Answer from Startup Quebec / NOICE funding

[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

Hi all, 

Our experience with the federal administration, the DEC (Development Economic Canada) has been repeated, this time with the Quebec administration, Startup Quebec / MESI. When we applied for funding for the first time to the DEC we were literally told that we were wasting their time. The second attempt was more successful, we got a promise of $75K, which was insufficient to start the Verdun project. Only at our third attempt we got a full engagement for the required funding, with the condition that the Quebec Government and the local Government (City of Montreal) contributes equal parts. I was informed that our first attempt with MESI (see the proposal) has been rejected. I just wrote a thank you letter to those in charge of reviewing our proposal for their effort to understand our innovation and economic model, which is not an easy thing... I also told them that our determination to bring this project to completion is unbounded, and I asked them to suggest another financing alternative. 

We need to understand the context. 

Our model is quite new and disruptive. The political layer understands it and believes that it fits with the new priorities for innovation and economic development. Other major institutions see us as pioneers in the collaborative economy, which is regarded as a thing of the future. I will let OuiShare members share their recent achievements and the support they have received from other organisations. On the SENSORICA side, we just come back from the World Forum for a Responsible Economy in Lile/France, where our presentation has been received with a lot of enthusiasm. Next week we are presenting our experience with Open Science at the Canadian Science Policy Center conference in Ottawa, to influence the evolution of our academic system. But despite all the support and the credibility with which we are invested, the public administration, which is responsible to redistribute our tax dollars for development projects, is still adjusting to the rapid changes that our society goes through. Bureaucracy is almost the last one to change, before the church. But this is not all negative, even though us, the change makers, manifest impatience for institutional evolution. We live in a state of law and rules, and checks and balances. If the bureaucracy was designed to adapt fast it would most probably also fail us more than it actually does. So we need to be patient with the pace of change... as we were with the DEC. Once we open these doors, once we create a precedent, others who do similar work will be able to access government funding. Hopefully, in the near future we will see programs like the Collective Awareness Platforms for Sustainability and Social Innovation (CAPS), by the European Commission. 

So we get right back to work. Our target is to start the project at the beginning of 2018. 

A few weeks ago Dominique Anglade (minister, head of MESI) has been informed about the Verdun project. 

In the following days, I am going to continue the discussion with MESI for financing alternatives.

In the mean time, we continue our work and build support from other organizations around us. Eventually, it will become quite though to be ignored by the provincial and the local administration.

--

t!b! 

co-founder of SENSORICA: an open value network

co-founder of CAKE: consulting for the new economy

founder of Multitude Project: informing the new multitude

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@TiberiusB

[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

Hi all, 

Tomorrow 9:30am we have a meeting with MESI to discuss the Verdun project in more details. This is not a formal presentation, just a meeting.  

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[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

No, at their place. 

5 min before the meeting, in case one of us is not there, go up to the office and start the meeting. 

On Oct 24, 2017 14:19, "Hadi Shamieh" <hadi.s...@gmail.com> wrote:

Great! At Sensorica lab? 

On Tue, Oct 24, 2017 at 2:17 PM Tiberius Brastaviceanu <tiberius.brastaviceanu@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi all, 

Tomorrow 9:30am we have a meeting with MESI to discuss the Verdun project in more details. This is not a formal presentation, just a meeting.  

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[Tiberius Brastaviceanu]

Hi all, 

We were called for a rapid meeting with MESI for the financing of the Verdun project at 9:30 am this morning. It is very positive.  

Our first application to Startup Québec,  a program run by MESI has been rejected because the selection committee did not understand our project. This is normal, since we are presenting a new economic model that is still poorly understood by the general population. The selection committee is made of different stakeholders from the private and public sector, not just of government employees. I met with 2 advisors from MESI this morning who understand our project and expressed their disappointment for not having been selected. 

In the following weeks, MESI will inform us of new funding opportunities and they will work closely with us to formulate our funding proposals. This help is part of their coaching program for projects that show good potential. 

We are still on track to start the project at the beginning of the year. 

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