A Win-Win Project
Startups are looking for potential clients for their products or services (early adopters), companies that will trust them and allow them to validate their business ideas and technology. On the other hand, Quebec SMEs are in need of innovative solutions, new talents, and expertise.
A Simple and Effective Process
1. We assess the needs of SMEs and look for startups that offer suitable solutions.
2. After a virtual meeting with each startup, the SME can select 2-3 high-potential startups to meet in person in their region.
3. Finally, they can co-create an innovative partnership during the Tour's visit to their region.
We were in Saint-Jérôme at the magnificent Théâtre Gilles-Vigneault, parallel to the Annual General Meeting of Connexion Laurentides.
A total of 21 startups from across Quebec and 6 SMEs from the Laurentians participated in networking activities over the past few weeks, both virtually and during in-person meetings.
The goal of this day? To pave the way for a fruitful and mutually beneficial relationship between SMEs and startups, and to put stakeholders in the best position to develop their partnerships. This involves raising awareness about the benefits of this collaboration.
“The Tournée’s stop in the host region is the culmination of several months of work to identify the needs of local businesses (SMEs) and local tech solutions (startups) to meet those needs. It’s heartwarming to see these companies come together to work on adopting technological innovations from all corners of Quebec in the Laurentians!” - Samuel L. Audet, Early Adopter Manager
The technological solutions proposed by these companies cover a wide range of innovations for optimization and automation in various sectors, whether in training and HR management, order and supplier management, robotics, production plan optimization, or through the Internet of Things (IoT) and 4.0 connectivity to improve their performance.
“Connexion Laurentides thought of us. We’ve been with them for a few years now. They know our company’s DNA. They knew we were a good fit for this new program (...) Ultimately, today I had a great meeting. We don’t know yet if what we want to do is possible, but at least we’ll go through the process, analyze it, and hope that together, both companies will find solutions to achieve good results.” - Bruno Leduc, Operations Director at Exacad, an SME that stands out in the design and manufacturing of plastic injection molds.
Here is the full list of startups that participated in these networking activities: Deepsight, Folks RH, RX Tuteur, Axya, ASKaFOX, JITBase, My Smart Journey, Mecademic, Kaster Technologies, Fractal Solutions Robotiques, Zetane Systems, Lisplogics, Funartech, Axceta, KIS (Keep it Simple), Draft & Goal, Cyrcée, Chembrains, Intelligence industrielle, reelyActive, Soralink.
Here are the Laurentian SMEs that participated: Exacad, Genik, Epices Dion, Laval Poinçons & Matrices (LPM) and Atkcore.
The Startup SME Tour is a collaborative project. We collaborate with ERACs (Regional Acceleration and Growth Spaces) throughout Quebec, the Living Lab Lanaudière, and Business Accelerators and Incubators. With these partners, we are able to identify manufacturing SMEs, their technological innovation needs, and the startups that have the solutions to address these challenges.
Next step: a stop in Lanaudière on October 30th. Stay tuned!