I still remember my first participation in Startup Open House, in Montreal, in 2016.
I was not yet”On the part of the organizers”, just a curious visitor who roamed the city, going from one space to another, discovering the diversity, creativity, and warmth of the Montreal ecosystem.
It was hot. Startups everywhere, ideas that flowed, passionate and accessible people, moving from French to English with that very particular vibe in Montreal.
That day I understood what it meant The opening in the world of entrepreneurship.
Originally created in 2013 by a group of Canadian tech entrepreneurs and members of the startup community, Startup Open House quickly expanded its footprint, organizing events in several cities in Canada, including Montreal, Quebec City, Toronto and Vancouver as well as the Waterloo region.
In 2017, TRACTR in turn participated in Startup Open House, this time as a host company.
The atmosphere was the same: happy, curious, full of energy.
But behind the scenes, it was clear that everything was based on a great deal of will, time and energy on the part of the organizing team and volunteers.
The website, a WordPress, had reached its limits, the Eventbrite ticketing system was doing what it could, and the manual management of visitors required organizational treasures.
When the Credo team, the company behind the project at the time, sought technical help, we immediately jumped at the challenge and started the mission.
It was a unique opportunity for us to put our know-how at the service of the startup community, and to help an event we deeply loved go even greater!.
For the 2018 edition, we therefore designed a complete platform :
What was previously managed by hand was finally becoming more fluid, scalable and pleasant to use.
As a result, in 2018 and 2019, more than 500 startups welcomed more than 10,000 participants, record editions offering an unparalleled insight into the local tech community.
For us, it was a great pleasure to see this technical work used for what it should always do: create connections, simplify the experience, amplify the impact.
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In 2019, Elevate acquired Startup Open House and organized the event in Ontario, while Montréal NewTech (Today ElanTech) organized the event in Quebec, bringing together 9,668 participants, 35% of whom said they were international talents exploring the local tech ecosystem.
For my part, when I returned to France to open the TRACTR office in Bordeaux, the DNA of Startup Open House was still very present in my mind, this idea of openness, of behind the scenes, of sharing was so special.
I told myself that we should launch an initiative like this in Bordeaux, with our values and that of the dynamic French scene, like French Tech.
The event may recall the well-known "Journée du Patrimoine" in France: to provide visitors with a privileged “behind the scenes” experience for one day across the city.
After having the agreement of the historical organizers of Startup Open House, such as LP Maurice (co-founder of BusBud), so we decided to relaunch this energy, in our own way and for the occasion with a different name: Open Startup.
At the beginning of March 2020, a few weeks before the first COVID lockdown in France, this first edition took place in Bordeaux.
The main objective remained the same: to introduce the world of startups to all those who are not yet part of it. Decompartmentalize this world that is sometimes a bit difficult to access for the uninitiated.
Open Startup is exactly that: opening doors, breaking codes, showing the reality of an ecosystem that is often perceived as opaque.
Visitors meet the teams, understand what is behind an application, a website, a product. Discover jobs that are sometimes unknown, from Back-end developers to Product Owners.
It's very concrete, we no longer count the pitches, the connections, the inspirations that this generates.
In the years that followed, Open Startup then established itself as a major annual event in Bordeaux, even operating 2 editions in Nantes.
Each edition, hundreds of startups playing the game, incubators & accelerators too, welcoming hundreds of participants from all walks of life.
Each year, we receive incredible testimonies: meetings, recruitments, collaborations, vocations.
It even became one of flagship events of the 10th anniversary of La French Tech.
From this dynamic and this desire to show people and stories behind the scenes, beyond the event, was born a podcast.
Today is +60 episodes available in French on platforms like Apple Podcast, Spotify & Deezer.
Meanwhile, in Canada, Startup Open House is about to make a comeback. First in 2024 in Montreal, then this year in Toronto and Montreal.
TRACTR will be pleased to contribute once again, offering the technical support necessary for the deployment of an experience that will connect hundreds of startups to the thousands of expected visitors.
It's a strong symbol. Eight years after our first encounter with the event, we are back to this same mission: make local innovation visible, accessible and inspiring.
At TRACTR, that's exactly what we like to do: Opening possibilities. In the products we design, as in the communities we support.
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