Yesterday marked the start of three weeks of business acceleration in Canada for 10 French startups, coordinated by Business France, the national agency supporting the international development of the French Economy.
From June 6th to 23rd, French Tech Tour 2016 will offer 10 participating startups (BiBOARD, Brainwave, CBien.com, Dataiku, Easytransac, Feeligo, Headoo, Lifedomus, Ogust and Wiztivi) the opportunity to participate in business meetings, thematic workshops and networking events to gauge and test their viability to thrive within the Canadian economy. The first French Tech Tour 2016 networking event takes place in Toronto on Wednesday, June 8th at the DMZ: anyone can register to join.
A jury of industry-leading companies and key players in the Canadian technological ecosystem selected the 10 French participants. In Toronto then Montreal, these startups will meet with key players in the tech ecosystems in order to develop their business locally.
The program launches with a series of workshops and roundtables to help the startups understand business practices in Ontario and in Quebec, with topics as varied as communication and public relations, regulation, data protection and financing; all of which are key questions for companies aiming to expand locally.
What interests these French entrepreneurs about becoming global?
Karim Abichat
Ogust, which offers an online management software solution for services to individuals like cleaning, tutoring, personal care, etc., is thrilled by the prospect to become international. Ogust publisher Karim Abichat, CEO of Sykio, stated, “[This] is the biggest challenge for an entrepreneur. I cannot consider myself as a successful entrepreneur if I am not able to expand my company outside of France.” Mr. Abichat further shared, “The biggest challenge was to build a strong team [that] we can trust. This is a key point to develop a business. Despite the financial crisis [and] all difficulties we face, we are progressing, month-by-month, year-by-year. Today, we are recognized as experts in the home services industry thanks to our solutions, Ogust Manager and Ogust SelfService. This recognition is today my biggest reward.”
Sylvain Lamarche
Easytransac is a self-named serial entrepreneur, and provider of a mobile acquisition payment solution. Sylvain Lamarche, CEO and Co-Founder of Easytransac, remarked, “We love the idea of changing the game and offer new and relevant services to global customer. We are also excited to work in Fintech industry, which is a very dynamic sector. Our services have been improved by developing worldwide partnerships with foreign providers and startups.”
More than 200 B2B meetings have been scheduled to allow the 10 companies to multiply business opportunities. In order to fully engage the startups in both ecosystems, the program also includes two networking events organized in partnership with OVH, Emerillon Capital and Savoir Faire Linux. During these events, the 10 participants will present their cutting-edge solutions in a pitch contest, on June 8th in Toronto and on June 21st in Montreal.
For the past three months, these companies have worked closely with Business France to define their strategy and create a sales pitch and commercial speech relevant to their specific target markets, as well as to adapt their marketing material to the business reality in Canada.
