IQ Fonds Impulsion (formerly Impulsion PME)
Compared with the 242 other application forms we have read
- Scored mainly on market demand and growth. 19 lead with that.
- The work here is mostly getting through a process before you can apply. For 59%, the job is assembling documents instead.
- Most rejections here are settled before you write a word: they turn on who you are, not how well you argue.
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Eligibility & Details
What this program funds and who can apply
Program Description
Investissement Québec's Fonds Impulsion (successor to Impulsion PME) is a quasi-equity fund co-investing alongside private investors in early-stage Quebec companies that show strong growth potential and an innovative dimension — regardless of their sector of activity — using convertible debt instruments such as SAFE and KISS notes, ranging from $250,000 to $2,000,000 per company. To be admissible a company must be located in Québec, be at the pre-seed or seed phase, have identified a lead investor for the current round, and be referred by one of IQ's partners; direct applications are not accepted.
Eligibility Requirements
- Must be located in Québec
- Must be at the pre-seed or seed phase
- Must present strong growth potential and an innovative dimension — regardless of sector of activity
- Must have identified a lead investor for the current financing round
- Must be referred by one of Investissement Québec's partners (direct applications are not accepted)
- IQ investment cannot exceed 50% of the total financing round
- Financing provided as convertible debt (SAFE/KISS notes), ranging $250,000–$2,000,000
Quick Assessment
Funding Details
- Amount
- $250,000-$2,000,000 per company (equity co-investment, early-stage rounds)
- Type
- Program
- Level
- Provincial
- Co-Funding
- Up to 50% of eligible costs
- Deadline
- Ongoing — successor to Impulsion PME, launched October 2025
Program Scorecard
Competition, effort, and approval at a glance
Difficult — significant preparation needed
High competition — many applicants
Complex — detailed documentation needed
How to Win
Insider tips, common pitfalls, and what successful applicants look like
Insider TipAccess is doubly gated: you cannot apply to IQ Fonds Impulsion directly — you must be referred by one of IQ's partners (a recognized incubator, accelerator or sectoral research cluster such as Centech, FounderFuel, District 3, Anges Québec) — AND you must already have identified a lead investor for the current round before you are admissible.
Rejection Pitfalls 11
- Not referred by a recognized IQ partner — no direct application path exists
Success Profile
Evaluation Criteria
How Investissement Québec judges your application
What the reviewer scores, what gets applications rejected, and what to write.
Distilled from 4 source documents on investquebec.com, condensed into one brief. Sources as of 2026-09-07.
4 sources
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What Investissement Québec favours
Strong growth potential, innovative, any sector◦
“Présenter un fort potentiel de croissance et une dimension innovante, peu importe son secteur d’activité”
The form
Eligibility
- 1À qui s’adresse le Fonds Impulsion?
Investissement Québec states no length limits for these answers.
Judged against
- 1
Is this a Québec company at pre-seed or seed?
Show them Show your Québec operating location and where the company sits between pre-seed and seed.◦
- 2
Is there real growth and innovation here?
What to show them in Premium
- 3
Are the round and the referral in place?
What to show them in Premium
3 questions the reviewer answers about you, in Premium.
Premium · the rest of this brief
See all 5 rules that can reject you. Then we draft your application for you.
2 more rules that can reject you · 1 more prompts
Do you pass?
Each one can rule you out. Tick the ones you meet.
Your business
Located in Québec
Être située au Québec
Lead investor identified for this round
Avoir identifié un investisseur principal pour le tour en cours
The project
Strong growth potential and innovation
Présenter un fort potentiel de croissance et une dimension innovante, peu importe son secteur d’activité
From application to money
- Contact an official partnerGo through your partner first
- Confirm the conditionsConfirm five eligibility conditions
- IQ investment processFile follows private IQ process
In the funder’s words · 3
- Contact an official partner
- Si vous êtes ou avez été accompagné par l’un de nos partenaires, nous vous encourageons à passer par lui pour faciliter l’introduction.
- Confirm the conditions
- Confirm the five eligibility conditions, identify your lead investor and secure the referral before the process moves forward.
- IQ investment process
- After the referral, the file follows the private IQ process.
Quoted lines are word for word from the source documents; lines marked ◦ are our reading of them.
Everything you need to win IQ Fonds Impulsion (formerly Impulsion PME)
Not a marketing summary. The actual checklist, intel, and stack strategy reviewers look for.
- 11 rejection pitfalls reviewers flag — so you catch them first
- 9-document checklist with what each reviewer is actually checking
- Your Application Game Plan — the print-ready PDF the preview below describes
- 6-step application timeline with prep hours per step
- Insider tip from program officers on what separates winners
- 8-program stacking strategy to combine with compatible funding
- Success profile + evaluation criteria — exactly what reviewers score on
Application Playbook
Step-by-step process, required documents, and expenses
Application Steps
Required Documents 9
Eligible Expenses 1
Ineligible Expenses 1
Intake Periods
Deadline Notes
Ineligible Organizations
Funding Stack Strategy
Compatible programs, clawback risk, and combined funding potential
Compatible Programs
Clawback Risk
Low RiskHow IQ Fonds Impulsion (formerly Impulsion PME) Compares
Side-by-side with similar programs
| Program | Amount | Difficulty | Payment | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IQ Fonds Impulsion (formerly Impulsio... | $250,000-$2,000,000 | Hard | Equity | Ongoing — successor to... |
| CanExport SMEs | Up to $50,000 | Moderate | Mixed (Advance + Reimb.) | Between intakes — the... |
| CED Quebec — REGI Business Scale-up a... | CED publishes no dollar range.... | Moderate | Reimbursement | Ongoing |
| Fonds Écoleader — Business Stream (Qu... | Up to $30,000 | Easy | Reimbursement | Between intakes — the... |
| Quebec R&D Tax Credit (CRIC — Researc... | 20-30% tax credit (CRIC) | Hard | Tax Credit Offset | Ongoing |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the questions founders most often ask about IQ Fonds Impulsion (formerly Impulsion PME)