CALL FOR PROJECTS
In partnership with 
Are you leading an innovative project related to circular economy or the environment?
Join our next Collision cohort!
Application deadline: April 23, 2023
In collaboration with
⚠ This call for projets has been closed. To stay in touch, subscribe to our newsletters (they’re in French, though)!
Early stage
4 workshops
30 hours of coaching
+3 months
Structure your project, validate your impact!
Esplanade Québec, in partnership with RECYC-QUÉBEC, is looking for 8 to 10 entrepreneurial teams developing solutions related to the circular economy, the environment and/or the fight against climate change.
By joining Esplanade Québec’s Collision program, you get:
Up to 30 hours of coaching by experts in your sector: 15 hours of semi-personalized facilitation and 15 hours of customized coaching
Tools and resources to help you structure your project
Increased visibility on the Esplanade’s web platforms
An access to our privileged partners to prepare pilot projects or technological showcases in real environments
Support for the Esplanade Innovation and Impact Entrepreneurship Community
Access to RECYC-QUÉBEC’s expertise and network of contacts in circular economy in your field of action
Leave the program with…
A proof of concept
An innovative business model
An impact strategy
An experimentation plan for your prototype
Connect with key partners
You will be able to…
Have the opportunity to conduct a field test or pilot project with a partner institution or organization
Be introduced to a potential partner, depending on the nature of your project, for discussions about it
Benefit from the expertise of experts in the sector, in particular during expertise clinics or midday conferences in the courses
Meet key players in the environment and the fight against climate change in Quebec
Eligibility and general information
Who is this program for?
Collision is a 3-month program combining group workshops and personalized coaching, developed by Esplanade Quebec, the first accelerator for social and environmental impact entrepreneurs in Quebec.
For this 12th Collision cohort, we are looking for 8 to 10 entrepreneurial teams developing solutions related to the circular economy, the environment and/or the fight against climate change.
This program is for you if:
You have an entrepreneurial project, whether you are an NPO, a cooperative, a corporation (inc.) or other, or whether you are a professional or a researcher in an intra/entrepreneurial process
Your project is in the early stage (you have completed your ideation phase and are ready to validate your proof of concept)
Your team is located in Quebec
Your project responds in an innovative, efficient and realistic manner to an identified problem or need related to the environment or the fight against climate change, either by:
a technological innovation (hardware or software)
an organizational innovation and changes in practices
or a social innovation
You can understand spoken French
We encourage anyone from a marginalized or under-represented community to submit a project, including women, Aboriginal people, visible minorities, or people living with a disability.
Please feel free to let us know if you belong to any of the above groups, and/or if you have a disability that requires special accommodations, should you be selected for the course. Please be assured that we will treat this information as confidential.
What sectors of activity are targeted by the call for projects?
For this cohort, we are specifically looking for impact projects that address the following issues:
Circular Economy
Biofood
Rethinking production and consumption, optimizing operations from supply to consumption, reducing surplus or waste at the source, using food to its full potential, creating new food products from lost or wasted food and inedible parts.
Built environment
Use fewer resources, favor local, recovered or bio-sourced materials, facilitate deconstruction and sorting at the source to optimize reuse and recycling, share and pool spaces, rethink furniture, favor circularity of flows.
Materials of the energy transition
Develop circularity strategies for energy transition materials, particularly in the energy and transportation sectors (e.g., batteries, photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, chargers, etc.).
Environment
Conservation of biodiversity
Sustainable mobility
Clean energy
*These are the main issues targeted by this call for projects, but we invite all project leaders aiming to have a significant impact on environmental protection and the fight against climate change to submit an application.
What is the Collision program?
A personalized accompaniment over several months
Intensive Final Selection Bootcamp: 2 days where teams are put into action on the Impact Gaps Canvas
Up to 30 hours of coaching: 15 hours of semi-personalized facilitation and 15 hours of customized coaching by experts in your sector
4 workshops on tools developed by our impact entrepreneurship experts, directly applied to your project
The bootcamp will take place in person, in Montreal.
The coaching will lead you to work on these skills:
Understanding your ecosystem
Map your ecosystem to better understand your place in it and identify partners
Validate your solution with your users
Confront your ideas to develop a solution that meets the real needs of your users
Build your roadmap to impact
Articulate your business model to achieve the impact you want to generate
Structure your action plan
Identify your minimum viable product and develop a clear action plan for your impact project
Following the workshops, your team will be connected with a senior business coach and an expert team. These coaches and experts will provide you with hours of personalized coaching, tailored to your goals and your sector. These hours can be spread out between July and October 2023, depending on your availability.
What are the dates to remember?
Call for projects
March 15 to April 23
Information session
April 4Preselection
April 26
Final selection bootcamp
May 11-12
Beginning of the program
May 26
The bootcamp will be held in person in Montreal. The workshops (online) will be held on Friday mornings from 9:00 am to 12:30 pm on the following dates:
Workshop 1
Understand your ecosystem
May 26
Workshop 2
Validate your solution with your users
June 16
Workshop 3
Build your roadmap to impact
June 29
Workshop 4
Structuring your action plan
July 14
For this edition, RECYC-QUÉBEC is also offering expertise clinics, allowing you to benefit from its sectoral expertise (dates and themes to come).
Following the workshops, your team will be put in touch with a senior business coach. These coaches and experts will offer you personalized coaching hours, adapted to your objectives and your sector. These hours can be spread out between July and October 2023, depending on your availability.
How are projects selected?
Selection process
The selection process takes place in 2 phases:
Preselection on file: a first selection will be made upon receipt of applications. The applications will be analyzed according to the evaluation criteria mentioned below by the Esplanade team and our sectoral partners.
Final Selection Bootcamp: Up to 15 projects will then be invited to participate in the bootcamp. Teams will be put into action on the Impact Gaps Canvas present their pitch to a panel of judges. Following the bootcamp, up to 10 projects will be selected to participate in the full Collision program.
Evaluation criteria
We select projects based on the quality and potential of their impact, as well as on the team’s ability to carry the project and make it grow. We pay attention to:
Expertise (business experience and domain knowledge) of the team
Degree of innovation of the project and differentiating and complementary value proposition in the ecosystem
The relevance and realism of the proposed project
Potential social and environmental impact on identified communities
Level of commitment and motivation of the entrepreneurial team, ability to question themselves
Stage of development of the solution, degree of validation of the proof of concept
Articulated integration of impact into the value proposition
How much is it?
Thanks to its financial partners, the Esplanade covers nearly 95% of the costs of the program. Once selected, participating organizations will have to pay a residual cost of $350 + taxes per project.
Grants offered by LOJIQ
If you are between the ages of 18 and 35, you may be eligible for financial support from the Offices jeunesse internationaux du Québec (LOJIQ) to cover part of the registration fees and obtain a lump sum for the participation of your team members (several conditions apply).
For more information, visit their website.
The program manager
The Collision program is managed by Sabrina Fettal.
You can write to her at [email protected].
Our partners and sponsors for the Environment Unit
About us
Esplanade Quebec is the first impact entrepreneur accelerator in Quebec, with a mission to catalyze a community of entrepreneurs, innovators and organizations to collectively address social and environmental challenges, and to support them in sustaining their solutions and maximizing their impact.
L’Esplanade is developing several support programs for impact enterprises, from the start-up stage to scale-up.
RECYC-QUÉBEC is a government corporation created in 1990 with the goal of making Quebec a model of innovative and sustainable waste management for a waste-free society. It promotes, develops and encourages the reduction, reuse, recovery and recycling of containers, packaging, materials and products, as well as their reclamation, in a perspective of circular economy and fight against climate change.
