District e-commerce contest

Thanks to the support of our partners,
the contest offers 3 outstanding prizes worth a total of $100,000

SDC District Central, Desjardins, Cascades, Shopify, Canada Post, Clickspace, Heyday by Hootsuite, Startup Montréal

Stay tuned for the next edition.

Building on its success, the District e-commerce contest is back for a new edition. Young e-commerce companies that wish to participate have until May 31, 2022 to apply. More info below!

Supporting the e-commerce leaders of tomorrow

PME MTL Centre-Ouest and the Société de développement commercial (SDC) District Central support the e-commerce leaders of tomorrow. The District e-commerce contest is aimed at young e-commerce businesses that are looking to set up (or that are already set up) in the District Central neighbourhood.

Montreal B Board

“I learned about the contest from an entrepreneur, I looked into it, I applied and I was lucky enough to win! The prizes helped me a lot, whether it was the grant or the mentoring sessions. It’s a lot of little things that enabled us to move forward faster.”

Nicolas Loiselle - MTL B-Board (winner of the 1^st edition of the contest)

District Central: a hub for e-commerce businesses

District Central is a much sought after neighbourhood: SSENSE, Golf Avenue, Barista, Indyeva, Main & Local and many other businesses have set up shop there.

District Central

This booming neighbourhood is home to close to 1,800 businesses and 25,000 workers, making it the 4th largest district in Montréal in terms of job concentration. This is the new business district!

Learn all about the benefits of the neighbourhood →

Major partners supporting the next generation of Montréal e-merchants

For this new edition of the District e-commerce contest, key e-commerce partners are joining with PME MTL Centre-Ouest and the SDC District Central. Thanks to Desjardins, Cascades, Shopify, Canada Post, Heyday and ClickSpace, we offer a complete ecosystem to facilitate the operations of the winning companies for one year.

Local partners will offer the winners experience prizes to facilitate the integration into their new neighborhood.

3 outstanding prizes worth a total of $100,000

Grand prize presented by Desjardins: $30,000 grant and numerous services offered by partners
Jury prize presented by Cascades: $25,000 grant and numerous services offered by partners
Award of honour: $15,000 grant and numerous services offered by partners

Learn all about the grants and related prizes →

PME MTL Centre-Ouest is committed to providing coaching and support to all applicants who submit an application that meets the selection criteria. More specific support will be provided to the 3 winners and 10 finalists.

Important dates

April 13 to May 31: Submission of applications
June 3, 2022: Announcement of the 10 finalists
June 16, 2022: Finalists’ pitches and official announcement of the winners during a cocktail reception

Events

June 3, 2022: Productive 9@5 (accessible to all candidates eligible for the District e-commerce contest, limited to 40 businesses)
June 7, 2022 starting at 5pm: “How to make your pitch” workshop (reserved for the 10 finalists)

Eligibility conditions

E-commerce businesses that meet the following criteria have until May 31, 2022 to submit an application:

Operate a business that has been in existence for less than 5 years
Have a legally constituted business registered with the Registre des entreprises du Québec (REQ)
Sell online for at least 3 months on its own transactional site
Work full time in the business (minimum of 35 hours per week)
Be set up or plan to set up in the Central District by September 30, 2022
Agree to meet with the jury and participate in promotional activities for the contest as well as consultancy and communication activities offered by contest partners
Submit all required documents before the contest deadline, no later than May 31, 2022

N.B.: Businesses that meet the following criteria are not eligible:

Dropshipping companies
Businesses that have received a Jeune entreprise subsidy through the PME MTL network
Businesses operating in the sex and gaming industries

Required documents

Duly completed contest entry form (see below)
Latest financial statements (in-house statements if in business for less than one year)

You are free to use our models if you wish →

Conditions for awarding grants

After the contest winners are announced, an agreement will be signed between the entrepreneurs and PME MTL Centre-Ouest. In order to receive the grants and the various services offered by the contest partners, the three winning entrepreneurs must do the following:

Present and/or sign (in the case of a new establishment), before September 30, 2022, a commercial lease for a period of at least 24 months within the territory limits defined by the contest.

Other eligibility conditions may apply in the form of technical, financial and documentary requirements.

Registrations are now closed.