The Mouvement des accélérateurs d’innovation du Québec (MAIN) announced today that the Québec startup ecosystem will receive part of the $90M envelop reserved for the ElevateIP program by the Government of Canada to provide intellectual property (IP) support to hundreds of innovative Québec startups and to help build the skills and capacity of the organizations that directly support these companies until 2026.
This funding was allocated through the call for proposals organized to select the delivery partners of ElevateIP by Innovation, Science and Economic Development Canada (ISED). The initiatives supported through this funding aim to:
- raise awareness of the importance of intellectual property and provide training opportunities for startups;
- assisting companies in establishing their intellectual property strategy; and,
- make it more affordable to take the first steps in these strategies.
“Canadian startups are some of the most innovative and inventive in the world. That’s why our government is committed to supporting them so they can better protect and manage their IP. Through this investment, we are enabling startups to better develop IP strategies for long-term growth. We will continue to do everything we can to see Canadian businesses succeed both at home and around the world.”
– The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry
Initiatives that support investments made by the Québec government
The implementation of the structuring initiatives announced today is also made possible by the significant investments made by the Québec government in the startup ecosystem over the past few years to support the growth of the Québec startup ecosystem. These investments notably include the creation of Axelys, an organization that develops and transfers high-potential innovations resulting from public research, and the continued support for incubators and accelerators by the Ministère de l’Économie, de l’Innovation et de l’Énergie du Quebec.
The 2022-2027 Québec Research and Innovation Investment Strategy (QRIIS2), announced in May 2022, earmarked $110 million over the next five years to support the innovative technology entrepreneurship ecosystem. These additional investments further highlight the Québec government’s desire to build an environment that is favourable to the creation, development and growth of startups and that takes into account the importance of generating, managing and protecting intellectual property.
A collaborative and structuring project for the entire Québec ecosystem
In preparation for the proposal led by MAIN on behalf of the Québec ecosystem, more than 25 accelerators and incubators were consulted. Several sector-specific support organizations and consortia of accelerators supported the proposal.
A large number of ecosystem players, primarily business accelerators and incubators and Axelys, will be involved in the implementation in order to make these initiatives accessible to the greatest number of startups, particularly in the regions and among entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds, while supporting the development of sustainable coaching expertise in the ecosystem.
“Hundreds of startups in all of Québec’s regions will be better equipped and supported to protect their most important assets: their inventions. The governments of Canada and Québec recognize that inventing or even patenting is not enough to succeed. Today’s announcement as well as the collaborative and inclusive implementation model chosen by the Québec startup ecosystem will help lay a solid, strategic foundation for the long-term success of Québec entrepreneurs in commercializing their innovations,” said Louis-Félix Binette, Executive Director of MAIN.
Full details of the initiatives to be implemented and their launch date will be announced at a later date. These initiatives will be open to all ecosystem players who wish to contribute. Interested parties are invited to contact MAIN.
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 is to support startups can 10x their impact in 10 years. Its ambition is for every startup, no matter where it’s located in Québec, 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 Québec startups.
