How does ElevateIP help deliver IP support to businesses? Laura Cooke (ISED), Louis-Félix Binette, and Lola Arnaud (MAIN) answer this important question and more. Hear about how to access funding and how support is structured to promote long-term growth for your company. Note: This episode was recorded in 2023 and since then ElevateIP has been awarded new funding to continue delivering on their mission to help businesses build their IP strategies.
How does ElevateIP help deliver IP support to businesses?
Laura Cooke (ISED), Louis-Félix Binette, and Lola Arnaud (MAIN) answer this important question and more. Hear about how to access funding and how support is structured to promote long-term growth for your company.
Note: This episode was recorded in 2023 and since then ElevateIP has been awarded new funding to continue delivering on their mission to help businesses build their IP strategies.
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Lisa Desjardins (Lisa): It's a truly exciting time to be working with intellectual property in Canada. The year 2023 has been filled with initiatives, offerings, and outcomes for S.M.E.s to get assistance. The assistance they need with specific and strategic advice for their I.P. journey. One of these initiatives is called Elevate I.P., which is a government program launched in response to the National Intellectual Property Strategy. This program is poised to revolutionize how startups and high-tech businesses navigate their intellectual property journey. With a substantial investment of $90 million over 4 years, starting in 2022 to 2023, Elevate I.P. empowers business accelerators and incubators to equip startups with the knowledge and tools needed to strategically manage and capitalize on their I.P. assets. But how exactly does the program work ? Well, to learn more, I am very happy today to be joined from Innovation, Science and Economic Development, I have Laura Cooke, who is a senior investment analyst at the program for Elevate I.P. and we're also talking to one of the recipients of the program. We'll be talking to Louis-Félix Binette, who is the executive director and Lola Arnaud, who is a project coordinator at MAIN, one of the Elevate I.P. recipients. But I wanted to start with you Laura first, to help us get some government perspective and the history of Elevate I.P. So, can you explain what the Elevate I.P. program is?
Laura Cooke (Laura): Certainly, yeah. Elevate I.P. is a 4-year program that started in 2022–2023 and it provides funding to Canadian business accelerators and incubators to support Canadian startups in leveraging and strategically managing their intellectual property. The program operates on a further distribution model, meaning funding was awarded to 5 recipients across the country. That startups can then work with to receive their I.P. supports. So, from East to West let's say, we have Springboard Atlantic supporting the startups in Newfoundland, Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. We have Mouvement des accélérateurs d’innovation du Québec or MAIN, who's here today, also supporting startups in Quebec. We have Communitech Corporations supporting startups in Ontario, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. As well as University of Calgary with Innovate Calgary and Economic Development Lethbridge supporting startups in Alberta. And, finally, we have New Ventures BC in the West supporting British Columbia, Yukon and Northwest Territories.
Lisa: And, if we go a little bit backwards now and draw the line in the sand, why has the government allocated these funds to this program?
Laura: Yeah. So Elevate I.P. builds off the National Intellectual Property Strategy that was launched by ISED in 2018, and it was intended to help businesses protect and capitalize on their I.P. through education and awareness initiatives, development of new I.P. tools and legislative reform. The program joins a complement of Government of Canada programs that focus on I.P., but Elevate I.P. uses the expertise and ecosystems of B.A.I.s (Business Accelerators and Incubators) to support startups specifically. We have three activities under Elevate I.P., the first one being I.P. awareness, which includes workshops, programs, conferences, peer-to-peer learning opportunities so that startups have the foundational I.P. knowledge required to succeed. Recipients are encouraged to leverage existing educational resources to deliver these services, and many of which are utilizing the resources available by CIPO for this activity and also leveraging the I.P. village. The second activity we have is developing I.P. strategies. Basically, effective I.P. strategies as the first step in giving startups a road map to developing and utilizing their I.P. assets in a strategic manner and so setting the stage for longer-term success, so the program aims to help provide startups with tools, talents and supports to manage and make the most of their I.P. assets. And then to add on to that, the last activity is implementing I.P. strategies, which enables startups to realize the objectives of their I.P. strategies by providing the supports required to execute the strategy through things like I.P. landscape analysis and the costs related to the formal protection of their I.P..
