1st Learning Expedition for SHAPE-Med@Lyon | October 2024
This inaugural Shape-Med@Lyon Learning Expedition, organized by PULSALYS, is a French-Canadian exchange program designed to support health startups. Its goal is to foster connections between researcher-entrepreneurs and key innovation stakeholders in Montreal. Six health startups or startup projects were selected to participate in this first edition, which took place from October 15 to 18, 2024.
Discover an innovative ecosystem
A “learning expedition”—or study trip—is an international exchange program primarily designed to immerse teams in innovative ecosystems. These trips address a wide range of needs, such as launching a new project, discovering new collaborative practices, strengthening team dynamics, or conducting a benchmark analysis.
The program for a learning expedition is defined in advance based on the participants’ needs and the desired objectives. It typically comprises visits, lectures, discussion sessions, expert presentations, and more.
Learning expedition SHAPE-Med by PULSALYS
The SHAPE-Med@Lyon consortium, in partnership with PULSALYS—the Lyon Saint-Etienne Technology Transfer Acceleration Company (SATT)—has entrusted the latter with the strategic mission of designing “learning expedition” programs focused on innovation and entrepreneurship in the health technology and MedTech sectors.
Against this backdrop, a delegation of researcher-entrepreneurs from Lyon traveled to Montreal—alongside the Jacques Cartier Dialogues—for thematic immersion days, such as the one scheduled for October 15, 2024, at the Institut TransMedTech de Montréal and Centech Mtl. The full program spanned four days, from October 15 to 18, and aimed to immerse participants in the Canadian entrepreneurial ecosystem and foster synergies between Lyon and Montreal.
Innovative projects
Sarcofocus
Hubert Vidal, INSERM Research Director at Laboratoire CarMeN was part of the pilot delegation with Sarcofocus. This health startup aims to improve the lives of elderly people affected by sarcopenia.
Sarcopenia is a geriatric syndrome generally attributed to the aging process, but its onset can be accelerated by pathological and behavioral factors such as undernutrition and a sedentary lifestyle.
From the age of 50, muscle mass and strength begin to decline significantly. When this decline exceeds a certain threshold, it is referred to as sarcopenia. This phenomenon affects physical performance, can lead to gait disorders, and represents a factor of vulnerability among the elderly.
Learning Expedition 2024
Find the presentations from SHAPE-Med, PULSALYS, and the projects selected to participate in this first exchange program.
Feedback and projections
Stimulating feedback
A satisfaction survey was sent to the participants to gather their impressions of this first edition.
They appreciated:
- discovering Quebec’s various innovation ecosystems
- individual visits and interactions with the various stakeholders, who made themselves very available
- presentations on tools developed in Quebec to foster and support startups
- the excellent atmosphere among the “expedition” members and the flawless organization (perfect hotel, excellent schedule, etc.)
- the partnership with the Entretiens Jacques Cartier
The respondents 100% recommend the program and submit the following improvements for the next edition: organization of meetings with investors, identification of the expectations of project leaders upstream and planning of individual interviews with specialists in the area of expertise of the future start-up.
Feedback confirms the value of this exchange program between France and Canada and sheds light on improvements needed to make it even more attractive to researchers whose projects are at the maturation stage. Startup founders are looking forward to interactions with local startups, lab visits, and speed-dating sessions.
I am delighted to have taken part in the study trip organized by ShapeMed@Lyon and Pulsalys. This program facilitated numerous encounters and revealed opportunities to leverage our recent discoveries at the CarMeN laboratory in Lyon regarding therapeutic probiotics.
Hubert VIDAL
INSERM Research Director and Director of the CarMeN Laboratory
Towards a second remote edition?
The success of this inaugural Learning Expedition paves the way for further collaborative exchanges between France and Canada and opens the door to a second edition. A session for 2025 is currently under consideration and will likely take the form of a series of webinars—serving as preliminary discussions to define the needs of the next cohort. This would transform the transatlantic trip into a biennial event, while also enabling Canadian startups to immerse themselves in the Lyon-based healthcare ecosystem.