Quebec pledges $9M to help young technology companies expand internationally

The Legault government has announced a $9 million investment to help young Quebec companies expand internationally.

Minister for the Economy Christopher Skeete made the announcement Thursday saying the funding will be managed by Québec Tech, an organization that supports high-potential, young innovative companies in the province.

“This money can be used to support them in commercial missions when going abroad, it can be used also to support these businesses in creating a legal framework for their presence overseas,” Skeete said. “It’s a really good vehicle to help our businesses export their products.”

The funding is part of the Québec Strategy for Research and Investment in Innovation (SQRI2), which provides $22.5 million over five years to grow small and medium-sized businesses.

Skeete said the funding confirms the desire to ensure the competitiveness, influence and growth of Quebec’s companies on a global scale.

“We have a great talent pool but we have to create more startup and scale up here in Quebec,” said Richard Chénier, General Manager of Québec Tech.

“We have one of the best talent pools in A.I. in Quantum, in life science and so on, but we don’t leverage it enough.”

Skeete adds that Québec Tech is a key ally in fostering the vitality of the innovation ecosystem and economic development in the province.

The funding will help with international marketing, travel, providing experts, and helping with salaries.

Félix Lapointe of Ferreol Technologies & Ferreol Skis, who’s startup helped develop an aluminum alloy, which can be used in creating skies and is now being introduced to aerospace technology, said this funding makes a world of difference.

“I think in the entrepreneurial ecosystem to help startups and companies to grow internationally, before this announcement, yes, we had some resources to help us go internationally but I think this really answers a blind spot,” he said.

Lapointe said five years after creating the skies with their aluminum alloy, which he says is made from Quebec aluminum, is what helped spark the desire to apply this in aerospace markets.

“Our main goal in the aerospace and aeronautics market would be to be able to integrate the [aluminum-scandium alloy] scalium in aircraft components,” he explained.

“[And] then be able to reduce the mass of those components and also their carbon footprint on the lifetime of the aircraft.”

“That is our main goal for this market with our technology,” Lapointe said.

Lapointe said the metal is considered one of the world’s strongest aluminum alloy, which is available in a variety of sizes. He says for the funding, many initiatives across the province share the same sentiment as him.

“The ecosystem in Quebec is magnificent,” Skeete said. “It’s one of the best places to do business, we have some work to do to get known and to export these products, but really Quebec is really dynamic.”