Powering the Future of Cities from the Ground Up

LiveSens, a Hamilton-born startup founded by McMaster alumni, is building the physical data infrastructure that makes smart cities possible. In this Land and Launch feature, founder Ali Hamdy shares how the idea began, why the team chose Hamilton, and how their technology is shaping the future of urban intelligence across Canada.

Jan 28, 2026

Feature Global Hamilton

As part of Invest in Hamilton’s Land and Launch series, we sat down with LiveSens Inc., a growing Hamilton startup focused on building the physical data infrastructure behind smart cities. When the founders talk about what they’re creating, they don’t start with dashboards or algorithms — they start with infrastructure.

LiveSens is a Hamilton-based company founded by McMaster University alumni and focused on one of the most challenging problems in tech: collecting real-world data at scale. In this feature, founder Ali Hamdy shares how the idea began, why the team chose Hamilton, and what they’re building next.

Tell us about your business. How do you describe LiveSens?

We usually describe LiveSens as the urban nervous system.

Everyone’s talking about AI, smart cities, and intelligence, but none of that works without good data. Someone needs to build the physical layer that collects it in the real world. That’s what we’re doing.

We design and deploy advanced sensors that sit at the base layer of urban intelligence. Cities, planners, and intelligence companies use that data for everything from transportation and congestion analysis to environmental monitoring, trend analysis, and future autonomous systems. We’re not trying to build every application — we’re building the infrastructure everyone else builds on.

Think of it like this: if AI is the engine, we’re building the gas stations.

Ali Hamdy

Where did the idea for LiveSens come from?

It started with curiosity.

I met my co-founders while studying engineering at McMaster and stayed close friends for years. After school, we all ended up in solid corporate jobs — IBM, TD, Telus — but eventually we hopped on a call and asked ourselves, Are we actually happy doing this? The answer was no.

One night, driving into downtown Toronto, we kept passing billboard after billboard and started wondering how anyone was tracking views. When we dug into it, we realized a lot of the industry was still using old census data and estimates.

That felt wrong.

We built a quick prototype — mobile digital displays with cameras and edge computing that could measure attention in real time without identifying people. Within a few months, we had paying customers and real traction.

Then investors asked us a question that changed everything: Why stop at advertising? Who else needs real-world data? That opened the door to cities, transit agencies, environmental groups, finance, fashion — pretty much everyone. That’s when LiveSens became much bigger than our original idea.

What makes your approach different from other companies working with data?

Most companies want to work with data — very few want to collect it.

Hardware is hard. It’s expensive, operationally messy, and takes time. Because of that, a lot of companies rely on third-party data, synthetic data, or outdated datasets. That’s where things start to break down.

We decided to lean into the hard part. We design the hardware, certify the data, and build secure pipelines so people can trust what they’re using. Privacy isn’t an afterthought for us — it’s built in from day one.

Everyone’s chasing the AI gold rush. We’re focused on building the shovels.

Can you tell us about your entrepreneurial journey in Hamilton?

Hamilton is where we learned how to build.

While I was at McMaster, I was deeply involved in the local maker and startup community — teaching STEM programs in Hamilton schools, running hands-on maker workshops, and starting student groups that brought engineers, business students, and creatives together to build real products.

Through McMaster, The Forge, and Innovation Factory, we were surrounded by founders who were figuring it out as they went. That environment made entrepreneurship feel accessible and gave us a place where we felt supported.

At a time when data security, privacy, and Canadian-made technology really matter, building this company here felt important. We didn’t want to create something great and immediately ship it elsewhere. We wanted to build it in Canada, create jobs here, and grow from here.

What does the vision for LiveSens look like in the next 2–3 years?

Our goal is to become the core urban data infrastructure for Canada.

Over the next few years, we’re focused on scaling our sensor deployments, launching multiple hardware product lines, and building an operating system layer that cities and intelligence companies can use to connect devices and analyze environments.

Long term, this kind of data enables things like real-time city simulations and predictive modeling — helping planners understand what might happen before they make big decisions. Our plan is to get this right in Canada first, then take it global.

What advice would you give to founders or students thinking about starting a company in Hamilton?

Put yourself out there and don’t wait for permission.

There isn’t one path to success, and most of the best opportunities come from doing things that don’t feel “safe” at first. Hamilton has a ton of resources, but you only find them by getting involved.

Also, don’t be afraid of hard problems. A lot of people run away from them — and that’s usually where the biggest opportunities are.