Grant: CCI Applied Research and Development Grants
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology
$39,814.00
Integration of Elasticsearch with Vector Database for Semantic, Contextual, and Similarity Search
FY 2024-25
Summary
Established in 2000, Toronto-based Venngo Inc. is a provider of employee perks programs in North America. The company works with many of Canada’s top organizations to provide employees with attractive discounts and deals to increase employee engagement, create stronger connections and boost financial wellness within teams. Accessible through Venngo’s WorkPerks online platform and related mobile apps, these unique perks are sourced from big brands and local businesses, for a range of consumer products and services. In this way, Venngo aims to add value to everyday life while saving customers thousands of dollars each year.
The project objective is to enhance Venngo Inc.'s WorkPerks platform by developing a new search engine that will leverage advanced AI technologies, such as large language models (LLMs) and vector databases. This enhancement will improve contextual and semantic search capabilities, delivering personalized promotional offers to customers, and giving vendors the ability to sponsor search results. In this way, the project will enable more accurate search results and tailored recommendations, increasing brand visiblity and driving greater customer engagement. This improvement not only promises significant business benefits for Venngo but has the potential to support local businesses, offer financial relief to Canadian employees across many organizations, and promote sustainable digital marketing practices.
In this project, planned to span 6 months, Venngo will partner with Dr. Mohamed Hefny of Seneca’s Centre for Innovation in AI Technology (CIAIT) to develop new search capabilities for WorkPerks, and add new functionality that will enable ‘sponsored keywords’ for the platform. The project will result in a prototype of the AI-based search engine, with a ‘sponsored keyword’ function, that will be ready for integration with the WorkPerks platform, and subsequent market testing. Venngo tentatively plans the market launch of the new product in 2027, following final code refinements.
Program
CCI Applied Research and Development Grants
Location
Ontario, Canada
Recipient Type
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
As published
Application id
CCARD-2024-00705
Name nom
Barai, Namrata
Department département
Applied Research - Seneca College (Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology)
Organization id
1803
Institution établissement
Seneca College of Applied Arts and Technology
Province en
Ontario
Province fr
Ontario
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2024
Competition year année de concours
2024
Award amount
39814
Program id
CCARD
Program name en
CCI Applied Research and Development Grants
Program name fr
ICC Subventions de recherche et développement appliquée
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
nan
Area of application code
9999
Area of application group en
Not available
Area of application group fr
Non disponible
Area of application en
Not available
Area of application fr
Non disponible
Research subject code
9999
Research subject group en
Not available
Research subject group fr
Non disponible
Research subject en
Not available
Research subject fr
Non disponible
Field of research list codes
RDF2030303
Field of research list names en
Optimization and data analytics algorithms and systems
Field of research list names fr
Optimisation et algorithmes et systèmes de l'analytique de données
Socioeconomic objective list codes
RDS10610
Socioeconomic objective list names en
Information systems, technologies and services
Socioeconomic objective list names fr
Systèmes, technologies et services d'information
Application title
Integration of Elasticsearch with Vector Database for Semantic, Contextual, and Similarity Search
Keywords
Semantic Search; Contextual Search; Similarity Search; Search Optimization; Keyword Embeddings
Application summary
Established in 2000, Toronto-based Venngo Inc. is a provider of employee perks programs in North America. The company works with many of Canada’s top organizations to provide employees with attractive discounts and deals to increase employee engagement, create stronger connections and boost financial wellness within teams. Accessible through Venngo’s WorkPerks online platform and related mobile apps, these unique perks are sourced from big brands and local businesses, for a range of consumer products and services. In this way, Venngo aims to add value to everyday life while saving customers thousands of dollars each year.
The project objective is to enhance Venngo Inc.'s WorkPerks platform by developing a new search engine that will leverage advanced AI technologies, such as large language models (LLMs) and vector databases. This enhancement will improve contextual and semantic search capabilities, delivering personalized promotional offers to customers, and giving vendors the ability to sponsor search results. In this way, the project will enable more accurate search results and tailored recommendations, increasing brand visiblity and driving greater customer engagement. This improvement not only promises significant business benefits for Venngo but has the potential to support local businesses, offer financial relief to Canadian employees across many organizations, and promote sustainable digital marketing practices.
In this project, planned to span 6 months, Venngo will partner with Dr. Mohamed Hefny of Seneca’s Centre for Innovation in AI Technology (CIAIT) to develop new search capabilities for WorkPerks, and add new functionality that will enable ‘sponsored keywords’ for the platform. The project will result in a prototype of the AI-based search engine, with a ‘sponsored keyword’ function, that will be ready for integration with the WorkPerks platform, and subsequent market testing. Venngo tentatively plans the market launch of the new product in 2027, following final code refinements.
