Oct. 20, 2022
Seneca News
Seneca partners with fintech startup to explore AI possibilities in financial trading
Applied research with Featuremine Corp. supported by $25,000 federal grant
Max Trokhimtchouk has always been fascinated by math and technology.
The entrepreneur is hoping that an idea combining the two will lead to more affordable artificial intelligence (AI) for financial trading.
The founder and CEO of the Toronto-based fintech startup Featuremine Corp. has teamed with Seneca Innovation on an applied research project to test a new machine learning concept.
Mr. Trokhimtchouk’s goal is to commercialize a way to train AI that can be used widely by quantitative traders in all tax brackets to counter the expensive, sophisticated platforms used by major trading firms and hedge fund managers.
“We are trying to develop technology to trade effectively and make it accessible to a wider audience,” said Mr. Trokhimtchouk, who has a background in finance and quantitative analysis.
Seneca has provided Mr. Trokhimtchouk faculty expertise and access to complex computing infrastructure from the School of Information Technology Administration & Security. Together, they have taken the first steps to trial Featuremine’s deep learning product for financial markets.
Professor Mark Shtern was the faculty lead on this project, which received a $25,000 grant from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).
Joining him were research assistants Krupesh Patel, a graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Technology - Informatics and Security degree program, and Alex Quan, a student in the Computer Programing & Analysis advanced diploma program.
The Seneca team supported AI development, tool installation and the development of training documents.
Their initial research yielded promising results, demonstrating that, in small samples, the Deep Learning product could open new doors in AI for financial trading. Mr. Trokhimtchouk believes it could also be used to support complex decision-making in fields such as health care and traffic control.
“Seneca confirmed that what our company invented actually works,” Mr. Trokhimtchouk said. “I was impressed with the collaboration and overall project management, and I would like to do more research to develop this idea in the future.”