A Swedish defence official walks into the Québec pavilion at VivaTech…
It sounds like a setup in need of a punchline. But for Beonyx, a Saguenay-based robotics company, one of nearly 100 Québec technology companies represented at Europe’s largest technology event this June, that moment was no laughing matter.
“Paris opened doors into the European defence world that are very hard to reach from Canada.”
The official in question happens to lead ground-drone strategy for Sweden’s defence. After spotting Beonyx’s company profile among the exhibitors, he came specifically looking for the tech firm, whose autonomous, all-terrain vehicles are built for places most machines struggle to reach.
The meeting wasn’t planned, but it captured the point of Québec’s bigger presence in Paris this year. The province’s tech companies came to VivaTech to build their profile in Europe. What they found was a market willing to take a closer look.
“The best conversations were the ones we never planned,” said Philippe Gaumond, chief financial officer of Beonyx. “A lot of what came out of Paris happened that way—through proximity between delegations, rather than a rehearsed pitch.”
A record delegation
This year’s VivaTech delegation was a record for the province, according to Québec Tech, a not-for-profit with a mandate to help tech startups across the province commercialize and scale by connecting them with customers, partners, expertise and international opportunities. It led the mission with the Centre of Excellence in Energy Efficiency (C3E) and, for the first time, gave Québec a 140-square-metre space of its own, separate from the Canadian pavilion it shared in 2025.
Of the companies that travelled to the event, 70 exhibited (comprising companies from across the Québec Tech, C3E, and Scale AI spaces), and 32 received funding to attend. The trip produced 10 announcements and partnerships, the organization reported. But some of the most useful outcomes were harder to measure.
For Gaumond, the trip’s value was measured in access. Beonyx met with the French Army’s Battle Lab Terre and the defence-innovation agency AID during the same Paris trip, while also attending Eurosatory, where much of its defence outreach happened.
“Paris opened doors into the European defence world that are very hard to reach from Canada by email,” he said.
The company also signed a memorandum of understanding with CLHYNN, a French maker of fuel-cell range extenders that Beonyx wants to fit to its vehicles to stretch their range in cold and remote conditions. A demonstration with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region is scheduled for February in alpine resort conditions.
Those next steps show what it takes to build a serious European market. “Serving European buyers seriously means more than shipping a vehicle across the Atlantic,” said Gaumond. “We need a foothold in Europe, with local integration, local partners and presence on the ground.”
Draft & Goal’s week in Paris also reshaped its approach to growth. The Montréal company, which builds artificial intelligence-driven workflows and agentic systems for large businesses, arrived at the event with Europe already in its sights. The surprise, co-founder and chief executive Nabil Tayeb said, was how quickly the company’s pitch changed once it started talking directly to potential customers.
At first, Draft & Goal leaned on the strength of Québec’s AI reputation and the technology behind its platform. But Tayeb and his team found that buyers want something more direct.
“European enterprise executives are not asking about the science behind AI,” he said. “They want to understand what it can do for their business, where it has already been deployed, and what results it has produced.”
That prompted the company to pivot its focus to more ready-to-use applications tied to specific business problems, clear returns and faster deployment. Governance and safety also moved to the front of the conversation, with buyers asking about control, auditability, data protection, and responsible deployment. Tayeb said that worked in Draft & Goal’s favour because the company already holds certifications including SOC 2, ISO 27001, and ISO 42001, an international standard for AI management systems.
“We were very surprised by the traction Draft & Goal was able to generate in France,” Tayeb said of the overall experience. “We have just set up shop in France now, and we are going to expand in Germany this fall.”
“What we’re seeing is Québec companies arriving in Europe with mature technologies and a clear commercial ambition,” said Québec Tech CEO Richard Chénier. “Our role is to help create the connections that turn those conversations into long-term business opportunities.”
The European market test
Reveal Life Science’s event experience showed how quickly international recognition can change a young company’s trajectory. The Montréal company is developing an AI-powered surgical probe that uses light-based imaging to help surgeons identify cancerous tissue in real time. At VivaTech, it took first place in the OVHcloud Startup Challenge, beating out 900 international candidates, and placed in the top 30 of the fair’s own Tech for Change competition.
Co-founder Alexandre Triquet said the win helped open doors to selling to hospitals across Europe and connected Reveal with IRCAD, a prestigious R&D and training centre for surgeons worldwide based in Strasbourg. Those relationships are now part of the company’s European strategy.
Triquet said one of the biggest surprises was the range of organizations outside of healthcare that expressed interest in Reveal, including cloud, cybersecurity, and deep-tech firms.
“For a company with an ambitious mission to transform cancer care and save lives, that accelerated access to decision-makers is invaluable,” said Triquet. “Several relationships initiated during the event are already evolving into concrete discussions that could accelerate our international growth and the deployment of our technologies.”
Tastet, meanwhile, tested whether the European opportunity could extend into food, culture, and local discovery. The Montréal-based dining platform, founded by Elise Tastet, relies on local experts to spotlight a city’s best places to eat. At VivaTech, the company was able to reach industry decision-makers Tastet said she rarely gets in front of, while testing whether its mix of personalization, AI, and human curation could travel beyond Canada.
Tastet said the answer was a clear yes, noting that Europeans quickly understood the platform’s range. Tastet can point someone to the best kebab around the corner or to a Michelin-starred table, depending on the moment, the occasion and who is eating. That flexibility, powered by real data and local curation, sparked the strongest response in Paris.
Paris was a natural first international step because of the city’s food culture, the momentum around Québec-France and Canada-Europe relationships, and her own background. “And I’ll admit, being half-French didn’t hurt either,” she said.
But the interest did not stop at the border. Tastet said the company left VivaTech with discussions underway in Rome, Milan, and Athens, as well as with potential collaborators, partners, and clients in Europe and beyond.
“What Paris confirmed is that this approach resonates everywhere.”
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Find out about major announcements from the Québec delegation on Québec Tech’s Website.
All images courtesy Québec Tech.