Lisa: There's so many things to get support with here, I just love it. If I was an S.M.E. though, I would probably, the first thing I would ask myself well, what are the criteria or what are the limitations for the companies that say have already benefited from other funds from other I.P. financing programs. I mean we have CanExport for the Trade Commissioners that can help S.M.E.s protect I.P. abroad, there's I.P. Assist from IRAP. So how does this work together?
Laura: Yeah. So, Elevate I.P. strongly encourages B.A.I.s and startups to gain support from other I.P. funding programs available at any level of government as this ultimately does increase their ability to reach their I.P. goals. For Elevate I.P., eligible activities that I just mentioned there, there is a stacking limit of 100% of total eligible expenditures, which just means that no one expense can be charged to 2 levels of government or programs. So, we suggest that startups reach out to their ecosystem and find out how best to be able to benefit from all types of programming.
Lisa: That's great. Thanks. It's a great, great overview. Now I'm going to turn to you, Louis-Félix, because I'm wondering, can you give us more perspectives from one of the recipients? So, you work at MAIN, which is obviously one of the recipients of the funding. Tell me a little bit more about your organization and how the funds are allocated.
Louis-Félix Binette (Louis-Félix): Yes, thank you for having me on the pod. It's a pleasure to talk about the way we do our program in Quebec. First off, maybe I'm going to say that MAIN was created almost 10 years ago by emerging startup incubators and accelerators. It was a fairly new trend a decade ago to have structures dedicated to helping high growth S.M.E.s, also known as startups, and delivering programs specifically for them. So, we started working as a network with about a dozen accelerators, incubators. And overtime, we grew to become an umbrella organization at the Quebec provincial level and we now work with over 100 organizations, over 300 professionals within those organizations whose job it is every day to wake up and help startups succeed in their project at the different stages. We also work with the startup themselves to help them find the right resource at the right time. There's never been that many resources to help startups succeed in Canada, and in Quebec specifically, and it's easy to get paralyzed by choice. So, we try to help startups find the right program for them when they need them. So, when Elevate I.P., when the strategy came out and Elevate I.P., the call for proposals came out, as the network we got together and we tried to look at the best way to provide I.P. services to Quebec startups and we created a network based proposal. So, that's how momentum I.P. was born, which is the Quebec incarnation of Elevate I.P., and we are delivering this program, so under the administrative overview of MAIN, we work with 3 delivery partners. The first important delivery partner is Axelys. Axelys is an organization that works across Quebec that replaced most of the tech transfer offices in the Quebec-based universities with this one transfer platform. And so, they have a lot of expertise in intellectual property coming out of the universities and so they help us create those I.P. strategies, the second pillar of the Elevate I.P. program for a lot of the startups that come through the program, we deliver that with Axelys and their I.P. specialists. The second category of partners is, uh, we created consortia of accelerators in the sectors that are key to the new economy in Quebec: creative industries. We created a consortium to help startups with I.P. challenges in the creative industries. It's led by M.T. Lab, tourism and culture incubator, based in Montreal, La Piscine and Mount X, which is specialized in sports technology. We create a consortium on life sciences and health tech, which is led by Montréal InVivo, in collaboration with a lot of accelerators providing program specific to med tech and health tech and they work across the industry with all involved partners. And finally, we have a consortium to help clean tech startups with their I.P. challenges and the consortium is led by 2 Degrés working closely with Cycle Momentum and again the different accelerators helping create tech startups. The third category of partners for the delivery of Elevate I.P. is the big accelerators. So, we have a lot of different incubators accelerators in Quebec, but we have a few big ones that have such a high volume of startups that they have their own pipeline and their own ecosystem in which I.P. specialists are already present. So, we want to make sure that the startups evolving within the programs of those big accelerators are helped within their natural growth environment and these 5 accelerators that we work with, directly, and with their partners, is ACET based in Sherbrooke, Centech and District 3, based in Montreal, and LE CAMP and Quantino, based in Quebec. We are also finally working very closely with law firms, big and small, that have a history or practice of helping startups with their I.P. challenges, and we also work with different groups and associations that have, as part of their mission, to contribute to promote an I.P. culture in Quebec, to make sure that momentum I.P., Elevate I.P. contributes to building that I.P.-first culture of innovation in our province.
