# Applied Brain Research

> Applied Brain Research (ABR) is a Waterloo, Ontario AI hardware company spun out of the University of Waterloo's Centre for Theoretical Neuroscience. It builds brain-inspired chips and software that run real-time AI - full-vocabulary speech recognition, text-to-speech and sensor processing - directly on edge devices at power levels measured in milliwatts. Its patented state-space models and the Legendre Memory Unit power the TSP1 Time Series Processor, which ABR calls the world's first single-chip solution for full-vocabulary speech recognition, doing the work of cloud voice AI while consuming 10 to 100 times less power.

- **Founded:** 2014
- **Headquarters:** Waterloo, Ontario, Canada
- **Founders:** Chris Eliasmith (Co-Founder & CTO), Kevin Conley (CEO & Co-Founder), Peter Suma (Co-Founder & Co-CEO), Terry Stewart (Co-Founder), Daniel Rasmussen (Co-Founder, Software), Travis DeWolf (Co-Founder, Customer Programs), Trevor Bekolay (Co-Founder, Applications), Xuan Choo (Co-Founder, AI Infrastructure)
- **Team size:** ~14 employees
- **Products:** TSP1 Time Series Processor, State Space Models, Nengo, Developer Kit
- **Notable:** Named a 2018 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer - the only Canadian tech company selected that year., Demonstrated what it calls the world's first single-chip solution for full-vocabulary speech recognition., First company to demonstrate silicon for state-space models (A0 silicon running ASR at ~35mW, ~120ms latency, ~10% word error rate).

## Products & services

- **TSP1 Time Series Processor** — First-generation state-space accelerator chip for real-time time-series inference at the edge. Runs full-vocabulary speech-to-text and text-to-speech under 35mW with sub-35ms latency, holding up to 10M 8-bit or 20M 4-bit parameters on-chip. Includes a 32-bit RISC MCU, state-space processing fabric, and secure non-volatile memory.
- **State Space Models** — Patented neural network models built on the Legendre Memory Unit (LMU) for efficient time-series processing - powering speech-to-text, text-to-speech, speech-to-intent, language translation and biosensing.
- **Nengo** — Open-source neural development environment and compiler for building and deploying brain-inspired neural networks, including on neuromorphic hardware.
- **Developer Kit** — AI chip development kit and developer portal (dev.appliedbrainresearch.com) for building edge AI voice and sensor applications on ABR's hardware.

## Achievements

- Named a 2018 World Economic Forum Technology Pioneer - the only Canadian tech company selected that year.
- Demonstrated what it calls the world's first single-chip solution for full-vocabulary speech recognition.
- First company to demonstrate silicon for state-space models (A0 silicon running ASR at ~35mW, ~120ms latency, ~10% word error rate).
- Co-invented the Neural Engineering Framework, the Semantic Pointer Architecture and the Nengo neural compiler.
- Patented the Legendre Memory Unit, setting new benchmark records for time-series processing.
- Closed an oversubscribed seed round led by Two Small Fish Ventures in January 2026.

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Closed an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Two Small Fish Ventures to accelerate commercialization of the TSP1 edge AI voice chip.
- **2025-11** — Appointed Eva Lau, co-founder of Two Small Fish Ventures, to its board of directors.
- **2024-09** — Announced what it describes as the world's first single-chip solution for full-vocabulary speech recognition.
- **2025-10** — Published new industry-application materials for AR/VR, wearables, smart home and robotics use cases.

## Links

- Website: https://appliedbrainresearch.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/applied-brain-research
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/abr_inc
- GitHub: https://github.com/abr

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/applied-brain-research
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-07