive data analysis, customer recommendation tools and strategic decision making, with a focus on making AI solutions that are tailored to business clients. Though Kepler isn’t a “white label” platform, its modules and main algorithms are pre-built and tested, making them flexible and easier to implement for clients.

The funding round was led by Fonds de solidarité FTQ (a development capital fund focused on Quebec-based businesses) and Investissement Québec (a crown corporation that supports economic development in the province). Other investors in this funding round include ad agency Cossette – which started a joint venture with Stradigi AI last year – and hip-hop artist will.i.am, who had previously become an advisor on bias and ethics issues for the company in May.

Louis Duchesne, president of the Quebec and East region at Cossette, said in a release that participating in the funding round was “a natural evolution” of the agency’s partnership with Stradigi.

“We know that the Kepler AI platform meets a real need for businesses looking to further personalize their brand experience by increasing the relevance of their messaging. And, we are committed to supporting its North American launch,” he said. Cossette is currently working with “a small number of clients” to test AI in its work, an agency spokesperson said, but those projects are not yet public and couldn’t go into more detail at this time.

In October, Stradigi AI also established a partnership with KPMG to help its clients develop AI solutions and advise on how to integrate their capabilities into its existing business and strategic plans.