Lisa: I think it's a spectacular program really connecting the dots of all the strengths in our current I.P. ecosystem. Lola, I'm going to turn to you now, as one of the recipients of the program, can you talk about how entrepreneurs can apply to this program?
Lola Arnaud (Lola): Sure, so in Quebec, an entrepreneur can apply to what we call in Quebec, Pillar 2, which means that an entrepreneur can request funding to develop their I.P. strategy, or they can apply for Pillar 3 to fund the deployment of the I.P. strategy. In both cases, it's very simple. Applicants can submit their applications directly via the MAIN website. Applications are open at all times and our team evaluates applications to ensure that they are directed to the right path that Louis-Félix just mentioned, which can be big accelerators, consortium or Axelys. I would say to find out more about the programs or the recipients and how to apply it's also very easy, but I invite entrepreneurs to visit their websites where everything will be explained. Just to add more information and if entrepreneurs are looking for more information about the service that we offer, we also organize information sessions every week, open to all, where we explain the terms and condition of the service and answer any questions entrepreneurs may have before applying. So again, these information sessions are open to anyone seeking information on the service including support organizations, so accelerator incubators or any organization in contact with the entrepreneurs are really welcome in these sessions.
Lisa: Thank you. I'm sure people are going to sign up for those as soon as they're finished listening to this podcast. How are companies selected for these funds and what can they do with them?
Lola: Yes, very important question. So, before answering in details to this question, I just would like to remind everyone that we really want entrepreneurs across Canada to be aware of the importance of thinking about developing an I.P. strategy as early as possible. So, we really hope that this service will help as many entrepreneurs as possible in this process. Now, to answer the questions, we have 4 criteria to apply to this service. So first, have a head office in Quebec and intend to keep its head office in Canada. So, the second point is having established business model based on an innovative product or service. Three, demonstrate strong growth potential. And 4, have annual sales of $2 million or less. When an entrepreneur wishes to apply for assistance in deploying his or her I.P. strategy, the same criteria apply, so it's not only for Pillar 2, but Pillar 2 and 3, but with the addition of having for an I.P. strategy for Pillar 3 that is actually ready to be deployed. To give you more details, the service offered include, for example, in Pillar 2, hours of consulting to create a customized I.P. strategy for a startup and for Pillar 3, to deploy the strategy, we offer coaching by a specialized I.P. firm, a financial assistance for the deployment of an I.P. strategy and to finish registration and full ownership of I.P. assets by the company.
Lisa: Great. This is really, really important information. Thanks for sharing that. Louis-Félix, I'm going to turn back to you now. Obviously, there are many beneficiaries and I know they don’t work in isolation, so can you tell us a little bit about the other beneficiaries of Elevate I.P. program elsewhere in Canada and explain their role in the innovation ecosystem and how they manage Elevate I.P. for their organization?
Louis-Félix: Yes, I'll try to do that with the most respect for the work that they're doing and be a good representative. First, before I take you on a cross-Canada tour, I'll just mention some of the generalities. All 5 beneficiaries across territory offer a comprehensive suite of services from I.P. education, mentorship, and financial support for legal costs as we've described. That structured approach helps develop and protect the intellectual property for startups and contributes to their long-term growth and success. They also provide startups with a robust support system grounded in the principles of equity, inclusivity, and sustainability. And all programs are directed to high-growth potential startups to access funding and professional services and to really create robust and deliver robust strategies. And all programs require a co-investment from startups to ensure their commitment and shared responsibility in the process. So, if you allow me to go from the Pacific to the Atlantic: first, we have New Ventures B.C., who delivers the Accelerate I.P. program in collaboration with Innovate B.C., they support tech startups in B.C., but also in the 3 territories: Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut to help develop and safeguard the intellectual property startups there and those territories can access intensive I.P. certification programs, tailored mentorship and up to $60,000 in funding for I.P. strategy and implementation. If we move to Alberta, Innovate Calgary is partnering with Economic Development Lethbridge to deliver the Elevate I.P. Alberta program. Companies are selected based on the readiness of the team, funding, market identification, and technical aspects of their startup. Successful applicants receive up to $15,000 for their I.P. strategy development and significant funding afterwards for the I.P. implementation, of course, with