See the original article (french only) : L'Actualité Alimentaire
Inaugurated in 2019, Mycélium has supported nearly 46 startups. Over the next three years, 90 startups and scaleups will benefit from the services of the new Mycélium team.
Supported by the City of Québec, the Ministère de l'Économie et de l'Innovation (MEI), the Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation (MAPAQ), Capitale entrepreneur, and the Centre de formation professionnelle de Neufchâtel—which is attached to the Centre de services scolaires de la Capitale—Mycélium offers startup entrepreneurs and scaleup companies training programs and business coaching specific to their needs.
“We enthusiastically accept the management mandate of the Mycélium incubator. For the past 13 years, the health food cluster has brought together bio-food companies, mainly from the Capitale-Nationale region, with a common objective: to support them in the development and marketing of healthier and innovative food products. We are fortunate to have an ecosystem in Québec City that promotes food innovation and the emergence of new businesses. Integrating Mycélium's startups into our network and allowing them to benefit from the experience of the SMEs and large companies that are members of the network will be beneficial in accelerating their development.”
Services and facilities to boost the development of food businesses
Two training programs and business coaching are offered to new entrepreneurs and growing food processors, but also to agricultural producers and agro-processors of the Grand Marché who wish to accelerate their development.
The Incubation program is designed for entrepreneurs who want to start a bio-food business. Over a period of one year, the new companies follow a training program and benefit from business coaching to accelerate the start-up of their company. They are guided by some 30 expert trainers who cover all areas related to the management of a food processing business.
The Croissance programme will be offered from the fall onwards to SMEs wishing to be supported in the development or marketing of new innovative food products.
In addition, Québec City's food incubator offers companies:
A 1,500 sq. ft. kitchen in which 4-5 companies can work simultaneously to develop new products and become familiar with commercial kitchen equipment before scaling up their production. Supported by product development experts, companies can use the equipment as needed. The kitchen can also be rented by the hour on a one-time or recurring basis.
The Innovation Space is a market validation tool. With technological tools, companies can validate the interest of customers of the Grand Marché in their developing food products. Companies of all sizes can use the Innovation Space to co-develop their products and packaging with consumer feedback to increase their chances of launching commercially successful products.
For more information and to register for the next cohort of the incubation program starting in September, visit the Mycélium website: https://myceliuminc.ca/
