The first PERSÉIS monitoring cells are deployed

The Mouvement des accélérateurs d'innovation du Québec (MAIN) and the Fonds de recherche du Québec (FRQ) are proud to announce the start of work on the PERSÉIS watch cell initiative.

These watch cells are based on collaboration between members of the research community and support professionals on a common priority issue. 

It's also an opportunity to integrate and cross-fertilize the methodologies of the research community with those of incubators and gas pedals, to produce rich, field-oriented reports. These cells are intended to provide a forum for exchanging knowledge and inspiration, and, where appropriate, for collectively identifying knowledge gaps to be generated through research projects.

To kick off this first cycle of collaboration, three watch cells will focus on key topics to be explored in greater depth:

1. impact measurement
2. contractors' mental health
3. intellectual property in innovative companies

The impact measurement watch unit will be looking at the measurement strategies used around the world to make the social, environmental or economic impact of startups visible, both as a marketing lever in their market and to potential investors. It will also look at indicators that can be used to enhance the value of integrating this impact into the support provided to startups by financial backers. The aim is to identify common frameworks and tools that would be beneficial and adaptable to the Quebec context.

Here are the members who will be discussing this topic:

• Arman Aksoy, Lecturer, Department of Mathematics and Industrial Engineering, Polytechnique Montréal, and Research Associate, HEC Montréal
• Julien BergeronDirector, Sustainable Tourism Innovation, MT Lab
• Sylvain Carle, Director, CIVIC
• Maria do Carmo Correia de Lima, Postdoctoral Fellow, CRIUGM- Centre de Recherche Institut Universitaire de Gériatrie de Montréal
• Julie Crevier, Knowledge Transfer Advisor, Centre collégial d'expertise en innovation sociale (CERESO)
• Laure PainchaudBusiness Intelligence Consultant, Esplanade Québec

The watch unit dedicated to the mental health of entrepreneurs will address an increasingly crucial topic in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, namely the challenges (e.g. stress, burnout, culture of failure) faced by entrepreneurs. The main findings in the literature and documented best support practices will be identified in order to move towards a paradigm shift and break existing taboos.

Here are the members who will be discussing this topic:

• Mariève Beauchemin, Director of Incubation andacceleration, Indie Asylum
• Louis-Pierre Charest, Program Director, Centech
• Simon Coulombe, Associate Professor and Relief Research Chair in Mental Health, Self-Management and Work, Université Laval
• Florence Guiliani, assistant professor and head of the entrepreneurship concentration in the B.A.A. program at Université de Sherbrooke
• Marie-Claude Lemire, General Manager, Innovation Centre & Millénium UdeM
• Étienne St-Jean, Professor and Director, Institut de recherche sur les PME, Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières

The watch unit dedicated to corporate intellectual property will explore the existing literature on the diversity of models for protecting and using intellectual property. It will also discuss the challenges faced by start-ups in identifying and protecting their innovations, and the impact of this decision on their commercialization and growth strategies.

Here are the members who will be discussing this topic:

• Marc Banik, Associate Professor, Management, ESG-UQAM
• Martin Couillard, FPIC Manager, RI MUHC
• Raphaël Flores, Partnership Development Advisor, IRSST
• Maria G. Macedo, Service des partenariats et du soutien à l'innovation, UQAM
• Marc St-Jean, Business Development Advisor, Healthy Brains Healthy Lives Program | McGill University

In addition to the members of the watch cell's active core, several experts will complement the progress of the work during the cell's cycle by suggesting additional avenues of exploration or resources to consider.

• Sarah Abarro, incubation program coordinator, Maison de l'innovation sociale
• Audrey Béganton, Projects and Partnerships Manager, 2 Degrés
• Catalina Bonilla, Economic Development Commissioner - Entrepreneurship, City of Montreal
• Coryell Boffy, Senior Director, Society and Culture, Axelys
• Luis Cisneros, Professor in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Innovation and co-founder of the Pôle entRepreneuriat, HEC Montréal
• Michaël Dubois, Entrepreneurship Coordinator, Université du Québec à Rimouski
• Simon Grenier Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Université de Montréal
• Ghani Kolli, CEO, Credo Impact
• Thierry Lefèvre, coordinator at Université Laval's Centre de recherche sur les matériaux durables (CERMA)
• Laurence Lejeune, STS doctoral candidate, UQAM - CIRST
• More to come!

PERSÉIS is a research-society space on innovative and scientific entrepreneurship, set up by MAIN and the FRQ to stimulate research on innovative and scientific entrepreneurship in Quebec.

"PERSEIS was created to support flexible and diversified funding initiatives to encourage the emergence of research projects and thus stimulate research at the heart of the ecosystem's concerns in innovative and scientific entrepreneurship. The cells de veille consolidate this vision by provoking encounters and dialogue through the mobilization of existing scientific knowledge and science-backed decision-making", says Rémi Quirion, Quebec's Chief Scientist.

"With the PERSÉIS monitoring cells, we now have a collective, modular tool for keeping abreast of global trends in entrepreneurial support. The wealth of expertise mobilized in each cell will enable us to question our practices and stimulate the emergence of new projects - both in support and research," believes Louis-Félix Binette, MAIN's General Manager. We're starting with three unavoidable themes, but there are so many others where coaches and researchers could benefit from sounding out the field together!