a required co-investments. In Central Canada and Ontario, the service is insured by Communitech. Communitech is one of the oldest and most established hubs helping startups in Canada. They play a pivotal role in the Canada's innovation ecosystem and also in innovation policy. They've been helping tech founders for a long time. They're also led by founders. They manage the Elevate I.P. program with Invest Ottawa, based, of course, in Eastern Ontario, and North Forge which ensures that the program is delivered efficiently also in Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The Elevate I.P. funds there, for these 3 provinces, they offer up to $100,000 in resources to develop and implement customized I.P. strategies. They use the same tiered approach that we've described and they also work on developing tool boxes, which we're also reusing in other regions and they help at every stage of the startups growth. Finally, the fifth beneficiary covers Atlantic Canada. It's Springboard Atlantic who collaborates with all post-secondary institutions in Atlantic Canada and also with industry partners to foster innovation culture in Atlantic Canada and let me tell you, they are very good at it. As an Elevate I.P. partner, they provide I.P. education, awareness, strategy development, through what they call the Atlantic I.P. Advantage Program. Look it up. By working closely with regional I.P. counselors, startups can ensure their I.P. protection aligns with their business goals, contributing to commercial and social benefits for the region. So, that's for our cross-Canada tour, as you can see, a lot of very strong partners there, from coast to coast to coast.
Lisa: It is indeed very impressive. From a more general perspective, how do they ensure that the funds are used effectively and successfully?
Louis-Félix: Indeed, the Elevate I.P. program and the I.P. strategy as a whole is a generous strategy, a set of programs that the Canadian government has put in place, but it's relatively small when we compare it to the needs on the ground and to the effect of such investments on the success and the success potential of Canadian startups worldwide. So, we need to ensure that the funds are used as efficiently and effectively as possible, so each beneficiary, each of the5 beneficiaries, has to implement the structured and rigorous process of allocating funds of admissibility structure for startups, and follow-up, and each beneficiary works very closely with the ISED team, with Matthieu and Laura and the whole team to make sure that we meet the very strict Canadian government criteria for allocating funds. This involves setting clear criteria for startup eligibility and readiness, providing tailored support and resources to each of the projects supported and maintaining in continuous evaluation and approval system from the first moments of startups getting the program up to the very, very last moments of accountability. It also means giving particular attention to inclusion, diversity, equity, and accessibility to make sure that entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities across Canada receive the same level of opportunities and support than startups that we typically encounter in accelerators. The fact that a co-investment from the startup is required and periodic assessments are conducted with them, help guarantee that the startups remain committed and progressing effectively. As we all know, startups are small companies, oftentimes very bootstrapped with very little resources and a lot of things to achieve to make sure they achieve success, so it's important to keep them committed, and that's why Elevate I.P., the way it's deployed in all 5 regions, is based on a close collaboration with business accelerators and incubators, in which startups evolve to ensure the alignments of the I.P. work and the use of funds that we deploy for the I.P. work is aligned with their strategic goals and so that the I.P. development follows the commercialization needs and are not just happy status spending, but something that is very strategic and will help those startups achieve greater values in their next funding rounds or when they're bound to exist in the future. That's how we make sure that the funds are used effectively.
Lisa: Louis-Félix, Laura, Lola, thank you for taking the time to talk to us about the initiative, the Elevate I.P. program and then specifically about momentum I.P. led by MAIN. We have our hearts and minds and souls into I.P., it's a great pleasure to work with you and, of course, here at CIPO, we are very aware of the positive impact of the program and its effect on Canadian businesses. Elevate I.P. is a key program for any company seeking support with their intellectual property. So, thank you for sharing your expertise with us today. Thank you.
Louis-Félix Thank you.
Lisa: You've listened to Canadian I.P. Voices where we talk intellectual property. In this episode, we learn about Canada's I.P. strategy and Elevate I.P., or programs specifically created to help Canadian companies protect their I.P.. This program is delivered through 5 recipients throughout Canada. For more details on this program and more information on how you can apply, open the description to this episode for links to learn about Canada's I.P. strategy, the Elevate I.P. program, as well as other programs currently in place to help Canadian companies protect their I.P.