Montreal-based InnoCité MTL, an accelerator focused on smart city startups, is merging with the Centech incubator – created by the École de Technologie Supérieure (ETS), which is dedicated to hardware and advanced technologies startups. The merger is expected to help startups currently supported by InnoCité MTL using Centech’s support programs and services.
“This pooling of our expertise will concretize the vision we have of bringing together under one roof a concentration of the best start-ups in the field,” explained Mr. Chénier, Centech director “We will be developing a true community of expertise in smart cities here in Montreal.”
In addition, access to the Centech support programs will create an InnoCité MTL innovation cell which will provide an opportunity for the private and public partners of the InnoCité MTL accelerator to collaborate on innovation projects connected to the Smart City.
“InnoCité’s mission will remain the same,” said the general manager of InnoCité MTL, Béatrice Couture. “By becoming a smart city innovation cell, InnoCité will participate in the birth of new projects to respond to the specific needs of our partners and benefit from the collision resulting from the interactions between students, researchers and research chair holders, and public- and private-sector players.”
“Integration of InnoCité MTL in Centech will allow for a synergy between the forces of our entrepreneurial ecosystem, multiplying their technological and economic impact for Quebec,” added Jacques Bernier, chair of the board of directors of InnoCité MTL. “Our partners will greatly benefit from access to this critical mass of talent offered by ÉTS, one of Canada’s largest engineering schools.”