Startup Montréal unveils 2022 Revelations cohort

Startup Montréal has revealed the companies taking part in its Revelations 2022 cohort.

Revelations is the new version of Grant+, the flagship program of Montreal Inc. which merged with Bonjour Startup Montréal in February to form Startup Montréal. The program is made up of 20 early-stage tech businesses based in Montréal and represents the newly formed entity’s goal to have a greater impact on the Montréal tech ecosystem.

A spokesperson for Startup Montréal told BetaKit that the process of renewing the organization’s selection model really started last year, but the move was only finalized after the merger.

“This year, as Startup Montréal, it’s really like being our first [cohort] to base our selection on what is the main innovation coming out of Montréal,” the spokesperson said.

“These businesses all passed through an accelerator program or were supported by a support organization.”
– Liette Lamond

Each company participating in the Revelations program will receive a $20,000 grant and gain access to Startup Montréal’s business network, which brings together over 450 volunteer coaches and 1,100 founders.

“The choice of these Revelations shows the richness of our ecosystem, because these businesses all passed through an accelerator program or were supported by a support organization,” said Liette Lamonde, managing director of Startup Montréal.

Over half of the startups in this year’s cohort are in three economic sectors: health and social assistance, information and communications technology, and life sciences. All of the companies also have a technological component, particularly in medtech, artificial intelligence, and virtual/augmented reality. The 20 selected businesses comprise 56 cofounders; Startup Montréal notes that 36 percent of these founders are women.

Companies in the Revelations cohort were selected by external evaluators from the business community as well as partner organizations of the ecosystem, who determined the finalists. These finalists then pitched their business to a jury of six notable entrepreneurs, including the jury chair and co-founder of TrackTik, Julie Lacasse; as well as Frédéric Bastien of Mnubo, Joëlle Chartrand of RenoRun, and Xavier Peich (formerly with Smart Halo).

Although the program has been renamed and the scope expanded, Revelations’ mission in bolstering Montréal’s tech sector remains unchanged. For the last 26 years, Montréal Inc. has seen a number of notable tech companies find success after going through its program. Startup Montréal’s spokesperson cited Lightspeed as one of the Grant+ program alumni in 2006.

Other notable Grant+ laureates include art tech company and distribution network Gallea, which raised $1.5 million CAD in seed funding last September; as well as customer relationship management platform provider QuoteMachine, which secured $1 million in its seed round in March 2021.

Here’s all 20 companies in the 2022 Revelations cohort:

Feature image from Samuel Charron via Unsplash

UPDATE (19/04/22): The article previously incorrectly stated that Lightspeed was a laureate of the Grant+ program in 2016. This has been updated to reflect that the company graduated from the program in 2006.

Charlize Alcaraz