The Early Days: A Product Without a Market, Developed by a Scattered Team
H4 Lab’s early days took place in an ÉTS laboratory specializing in control systems and robotics. The three co-founders, Jean-Baptiste, Chandra, and Alexis, incorporated the company in 2018 with an entrepreneurial spirit that set them apart from other students at the university.
Then life took its course. For five years, the three co-founders went their separate ways: Jean-Baptiste completed his Ph.D. and left for a postdoc in China, Chandra continued her own research, and Alexis returned to robotics at a research institute in Florida.
It was Alexis who developed the company’s commercial potential. He worked directly on humanoid robots, a field in which the institute is a pioneer, and developed increasingly specialized expertise there. It was there that he identified a pressing need in the field of electronics.
Upon his return to Canada for personal reasons, and since the company had already been incorporated, he was able to move forward with the product while no one was expecting H4 Lab. Thanks to what he had seen in Florida, he knew that no formal demand yet existed in the market. The other two co-founders joined him, and the team threw themselves fully into the next steps.
A PCB board: the backbone of robots
The turning point came when their first customer purchased a PCB board. This purchase confirmed what the team had suspected: the need was very real.
To understand what H4 Lab offers, imagine the inside of a humanoid robot.
Each arm and each leg is packed with sensors: proprioceptive sensors, which measure the robot’s internal state (gyroscopes, accelerometers), and exteroceptive sensors, which detect the external environment. All this information must converge at a specific point. H4 Lab’s communication board is housed inside the robot to gather this data stream and route it, much like a spine does.
The specifications are demanding. Real-time feedback is required, despite the very large volume of data to be processed, using a communication protocol derived from industrial assembly lines, and all of this within an increasingly compact format, thanks to advances in semiconductor technology.
Until very recently, it was impossible to meet all four of these requirements on a single board. This is what enabled H4 Lab to be the first to bring such a sophisticated product to market.
A niche product, backed by a service
Without formal demand, the challenge remained to create proof of need on their own once the first board was sold. That’s why H4 Lab doesn’t just sell its board. The team also offers a design service for its clients, primarily manufacturers of humanoid robots. These manufacturers don’t have to develop their own board design and can focus on their other challenges.
This market consists of two types of manufacturers. On one hand, there are big names like Figure, Boston Dynamics, and Agility. On the other, there’s a landscape reminiscent of the automotive sector and its original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), with rapid product lifecycles to which the board must be able to adapt.
For now, sales are conducted almost exclusively through the network: most come from people who have known Alexis since his time in the industry. His reputation is a key asset, and H4 Lab does almost no marketing.
Manufacturing Abroad While Remaining Rooted in Quebec
Producing a PCB is more expensive in Quebec, but the company chooses to stay for everything that helps it grow.
The team therefore designs its products here, then has them manufactured in China or Canada to spread the risk. But their long-term goal is clear. H4 Lab wants to build in-house the same design processes as its clients, and give itself the capacity to bring everything back home. One day, clients will be able to build the products themselves in Quebec when the time comes.
Staying here is a conscious choice, based on three reasons.
The first is the ecosystem. Montreal and Canada excel in AI and robotics, thanks in large part to their talent pool. For a company that thrives on its expertise, having access to that ecosystem matters a great deal.
The second is the proximity to the United States, where a large portion of the client base is located. On this side of the border, robotics support is less expensive than in San Francisco, and the team remains close enough to its clients to integrate into their projects.
The third reason is funding. Several R&D incentives allow the company to recoup a portion of payroll costs, which changes the equation for a startup that’s still building its product.
The three co-founders work together on the project, and this is where they reunited after five years of going their separate ways.
Why H4 Lab Is a Changemaker
H4 Lab has built the component that no one notices, but that all humanoids need. When we see a robot walk, we think of the motors, the AI, and the demo. No one thinks about the circuit board that transmits information between an arm and the “brain.” Yet that’s where it all happens.
What also sets the team apart is its approach. Instead of starting with a market prediction, it began with proof of need: a first customer purchasing the first board. It then enhanced the board with a full-fledged design service, backed by cutting-edge expertise in humanoid robotics, for customers who want to focus on their own challenges.
And they did so by building on what they already had, Alexis’s reputation and a network established within the industry, without overspending on marketing.
What we have done
For a team of engineers looking to build their product, chasing funding can quickly become a second job. Garage&co’s support with grants proved to be extremely valuable: knowing what to look for and how to go about it, without wasting a significant amount of time.
For a team already focused on circuit board design, this frees up time for what really matters.
And beyond the funding itself, the guidance also made it easier to resolve several issues, particularly in the areas of financing, sales, and business development. These are challenges that technical teams are rarely prepared for, especially when one of the founders’ personal network is the sole driver of sales.
