St. John’s-based Trophi.ai has received $548,000 of funding from the Newfoundland and Labrador government to help de-risk commercialization of its artificial intelligence-based coaching software for auto-racing simulators and other video games.

The company also recently received $200,000 from NRC-IRAP and in May it closed a $3.3 million seed round led by Halifax venture capital fund Build Ventures. The Newfoundland government funding is part of a program that offers to pay for up to half the cost of efforts to reduce the financial or technological risks involved in bringing new technologies to market.

Co-founded by technology sector veteran Mike Winter and former race car driver Scott Mansell, trophi.ai’s software offers players of racing sims like Assetto Corsa Competizione and F1 2023 feedback about how to improve their performance. The AI could also be adapted to provide similar feedback in real-world applications based on video footage and other data, such as for professional athletes.

“We're proud to continue to hire locally and help bring AI and innovation to the province,” said Winter on social media.

When it raised capital in May, Trophi.ai had six employees and said the money would enable it to hire 10 to 15 more.