From July 13 to 16, 2017, Samy Bouguern, creator of the Wekicks, a start-up that has been supported by the NEOMA BS incubator since 2016, participated in the 7^th edition of StartupFest. It is the largest start-up event in Canada, bringing together the world elite of start-ups, investors, mentors and founders. It was an excellent opportunity to gain greater visibility for this community platform that focuses on the re-sale of sneakers, which after responding to a call for projects by the Franco-Québec Youth Office.

From July 13 to 16, 2017, Samy Bouguern, creator of the Wekicks, a start-up that has been supported by the NEOMA BS incubator since 2016, participated in the 7^th edition of StartupFest. It is the largest start-up event in Canada, bringing together the world elite of start-ups, investors, mentors and founders. It was an excellent opportunity to gain greater visibility for this community platform that focuses on the re-sale of sneakers, which after responding to a call for projects by the Franco-Québec Youth Office.

A graduate of the Bachelor programme in Retail Management-ECAL in 2016 and a current student in the MSc International Project Development at NEOMA Business School, Samy was excited to present his Wekicks project to this Canadian community that is very familiar with sneaker culture.

He was first received by the French consulate in Montreal before taking advantage of a programme full of different meetings and lessons: discussions with event speakers, pitches, talks with financiers and entrepreneurs during networking evening events. There were many opportunities to test his concept and learn about the how Canada welcomes and hosts start-ups.

“Québec represents a gateway to the Americas for the French. There are several ways for a French start-up to establish itself over the long term in this vibrant ecosystem. It’s an avenue of development that I look forward to exploring more deeply at the end of my studies by doing my internship in this part of world so I can carry out a full market study.”

That leaves Samy the time to first launch his Wekicks marketplace in France before conquering a second continent. To do that, the young entrepreneur relies on the support from the NEOMA BS incubator as well as its one-of-a-kind web development unit. By working with student engineers, Wekicks can benefit from indispensable technical knowledge to develop its marketplace in the best possible conditions.

>See Wekicks' video presentation