InnoCité MTL will be merging with Centech, according to a joint announcement by Centech’s director-general Richard Chénier and InnoCité MTL’s director-general Béatrice Couture

The Montreal smart city startup accelerator InnoCité MTL is the first of its kind in Canada and brings together the best entrepreneurs who are committed to smart city development. Past participants include MLDB.ai, City Parking, Give-A-Seat and We Grab It.

In January, InnoCité MTL announced a two year agreement with Ville de Brossard to expand the accelerator’s network of mentors and put the South Shore at the forefront of innovation in smart city solutions.

Founded in 1996 by the École de Technologie Supérieure, Centech is a start-up company launcher dedicated to technological tools and other advanced technologies with high growth potential. Its two pre-existing programs, Acceleration and Propulsion, have already proven to be successful at fostering and contributing to the city’s thriving tech ecosystem. The program’s partners, the Brandbourg agency, Deloitte, the BCF law firm, Tak Design, and National Bank, all offer advice and support to participants in Centech.

Centech also recently launched an entrepreneurial cohort dedicated to medical technologies (Med Tech), the first of its kind.

The integration of the two will allow startup communities currently supported by InnoCité MTL to benefit from 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,” said Mr. Chénier, Centech director. “We will be developing a true community of expertise in smart cities here in Montreal.”

Access to the Centech support programs will also create an InnoCité MTL innovation cell. This 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. Ms. Couture will participate in the implementation of Centech innovation cells, including the InnoCité cell.

“InnoCité’s mission will remain the same,” said Béatrice Couture, InnoCité MTL director-general. 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 school.”