Vertical Program gives entrepreneurs working on Supply Chain Technology access to Industry Experts across multiple Tech Hubs (Silicon Valley, Montreal, Boston, Chicago)
Friday, July 2, Montreal, Canada – The Founder Institute, the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator; BCF Ventures (https://www.bcfventures.vc), a Canadian Corporate Venture Capital Fund specialized in B2B Enterprise; Scale AI (https://www.scaleai.ca), Canada’s leading AI-powered Supply Chain Supercluster; and OVH Cloud (https://www.ovh.com/), a leadering European cloud provider servicing 1.6 million customers worldwide; are collaborating to announce the next iteration of the Supply Chain Tech Vertical accelerator in Montreal. This pre-seed acceleration program establishes Montreal as the global hub for the Founder Institute’s Supply Chain Tech initiatives, and aims to inspire and support early-stage entrepreneurs by providing:
- Direct investment of $10,000 from BCF Ventures in up to 3 Canadian AI-Supply Chain startups who complete the program
- Several "Supply Chain Fellowships" Awarded to the Top Supply Chain-Tech Applicants, allowing them to participate in the program for free
- Feedback and Mentorship from 20+ top Supply Chain Tech Experts in Silicon Valley, Boston, Chicago, Montreal and beyond
- A Global Support Network of Entrepreneurs, Investors, and Advisors specialized in Supply Chain from the Founder Institute’s Network
- Over USD$3 MM in Partner Deals and Resources
Early-stage supply chain tech entrepreneurs and teams are encouraged to apply for free at https://fi.co/join/supplychain.
By joining the Founder Institute Montreal supply chain initiative alongside BCF Ventures and Scale AI, OVHcloud will act as a useful support system for program participants. In addition to graciously providing startups with up to $150,000 CAD of free credits for its cloud services, OVHcloud will equally offer up to 20 hours of technical advisory services in the form of office hours. Startups will enjoy mentorship from experienced professionals and access to co-marketing opportunities through OVHcloud’s global network. With a strong historical presence in Europe, OVHcloud is the perfect gateway for startups that would like to expand and benefit from OVHcloud’s expertise and coaching in this highly regulated environment.
COVID-19 exposed major weaknesses in supply chains across the planet. Supply chain solutions in 2021 are critical to the global recovery and building for greater resiliency across the world,” says Adeo Ressi, Founder & CEO of the Founder Institute. “I can’t think of a better startup ecosystem than Montreal for our global Supply Chain program, and I’m confident we can help entrepreneurs build a better future for us all.
The goal of the Supply Chain Tech Vertical program is to help build more than 20 promising supply chain tech startups in 2021, and help further establish Montreal as a global epicenter for supply chain innovation.
Sergio A. Escobar, Lead Director at Founder Institute Montreal and CEO at BCF Ventures, notes,
Founder Institute has been a driving force for empowering innovative startups around the world. Their ability to select, train and boost amazing entrepreneurs is unique, and we are thrilled to invest in startups focusing on Supply Chain Technology.
Julien Billot, CEO of Scale AI, Canada’s AI supercluster, underlines,
Integrating AI within the supply chain is key to boost productivity across industries in Canada, by transforming the way we produce and move goods and services. We are proud to extend our collaboration and support to Canadian start-ups in partnership with the Founder Institute as we aim to stimulate innovation, unleash the potential of the industry and foster the next generation of successful Canadian AI flagship businesses.
Amy Pollard, Startup Program Manager for OVH Cloud, added,
OVHcloud is thrilled to join forces with the Founder Institute, BCF Ventures & Scale AI by providing free cloud resources to support the growth of entrepreneurs who are shaping the future of global supply chain. Montreal is a prime location for startups to bolster AI-powered technologies and this partnership will serve as a key driver to keep the momentum going.
Launched in 2014 by Sergio Escobar and LP Maurice, the Montreal Founder Institute has produced over 55 companies that have collectively raised several million dollars in funding. Notable alumni of the Montreal program include FightCamp, Unito, Streamline Genomics, Jitbase, Allset, and many more. The 2021 Virtual Montreal program will count the addition of Ben Melchionno as a new co-director, and is supported by Fasken and Richter.
From the Montreal Winter 2020-2021 cohort, the Scale AI Supercluster chose Leapsaver as a startup eligible to potentially (under due diligence) receive the $10k investment from BCF Ventures - learn more about Leapsaver in their video below, from the cohort's April Graduation Announcement:
Learn more about the Supply Chain Tech Vertical and apply at https://fi.co/join/supplychain.
About the Founder Institute
The Founder Institute (http://FI.co) is the world's largest pre-seed startup accelerator. In the program, early-stage entrepreneurs and teams build their business alongside a critical support network of local startup experts that share equity in their success, and through a structured and challenging business-building process that has helped alumni raise over $975M. Leaders of the world’s fastest-growing startups have used the Founder Institute to raise funding, get into seed-accelerators, generate traction, recruit a team, build a product, transition from employee to entrepreneur, and more. Based in Silicon Valley and with chapters across 200 cities and 90 countries, the Founder Institute’s mission is to Globalize Silicon Valley and empower talented and motivated entrepreneurs to build companies that will create one million new jobs.
About SCALE AI (scaleai.ca)
The Canadian supercluster specializing in artificial intelligence (AI), based in Montreal, SCALE AI acts as an investment and innovation hub that accelerates the rapid adoption and integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and contributes to the development of a world-class Canadian AI ecosystem.
Funded by the federal government and the Quebec government, SCALE AI has nearly 120 industry partners, research institutes and other players in the AI field. SCALE AI develops programs aimed at supporting investment projects of companies that implement real-world applications in AI, the emergence of future Canadian flagships in the sector, as well as the development of a skilled workforce.
About BCF Ventures (https://www.bcfventures.vc)
BCF Ventures is a Canadian Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) Fund investing at the seed/seed+ stage of technology-based startups mostly in the United States and Canada, and opportunistically in Europe/Israel. We are passionate about disruptive technologies and the business opportunities that these create. We are looking for innovation pioneers challenging the status quo in traditional sectors, or dramatically improving legacy processes. The companies we fund must have some type of key science or technological innovation leading to the development of intellectual property rights. We believe in the future of B2B Cloud & SaaS Enterprise startups leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Analytics and Security. BCF Ventures is a spin-off of BCF Business Law Firm. Established in 1995, BCF Business Law Firm has, in just over 20 years, become the reference for all matters relating to business law in Québec. Deeply rooted in the business community as well as in the entrepreneurial ecosystem of Québec, BCF and its professionals are recognized as being effective strategic consultants for their clients.
About OVH Cloud (https://www.ovh.com/)
GLOBAL MEDIA CONTACT: Jonathan Greechan, Co-Founder at the Founder Institute (j@fi.co)
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