On September 6 it was announced that Capital Innovation has joined hands with Investment Quebec and other venture capital funds to launch the Montreal Challenge. The program will be the largest such form of financing for innovative firms in Canada. Start-ups and entrepreneurs are allowed to submit their ideas to the program up to October 19. Once all the projects have been collected, a committee of investors will choose 50 projects that interest them. The selected candidates and their ideas will be invited to Quebec for six months while they receive training mentorship and idea promotion and marketing. The Montreal Challenge focuses on firms that deal in information technologies, communication technologies, green or clean technologies as well as health care technology.
Canadian firms seeking venture capital funding should be very excited about the Montreal Challenge because the investors in the program have over $700 million of assets under their management. For comparison, only $8 million of funding was provided to finalists from the 2011 Montreal Challenge program. The 2012 edition will have almost 10 million dollars in capital ready for the winners.
The entire project is meant to be a program that will groom innovative businesses for success and in turn increase the value of the start-up market in Canada. That is why all selected projects will get a chance to be showcased in front of veteran investors who will help the ideas succeed. The start-ups that reach the finals will be presented to a large group of investors who are part of Capital Innovation in Canada and the United States.
Source: TechVibes
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