3 April 2024

10:55 – 12:30

Amphi 4

Christelle Rousseau

Christelle Rousseau is General Manager of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Canada. Trilingual French-English-Spanish, she holds a Master’s degree in Sales/Marketing and has over 20 years’ experience supporting SMEs in their international expansion. With a strong entrepreneurial spirit, she has successfully created and developed several international subsidiaries. Her atypical career path has led her to grow up, study and work in over 8 countries on 3 continents. She also created her own tech company. She immigrated to Canada in 2010 and has made Montreal her home.

Debate: How do you finance business development?

Financing start-ups is relatively complex. Generally speaking, funds are available for research and development. There are also traditional venture capitalists willing to support companies as they grow or expand. What happens in between? Where marketing is often regarded as the Valley of Death? It’s a time-consuming period for generating the first productions, organizing promotion and seeking out contracts. It’s also a time when you have to deal with all the red tape involved in certification and homologation, as well as the many and varied facets of sales and after-sales service. How can we support our start-ups through this Valley?