Cloudboids Runs Compliance AI Against Fredericton Zoning and Building Codes

Cloudboids Ltd. has its first live municipal customer. On July 14, the City of Fredericton announced it is piloting the Fredericton startup's Compliance AI through Planet Hatch's MERGE program — a track that pairs early-stage companies with real city problems and up to $25,000 in project funding.

The city contributes 25 per cent of project costs (up to $6,000); MERGE covers the rest. In return, Cloudboids gets a paying first customer, mentoring from a business development officer, and Planet Hatch membership with Ignite programming.

"Through these projects, startups gain access to funding, business support, and valuable customer feedback to accelerate market readiness," the City said in its announcement.

Bimsta: drawings in, bylaw citations out

Founded in 2023 by Ishan Randeniya — who joined Planet Hatch's incubator in December 2025 — Cloudboids builds a product called Bimsta. It takes building drawings or permit applications and checks them against the city's zoning bylaw and the National Building Code, flagging non-compliance with a citation to the specific rule that was violated.

"The input is a drawing or an application against a bylaw that already exists in writing. The output is 'matches the rule' or 'doesn't, here's the section,'" Randeniya explained in a LinkedIn post. "Every flag traces back to a citation. Staff stay in the loop. The audit trail is the product."

Plan review is a well-documented municipal bottleneck. Randeniya has cited Honolulu's experience deploying a comparable tool: per-application review time dropped from 60–90 minutes to 15–20 minutes, and pre-screen wait times fell from five weeks to roughly one.

From Boost Ideation prototype to city hall

Cloudboids attended the 2026 Boost Ideation Camp in January — run by the City, UNB, NBCC, and Ignite at Planet Hatch — where it built its first working Compliance AI prototype. The Fredericton pilot is its first live municipal agreement. The company also pitched at Startupfest in Montréal in June, backed by Startup Atlantic and Planet Hatch.

MERGE takes five startups a year. Each gets up to $25,000, a municipality as a paying first customer, and a seat inside the Planet Hatch network. For cities, it is a low-risk route to testing emerging technology: they define the problem, assign a project lead, and fund only a quarter of the cost. A sibling MERGE pilot this summer is SeaGreen Solutions' seaweed biochar trial on Queen Street.

Sources

• City of Fredericton LinkedIn, July 14, 2026 — pilot announcement
• Ignite / Planet Hatch news release, July 14, 2026 — programme context
• Planet Hatch MERGE program page — funding structure ($25K / 25% municipality match)
• Cloudboids LinkedIn — company background and Boost Ideation participation
• Ishan Randeniya LinkedIn post, May 2026 — Bimsta product detail and Honolulu benchmark
• Ishan Randeniya — personal site — founder site
• Ishan Randeniya on GitHub — founder GitHub profile
• City of Fredericton 2026 Boost Ideation Camp results, January 21, 2026 — camp participation