29 August 2014

PRESS RELEASE – Barely a year after inaugurating its new premises in Sherbrooke and opening a new office in Colombia, the Sherbrooke-based company Ecotierra is initiating significant growth projects with the tactical and financial support of Sherbrooke Innopole. Ecotierra wants to accelerate its development as an international high-quality carbon credits seller, in addition to securing its role as a forestry and agroforestry projects proponent.

To date, Ecotierra’s carbon credits commercialization strategy was largely confined to the Québec market. In the last 18 months, the business has developed several marketing tools to help support its sales and refine its communications. Ecotierra now wants to broaden its client base in North America. This new strategy will create three jobs by the end of 2015, in addition to consolidating five existing positions in Sherbrooke.

To support the company’s growth strategy and marketing phase, Sherbrooke Innopole granted financial support of $200 000 from its Program for Innovative Entrepreneurship.

Josée Fortin, General Director of Sherbrooke Innopole, Étienne Desmarais, President of Ecotierra, and Chloé Legris, Director – Business Development of the Cleantech key sector at Sherbrooke Innopole

A new program

To foster success in the company’s projects, Sherbrooke Innopole has also provided funding to participate in the pilot Entrepreneur in Residence program.

“Ecotierra will be the first business in Sherbrooke to benefit from this program. Thanks to Sherbrooke Innopole’s specialized skills, complementing those of the project proponent, the selected accompanying guide will be able to support Ecotierra in its growth strategy, playing an instrumental role in key decision-making and acting in the company’s best interests. The guide will also ensure close monitoring with Sherbrooke Innopole to follow up on progress towards the objectives set out when funding was first granted to Ecotierra,” explained Sherbrooke Innopole’s CEO, Josée Fortin.

Étienne Desmarais, Ecotierra’s CEO, explained that Sherbrooke Innopole’s funding represents a significant financial contribution to the company’s development plans: “This addition to our capital funds is a prerequisite to obtain extra large-scale funding from high-level strategic partners and implement an aggressive growth strategy. We are confident that, combined with the Entrepreneur in Residence program, this funding will be a great help to meet our objectives.”

“Ecotierra is a forerunner in Québec’s carbon credits market. Thanks to the quality of its projects, the company plays a significant environmental role by also participating in the economic development of communities in developing countries. We can be proud to have such a company in Sherbrooke, especially given that the carbon credits generated by Ecotierra meet the highest globally-recognized certification standards,” highlighted Chloé Legris, Director of Sherbrooke Innopole’s Business Development key sector.

The entrepreneur in residence is currently working in collaboration with Ecotierra to gather a group of international experts in the complex fields of global carbon finance and corporate social responsibility to establish an aggressive game plan for marketing its carbon credits, which rank among the best currently available in the international market.