Rob Imbeault, the co-founder of SaaS unicorn Assent, has launched a new AI infrastructure startup, Backboard.io, to address memory persistence in large language models. The Ottawa-based company has secured a substantial pre-seed funding round from prominent investors to solve this critical industry challenge. This new venture is positioned to provide the foundational technology for more intelligent and context-aware AI systems.
Addressing AI's 'Amnesia' Problem
While generative AI models possess remarkable capabilities, they suffer from a fundamental flaw often described as amnesia. These systems are inherently stateless, meaning they lose context once an interaction or session concludes. This limitation forces users to repeat information and prevents the AI from building a cumulative understanding over time.
This memory deficit makes AI tools feel shallow and hinders their application in complex, multi-step workflows. Developers currently rely on cumbersome and fragile workarounds to maintain state across different interactions. Backboard.io was founded to directly address this bottleneck by providing a robust and scalable solution for persistent AI memory.
A Portable Memory Layer for AI
Backboard.io is developing a unified, portable memory layer that functions as a persistent state system for artificial intelligence. This technology allows users to package their interaction history and apply this "memory" across more than 2,000 different LLMs. This approach empowers developers by preventing vendor lock-in and offering unprecedented flexibility in model orchestration.
The platform has already demonstrated superior performance, achieving a 90.1% accuracy rate on the Long Conversational Memory (LoCoMo) benchmark, ranking it number one. This memory-native infrastructure moves beyond simple chat history to retain high-fidelity context. It is essential for building sophisticated enterprise assistants, autonomous agents, and other long-running AI applications that improve with use.
Experienced Leadership and Investor Confidence
The venture is led by Rob Imbeault, whose experience scaling Assent to a valuation of over $1.4 billion lends significant credibility to the project. Imbeault believes that true enterprise value is created in foundational, "unsexy" infrastructure, a philosophy he is now applying to the AI stack. His return to an operational role signals a strong belief in the market opportunity.
This vision has attracted a significant pre-seed investment co-led by Mistral Venture Partners and N49P, with participation from Garage Capital and DevCap. Raif Barbaros, a partner at Mistral, called backing Imbeault an "easy decision," highlighting that Backboard is building foundational infrastructure, not just another AI application wrapper. The undisclosed funding amount is described as one of Canada's largest pre-seed rounds in recent years.
Building a Future in Ottawa
Imbeault plans to allocate 40 percent of the new capital toward core product development, with the remainder supporting go-to-market, infrastructure, and customer success initiatives. The company is headquartered in Ottawa and currently consists of a four-person team. There are immediate plans to more than double its size, reinforcing its commitment to the local tech ecosystem.
The decision to build in Ottawa marks a shift for Imbeault, who had previously considered relocating to the United States. He cited family priorities as the primary reason for staying in Canada, expressing a desire for his daughters to see those values guide his professional decisions. This commitment solidifies Backboard's roots within the nation's growing AI landscape.
With a seasoned founder at the helm, substantial financial backing, and a clear mission to solve a core AI limitation, Backboard.io is strongly positioned. The company's focus on creating a persistent, portable memory layer addresses a critical need for developing more sophisticated and reliable AI systems. As the industry moves toward more complex applications, Backboard’s foundational technology could become an indispensable component of the global AI infrastructure.