Quebec startups experiencing rapid growth thanks to PMEit coaching service

After receiving intensive, personalized coaching, 171 companies created close to 500 new jobs in Quebec and brought in more than $55M in income in 2019 alone

Montreal, November 17, 2020 – The Mouvement des accélérateurs d’innovation du Québec (MAIN) is proud to announce the initial partial results of its coaching service for innovative and technological SMEs (PMEit). The project was designed and implemented with several Quebec accelerators thanks to financing from the Ministère de l’Économie et de l’Innovation, and managed by MAIN. Between 2018 and 2020, PMEit facilitated coaching for 171 Quebec startups in their commercialization phase, hailing from 15 different administrative regions. Overall, the companies received more than 53,000 hours of intensive, customized coaching to help them reach their growth phase faster.

The coaching offered through PMEit bore fruit. The participating startups created nearly 500 new jobs in Quebec and brought in more than $55M in income in 2019 (a median increase of 59% over 2018). They also raised more than $165M in financing and investment since 2019 to continue accelerating their growth. MAIN’s acceleration service, totaling $17.3M in value, benefited from $8M in financial support from the Gouvernement du Québec between 2018 and 2020 to support the startups through coaching.

“Our financial support towards the Mouvement des accélérateurs d’innovation du Québec aims to give young entrepreneurs the means to innovate, commercialize their products and succeed. Those high growth potential young businesses set themselves apart with their capacity to integrate meaningful technologies and develop innovative ideas. We can be very proud of their vitality and creativity, two tools that allow our economy to renew itself.”
— Pierre Fitzgibbon, Minister of Economy and Innovation

“The Mouvement des accélérateurs d’innovation du Québec is doing outstanding work, including with its coaching service for startups. The Government’s commitment to support audacious ideas and grow entrepreneurship is indisputable. I’m convinced that these businesses will be important assets for innovation and contribute to the economic development of all regions of Quebec.”
— Marie Eve Proulx, Minister for Regional Economic Development and Minister responsible for the Chaudière-Appalaches, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine regions

Startups highlight the strong impact of PMEit on their growth

Startups are the first to underline the importance of PMEit for their growth. 89% of participants indicated that the coaching they received had an important or essential impact on their business.

“PMEit had a highly positive impact on our company. We had clear objectives and the service greatly helped us in achieving them by financing the work of the experts to complement our team. PMEit provided innovation support, helping us reach key milestones and ultimately allowing us to raise funds from private investors. I hope many other companies will be able to benefit from this service as we did.”
— Marina Pavlovic Rivas, CEO and cofounder, Eli Health, Montreal

“PMEit marked an important turning point for WeChalet and for myself as an entrepreneur. The coaching we received allowed me to build a support network and to meet key resources I still collaborate with closely today. Together, we identified and implemented the assets necessary for our growth. Today, despite COVID-19 hitting our industry in full force, we are better positioned and more confident than ever before in WeChalet’s future.”
— Dany Papineau, CEO and founder, WeChalet, Austin (Estrie)

A success attributable to PMEit’s collaborative model

PMEit’s success is rooted in its innovative model, unique in Canada, which is based on collaboration and resource sharing. This model, imagined by and for the Quebec network of startup accelerators, increases the support offered to commercialization-phase startups without creating a new access point for entrepreneurs. Because they work together, accelerators can rely on a network of expertise, contacts and resources to offer support that is perfectly tailored to the needs of each startup.

“Many organizations have developed services tailored to the reality of innovation-driven companies. But allowing those startups to cross the valley of death is a team sport. The MAIN network fosters collaboration between all the actors who can help Quebec entrepreneurs succeed, when they need it most. The results announced today demonstrate that our collective efforts paid off and encourage us to double down.”
—  Louis-Félix Binette, directeur général, MAIN

Nine Quebec startup accelerators made this project possible: Adopte Inc., Centech, CTS, District 3, Espace-inc., Esplanade, FounderFuel, La Piscine et LE CAMP. Thirty organizations throughout Quebec helped in identifying high growth potential startups. PMEit also allowed for the creation of a network of more than 300 coaches and experts, selected for their capacity to support commercialization-phase startups and to give entrepreneurs the tools and skills they need to accelerate their business towards growth.

More information about MAIN’s acceleration services.

About Mouvement des accélérateurs d’innovation du Québec (MAIN)

MAIN was created in 2016 from the conviction that, if they worked together and as a network, organizations whose mission it is to support startups can 10x their impact in 10 years. Its ambition is for every startup, no matter where it’s located in Quebec, to have access to the best resources to support its development and growth, as quickly as possible. Its mission is to support, develop and implement projects to galvanize this ecosystem and to increase the value and impact of services offered to Quebec startups.

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For more information or to request an interview
Chloé Planès
Lead —Talents and Communications
communications@mainqc.com
438-771-5553, ext 4
https://mainqc.com