Montréal Hub Ax.c Gets $1.5M City Renewal, DMZ Partnership

"We spend a lot of money to send our startups abroad to commercialize," Leclerc said. "But when the international community comes to Montréal, I want to make sure Ax.c is the go-to."

In the first year of operations, Leclerc said she watched the space transform from a physical location into a community. The "if you build it, they will come" mentality appears to have held: she said the hub hosted more than 250 events and over 50 international delegations.

Preparing Québec startups for international expansion aligns with the mandate of provincially funded non-profit Québec Tech, which has been part of the Ax.c project since its early days. The DMZ partnership will give Ax.c startups in-kind access to working space in Toronto, New York City, and Toronto's DMZ itself, helping them commercialize beyond Quebec.

The city's funding renewal, originally set out in the 2023 plan to build Ax.c, comes as new mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada signals warmth toward the startup ecosystem. Alexandre Teodoresco, a city councillor and executive committee member responsible for AI, said in remarks at Ax.c on Tuesday that Montréal entrepreneurs now have a supporter in city hall.

"The mayor is an ally, I guarantee it," Teodoresco said in French.