4 findings from Startupfest 2018

1. A new location for more dynamic opportunities

The festival was happening at Parc de Dieppe, at the extreme end of the Cite-du-Havre peninsula, with an exceptional view over Montreal Old Port. From this location, the opening ceremony of Startupfest, on 11 July, coincided with the traditional summer fireworks in Montreal and provided a festive atmosphere to the launch. To access the venue, guests could arrive either by boat, bus, car or bike. This unprecedented venue encouraged small-scale networking opportunities for sure.

 

 

2. More premium fests, more targeted content

This year, the festival was divided into 9 specific mini festivals so that startups, organizations, investors, could meet with their specific communities more efficiently. For example, ScaleupFest was dedicated to providing advice and knowledge on initial investment and growing. ArtupFest aimed at gathering artists, designers and all members of the creative community to discuss ways of improving society.

3. A contest for impact-driven startups

The Quartier de l’innovation and MTL Newtech organized a pitch contest for startups that are driven by social impact considerations. Over the three days of the events, entrepreneurs got the opportunity to present their projects to a jury with the possibility of winning prizes in cash but also a promotional video produced and disseminated as well as coaching from MTL NewTech. They could either pick a technology (from those mentioned on the colourful cards) or explain how their startup impacted positively on the community. On Thursday 12 July, Aligo Innovation was part of the jury and offered the opportunity to develop already existing technologies or to help inventors and researchers move from research to development.

4. A “young” entrepreneur with a vision for a greener future

Through the brain dates system, Innovation MTL was able to meet with Gaston Beaulieu, a “young” entrepreneur of 72 years old who decided, after he retired, to develop a new concept of eco-energetic greenhouse that grows plants and vegetables without electricity nor water: Gaïa Écosystèmes. Through a concept of biomimicry, this engineer with experience in the aerospace industry invented and tested his inventions over the past 8 years. His is now ready to present his concept to investors and potential partners for prototyping. If his tests are correct, this greenhouse could provide 330,000 kg of vegetables annually. We will definitely be following his ambitious project!

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7 findings from the 7th edition of C2 Montreal

1- To grow, you need to open your mind

The closing ceremony of C2 Montreal was long awaited by all. For this final act, world-famous rapper and weed entrepreneur, Snoop Dog came to talk about the blooming cannabis industry in Canada. As C2 aims at helping “established and aspiring leaders unlock their creativity in order tobetter face disruption and change”, mentioning cannabis growth opportunities was daring but undeniably adapted!

2- Empathy will save us all

Scientist turned robot maker, Christine Sunu showed us that robots could have a heart. Yes, they can make us feel real emotions, especially Mostly, her fluffy creation that makes sounds and purr like a cat. For mentally and socially challenged people, these robots can trigger emotions, feelings and empathy that even humans would not be able to express.

3- Design your solutions 

Ideate for Impact was the place to be if you wanted to create something tangible out of your 3 days. This series of workshops allowed participants to design a real solution to make an impact on the ground. During the “Healthy Cities” lab, we learned how to articulate a design challenge, frame prototyping ideas, and implement them. This was a unique opportunity to help real people (Mark Brand and his team) on their mission to bring the homeless community upward in Vancouver through Save on meats. 

4- Create with others

If you really want to bring something new to the world, you need to do it with others. Indeed, many inspirational speakers presented projects that were innovating because they were launched by a transversal and diverse team. Creativity came from the collision of their skills and personalities. Stéphane Garti is an artist and engineer that applies the tools of prototyping to dance and fashion projects. He founded Wearkit, a community of makers, coders, artists and designers contributing to open design.

5- Learn technology… or disappear

Again, this was on the mouth of several influencers such as Stephanie Carullo, COO of Box and expert in scaling tech companies: if you want to change the culture in your company, you have to excel in technology because digital tools will allow you to work towards customer centricity, diversity and… privacy!

6- Protect your data

Talking about privacy… Regulations are starting to emerge, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) that went into effect on 25 May in the European Union. But beyond regulations, there is an ethical and democratic aspect to that issue. We had the privilege of listening to transparency activist Chelsea Manning talk about how marketing has turned into a massive surveillance system where it is more than ever urgent to protect our data.

7- A penny for your thought?

Have you heard of computer-brain interfaces? There are machines that allow researchers to read your minds or should we say, to “hack your brain”. At the “Reveries” lab, we got a glimpse of what happens in our minds through the use of neuro-technology. A unique visualisation of our thought patterns was offered to us after a set of electrodes was attached to our head. If today, these offer mysterious brain signals, tomorrow, tech giants like Facebook are working towards creating new devices around these computer-brain interfaces… for better or for worse!

 

Montreal, the smart city to be this summer

So much is happening in Montreal in Summer. You might definitely have heard of the Jazz Festival but did you also know that there was one of the biggest international Startup Festivals? Innovation Montreal is happy to introduce you to this unique event and give you some glimpse of the action throughout a week.

Introducing the “Startupfest”

Quick facts – this is already the 7th edition, 4500 people are expected, coming from 20 countries, invading the Old Port district of Montreal July 12-15. There are exclusive events happening –premium mini-events, hackathons, but also traditional keynote sessions, networking breakout sessions, a giant tent to present innovative projects including, last but not least, the Grandmother’s tent, where entrepreneurs will have to pitch their projects with such simple words that grandmas should be able to understand! Quite a challenge, right?

Creating wins

Of course, the festival is about showcasing innovative projects, but they main idea is to connect entrepreneurs with investors, but also with corporations, to strengthen the community. It is a unique opportunity for Montrealer startups to meet with international investors and to create synergies between international startups. For Matt Kanas, a blogger recalling previous editions,

“It was a visceral example of how a community can truly help and support itself with a singular purpose: achieving a prosperous future for Canada’s startup community.”

Montreal, a global smart city

This is also a great opportunity for the city of Montreal to show to the world all its potential as a hub for innovation in North America. People often think of the Silicon Valley, or New York or Toronto as dynamic technological hubs but Montreal is also a smart hub with dedicated programs like Montréal Smart and Digital City Action Plan (2015-2017) and as the city celebrates its 375th anniversary, it is more than ever in the mood for showcasing how digitally-savvy its people are, how the city bustles with new projects and how it creates opportunities for financing and development.

A glimpse on the program

On Wednesday, dedicated sessions in French will require a separate registration but from Thursday July 13, things will seriously get started with Best Pitch competitions, Brain Dates, “How-to” sessions where notorious speakers will be sharing their experiences, “Future-of” sessions where they will be discussing what will be a key differentiator for entrepreneurs moving forward – automation, finance, augmented human intelligence…

Stay tuned for pictures, quotes and exciting discoveries on our Instagram and Twitter accounts and more articles to come!