Seven promising projects receive funding to advance entrepreneurship research

main the Fonds de recherche du Québec are proud to announce seven collaborative projects between researchers and support organizations that will share funding to continue their research as part of the 2023 PERSÉIS call for proposals.

Dedicated to stimulating research on innovative and scientific entrepreneurship in Quebec in all its diversity, PERSÉIS aims to catalyze research based on the concerns and needs of support organizations. The selected projects embody PERSÉIS' ambitious vision by focusing on crucial themes such as: the funding continuum, impact measurement, access to talent, and the integration of sustainable development objectives into the operations of support organizations.

A total of seven projects were selected based on the depth of their analysis of the challenges facing Quebec's entrepreneurial ecosystem, their ability to bring together a wide variety of stakeholders, and their potential for large-scale adoption of the results by the business community. Here are the projects and their leaders. It should be noted that for each project, a maximum of five organizations will collaborate on the various research activities:

• Attracting and retaining talent in the regions to promote innovative entrepreneurship in Quebec, submitted by Julie Bérubé of the University of Quebec in Outaouais [UQO] and led by Digihub.
• RÉFRACTION Project: bringing knowledge together to catalyze innovation in health, submitted by Marie-Michèle Lord of the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivières [UQTR] and led by CTS Santé
• Alignment of Quebec businesses with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): the role of incubators and accelerators, submitted by Félix Zogning of the University of Sherbrooke and led by Magog Technopole
• Internationalization of startups: how to make the support continuum effective?, submitted by Ms. Sophie Veilleux of Laval University and led by Le CAMP
• Promoting inclusivity in business accelerators and incubators in Quebec for greater impact, submitted by Mr. Yabo Octave Niamie of Polytechnique Montréal and led by COlab Innovation sociale et culture numérique (Social Innovation and Digital Culture Collaborative).
• Supporting the environmental and ethical performance of start-ups in the digital sector, submitted by Ms. Cécile Bulle, from the University of Quebec in Montreal [UQAM] and led by Zú
• Integrating sustainable development goals into the operations of Quebec business accelerators and incubators and within the companies they support: methods, tools, and progress monitoring, submitted by Matthias Pépin of Laval University and led by 2 Degrés.

Each project submitted had to involve members of the research community and Quebec's entrepreneurial ecosystem, and each stakeholder participated in all stages of the project co-construction process.

"The selected projects were chosen for their ability to meet the critical needs of Quebec's entrepreneurial ecosystem. They demonstrate significant potential for adoption, generating notable anticipated benefits for the stakeholders directly involved, decision-makers, Quebec internationally, and above all, Quebec's innovative and scientific companies," said Rémi Quirion, Quebec's chief scientist.

"With PERSÉIS, we want to bring two communities together to better understand and support the development of innovative and scientific entrepreneurship in Quebec. We are proud to reap the rewards of a year of fruitful collaborations between the research community and those who support innovative start-ups on a daily basis, through PERSÉIS and the Sommet des accélérateurs. The dynamism of our ecosystem and its ability to propel Quebec companies forward depend on the contribution of a wide variety of players," says Louis-Félix Binette, Executive Director of MAIN.