From Toronto to Montreal, Provence Promotion seeks new opportunities in Canada

Collective visits, conferences and BtoB meetings are on the agenda

Provence Promotion is currently in Canada as part of the delegation led by the City of Marseille to promote the territory’s attractiveness. Up to 12 July, the Aix-Marseille-Provence regional economic development agency will be promoting and prospecting with companies potentially interested in Provence. During two conferences on the region’s entry onto European and African markets, key sectors and investment opportunities were highlighted. In Toronto and Montreal, several Canadian companies supported by Provence Promotion were invited to discuss their investments in the region. This provides an opportunity to issue the “Invest in Provence” label, a token of recognition for these new investors and an indicator of success for any Canadian company present in the audience and which would like to establish a location in Provence.

Entrepreneurs and institutional representatives from the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolitan area are in fact currently working to strengthen bonds and business relations with Canada as part of the economic mission led by the City of Marseille from 8 to 12 July 2019.

While this mission provides opportunities for Provence businesses to access North American markets, for Provence Promotion and economic players, the challenge is to show that our region is a point of entry to Europe and Africa.

As part of this mission, the agency’s primary target sectors are digital and aeronautics. Provence Promotion thus visited the accelerator DMZ and participated in the presentation of the Sidewalk Labs city of the future project in Toronto. Discussions were also held on virtual reality and creative industries with the Canadian Film Center.

As an expert in start-up support, Provence Promotion also sits on the jury for Startup Fest in Montreal. Through its Start in Provence program, the agency began monitoring 68 new projects in 2018, of which 17 chose to base their activities in Provence.

Unlocking the keys to success

Provence Promotion highlights success stories in order to persuade investors. In the context of this economic mission, the agency invited several Canadian companies to speak about their establishments in the region.

During the Toronto conference, Dr Brad Schmidt, CEO of Canadian company Panaxium specializing in bioelectronic medicine, shared his experience setting up in Provence and what motivated him to today create his R&D center in Aix-en-Provence. He was enticed by the region’s advantages in several innovative domains, microelectronics, medical device manufacturing and artificial intelligence and by the assistance he received to establish his project.

Philomec and Dialog Insight also opted for Provence, one for its growth potential in the medical field and 3D modeling, and the other for its potential in the digital field. Both companies are prime success stories, each having already entered into active collaborations with scientific partners and major clients.

Following their operations, the awarding of the “Invest in Provence” label by Provence Promotion and its partners is a mark of support from the region to encourage the arrival of new Canadian investors.