This summer’s C2 Montreal festival will host an “extremely VIPish” AccelerateMTL event, presented by iNovia and C100. Along with the yearly event, AccelerateMTL and C2 Montreal will also curate a “private and exclusive” three-day Startup Program for entrepreneurs to apply to.

AccelerateMTL’s goal include “connecting startups, igniting ideas and inspiring action”. This year’s event is in partnership with the popular C2 creativity conference, which regularly attracts big-name speakers and guests.

“We brought it down to this: C2 is a huge event that’s already attracting people around the globe, so how do we insert ourselves into the program to give visibility and access to a select number of entrepreneurs? That’s the curation that’s going to be done. It’s going to be extremely VIPish in terms of who will be selected to be an entrepreneur in AccelerateMTL,” iNovia Capital’s Chris Arsenault told MTLinTech.

The investor said every year iNovia and the C100 try to mix it up and add fresh excitement to AccelerateMTL. The Accelerate Series conferences were created by the C100 Association and offer events hosted in Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, and Alberta.

C100 also puts on a “48hrs in the Valley” event, where Canadian startups go to San Francisco for two action-packed days. AccelerateMTL is meant to pull international investors to Montreal to see what startups have to offer.

With the new partnership, Arsenault said new life and a deeper reach will be provided for both AccelerateMTL and C2.

“The goal is basically to bring to the front a certain number of emerging entrepreneurs and tie them into a network of wealth, be it knowledge or relationships, with people that can help you make a difference.”

AccelerateMTL is also promoting its Startup Program with the new partnership with C2. It’s a private and exclusive three-day program that will be composed of panels and workshops from a “unique group of speakers” to be announced soon. It will all take place at L’Arsenal from May 24-26.

AccelerateMTL’s jury will select 50 early-stage technology startup entrepreneurs. The winners will receive a free ticket to C2 Montreal 2016 ($3,850 value) and entry into the program.

The judges in charge of selecting the winner will be Arsenault, Katherine Barr, a partner at Mohr Davidow Ventures, Jeff Clavier, a managing partner at SoftTech VC and Terry Doyle, an executive chair at C100. The deadline for applications is this Friday April 29th just before midnight. Those interested can email [email protected] with any questions.

For Arsenault, another year of AccelerateMTL and another C2 conference can only mean good things for Montreal’s tech ecosystem.

“Montreal is becoming a hub and we’re seeing it from many different lenses now. We’re attracting thousands of people with Startupfest in the summertime and ,we have C2 which is attracting a different type of crowd,” he said. “Bringing the entrepreneurs to the forefront is in every aspect of what’s happening in Montreal, and it’s only going to better the world going forward.”

“All that said, we’re pretty excited that C2 jumped in and agreed to work with us to make something new and innovative here.”