On Thursday February 16, I took part in the 5th edition of the entrepreneurial competition Face aux Dragons in Saint-Romuald (Lévis). Inspired by shows such as Dragons’ Den and Shark Tank, young local entrepreneurs present their projects to the dragons, of which I am one, for a slice of the more than $15,000 in grants available. The goal is to promote entrepreneurship in Lévis’ young people.
This year participants representing 35 projects will present them before panels of 3 dragons over a period of 9 sessions between February 8 and 23. I will take part in two of these sessions as a local entrepreneur.
For the session of February 16, I was joined by the dragons Jean-Sébastien Lemelin, financial controller at Unicoop, agricultural cooperative, and Samuel Boutin, account manager for the commercial housing sector at Desjardins Entreprises. As the owner of a business, Verbatum, anglais appliqué, I contributed by evaluating if the young entrepreneurs had the drive and resources necessary to turn their passions into profit.
We had the pleasure of evaluating the feasibility of three very diverse projects on February 16. The first was an ambitious project brought by UQAR-Lévis student, Kévin Chauvet: Sun Power. The goal is to create and sell solar panels to allow consumers to meet their own energy needs and sell the excess. Kevin’s passion for the project, his energy and drive were quite inspiring.
Second, we heard from a young author, Samuel Masson. At 17 years old, he has already published the first volume of his series Sinistris and is seeking financing to publish the second volume. His vision is much more long-term than that however, as he was joined by his colleague Samuel Bérubé who specializes in creating video games. Together, they are developing a game based on the scenario of Sinistris. They had completed the market research necessary to validate the public’s interest.
The last project was borne, as many are, from travelling. Cegep Lévis-Lauzon student Laurie Bélanger had recently returned from an organized trip to Ecuador with 13 others in the college’s agricultural department. Based on their experience fund-raising for the trip, she and Myriam Morissette would like to develop a consulting business helping other college students fund-raise for their projects. It will be interesting to see how this idea develops over time.
It was a joy to see the passion sparkling in their eyes. What a pleasure to take part in encouraging entrepreneurship in my adopted home, Lévis! I count it an honor to share my experience and analysis with the next generation of entrepreneurs.