A Look Back at the Sommet des accélérateurs
Published on March 6, 2024
the 5ththSommet des accélérateurs, held in February 2024 at the Manoir du Lac Delage, brought together more than 200 professionals involved in supporting innovative companies.
The participants, who came from all corners of Quebec and even from France, arrived at two main conclusions: the importance of taking care of oneself and of entrepreneurs, and of working together toward a common goal.
The stage was already set with opening remarks by Frantz Saintellemy, co-founder of Groupe 3737 and CEO of LeddarTech (which was recently listed on NASDAQ).
“[Support professionals] are unsung heroes, and their mission goes beyond providing technical advice: they are guardians, catalysts, facilitators, and architects. But we must avoid the trap of measuring success solely by quantifying tangible data. It is important to value the intangible aspects. Emotional support, in the end, is what makes all the difference.”
the importance of taking care of oneself
People were indeed at the heart of all the discussions, whether during the workshop on mental health management for entrepreneurs led by psychologist Marie-Ève Landry, or during the moving conversation by the fire between Manon Théberge (OSEntreprendre), Louis-Edgar Jean-François (Groupe 3737), and Géraldine Martin (evol), who emphasized the importance of taking care of oneself in order to better support others, and of placing inclusion at the heart of all decisions. Above all, they stressed the need to “distinguish between the driver (the person) and the vehicle (the business),” as Manon Théberge put it.
The same sentiment was echoed from a financing perspective, where Sylvain Carle (Impact Investor), Hélène Olland (Desjardins Entreprises), Louis Delorme (Amplify Capital, member of Espace CDPQ), and Velina Sarafimov (Impak Analytics) emphasized the importance of a comprehensive transition toward a responsible entrepreneurial ecosystem. Financing stakeholders play a key role in this transition, and shifting toward financial support guided exclusively by impact and ESG criteria is becoming much more than just a “nice-to-have.”
Richard Chénier (Startup Montréal), for his part, highlighted the need to change our perspective on the “entrepreneurial ecosystem.”
"the startups don’t have to integrate ‘into the ecosystem’: it’s up to the ecosystem to integrate into society, to return to the tangible.”
Isabelle Thibaut, director ofaccelerator L’Esplanade, emphasized the importance of a space that is rooted in its community and keeps social and human impact at the heart of everything it does.
diversity and equity
Next, a moving segment on the importance of diversity as a driving force for our ecosystem. Luis Cisneros (HEC) presented evidence comparing theQuebec Entrepreneurship Index and the Guide to Entrepreneurs’ Health and Well-Being. Speaker and businesswoman Danièle Henkel then took the stage. First, she shared her challenging journey as an entrepreneur, and then she invited everyone in attendance to participate in a hands-on workshop to learn how to better understand themselves and the context of inequality in which people may find themselves.
Finally, during the satellite event held on February 16 at Quantino, the high-tech incubator, we discussed collaboration among stakeholders in Quebec City. And speaking of which, what is it that ultimately makes collaboration possible?
"People who pick up the phone to talk to each other," according to Annie Champagne (Mycelium).
As the highlight of the accelerator Summit, MAIN invited everyone to join the Circle of Support Professionals, with the goal of bringing people together, uniting them, fostering collaboration, and building a close-knit community dedicated to helping our entrepreneurs thrive, no matter where they are in Quebec.
a network of support professionals
in line with the findings that emerged from the 5thth Sommet des accélérateurs Lac-Delage, the “Innovation Accelerator Movement” is first and foremost a network of support professionals who believe that:
- It takes a community to help our entrepreneurs grow.
- There is a place for everyone who puts the entrepreneur’s interests first.
- Our diversity is our strength
- Everyone's contribution is appreciated and welcome
- Our collaborations won't always yield the results we hope for, and that's that’s okay, because at the very least, we’ll have come part of the way together
As of this writing, more than 160 professionals who support innovative companies have joined Le Cercle.
See you on February 12, 13, and 14, 2025, for the 6thth edition of Sommet des accélérateurs