6 June 2023

PRESS RELEASE – As part of the Année de l’Innovation Franco-Québécoise, Sherbrooke Innopole will lead an economic development mission to France from June 7 to 23. The mission, which focuses on information technologies and quantum technologies, aims to create partnerships that benefit the Sherbrooke ecosystem and accelerate development opportunities for the innovative companies in these sectors in Sherbrooke and France.

Six technology companies and educational institutions from the Sherbrooke region will also participate in different parts of the mission. These are Station SSCA (software publishing), Skinaptiks (technological solutions in the field of tactile perception), Webico (Web company), the École NAD-UQAC specialized in digital arts, animation, and design—which announced the opening of a campus in Sherbrooke for early 2023—the Séminaire de Sherbrooke, as well as the BISOUS laboratory (Bureau d’Infographie, de Simulation et d’Optimisation of the Université de Sherbrooke). A 7^th company in Montreal, EdLive (integrator tools for video creation and distribution), has also joined the mission to create links with French and Sherbrooke ecosystems.

Two Sherbrooke Innopole professionals are leading the mission: Marc-Henri Faure, Director, Business Services – Information Technology and Quantum, and Jérémy Laplante-Chapdelaine, Project Manager for the development of strategic initiatives.

More specifically, the program of visits and meetings was articulated around three technological verticals that are key sectors or which have high development potential in Sherbrooke: quantum technologies; video games; as well as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing.

“As an economic development organization, the objective of Mission France is to initiate or strengthen foundations for partnerships on several fronts, whether to identify collaboration opportunities for our companies, to facilitate the growth of Sherbrooke businesses abroad, or to exchange best practices with our French counterparts. Underlying all these objectives, we continuously strive to increase Sherbrooke’s notoriety and to expand the Sherbrooke Innopole network internationally,” explained Jérémy Laplante-Chapdelaine.

During the mission, the participants from Sherbrooke will visit several French cities: Toulouse, Montpellier, Rennes, Nantes, Paris, as well as the Grand Est region, including Strasbourg. In addition, there will be over a dozen visits to innovation hubs, incubators, universities, and companies, as well as fifty meetings with potential partners.

Moreover, three major technological events are on the agenda of the mission:

• Viva Technology (VivaTech), the largest gathering for startups and technologies in Europe, from June 14 to 17 in Paris. The representatives of Sherbrooke will then join the Quebec delegation led by Investissement Québec for a program of visits, meetings, and activities;
• France Quantum Conference on June 13 in Paris;
• 360 Grand Est, an event focused on innovation and transformation, June 22 and 23 in Strasbourg.

“These three events are must-attends in their field,” stated Marc-Henri Faure. “In addition to forging links with stakeholders of the ecosystem, it is an opportunity to take a pulse in order to remain at the forefront of trends. The influence of DistriQ, Sherbrooke’s Quantum Innovation Zone, will obviously be at the heart of several meetings, to promote its expertise and infrastructure, as well as to attract talent—students and researchers—and investments.”

For the École NAD-UQAC, the mission is taking place at an opportune time: “With the accelerated development of the video game sector in Sherbrooke and the upcoming establishment of a NAD-UQAC campus downtown, it is important for us to establish links with educational institutions and French companies in order to develop partnerships that will strengthen the ecosystem being enriched here,” stated Christian Beauchesne, Acting Director of the École NAD-UQAC.

For Sylvain Durocher, Executive Director of Sherbrooke Innopole, the mission in France is a continuation of the actions already deployed by the organization: “We have successfully attracted French investments in local companies in recent years, as well as large French companies on Sherbrooke soil, such as Ubisoft, Pasqal, Exaion, and Soprema. Bridges with the Rennes region have already been established with the Sherbrooke-Rennes-Arizona Entrepreneurial Triangle, as well as with the LEDEN Entrepreneurial Private Office. Lastly, Sherbrooke and Montpellier are twin cities, and the Université de Sherbrooke maintains strong interuniversity collaborations.”

The Mission France of Sherbrooke Innopole has been made possible thanks to the financial participation of the Ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie du Québec as part of the Année de l’innovation franco-québécoise 2023 and Global Affairs Canada through the CanExport Community Investments program.

Sherbrooke Innopole would also like to thank the partners who facilitated the organization and execution of its Mission France: Délégation générale du Québec à Paris, Business France, Agence AD’OCC, Grand E-Nov+, Destination Rennes, Nantes Saint-Nazaire Développement, and Choose Paris Region.

About Sherbrooke Innopole

Sherbrooke Innopole is the paramunicipal economic development organization for the industrial and high-value-added services sector. Its mission is to accelerate the development of companies from the five key sectors – Advanced Manufacturing, Information and Quantum Technologies, Cleantech, Life Sciences and Micro-Nanotechnologies – and ensure that Sherbrooke has an attractive and innovative business environment. It is mainly financed by the City of Sherbrooke through the Bureau de coordination du développement économique. 

Source: Sherbrooke Innopole