Helping Canadian creative businesses and organizations achieve financial success on the world stage

The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, meets with Creative Export Canada-funded Israella Kobla fashion design house.

TORONTO, Feb. 20, 2024 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to helping Canadian creative businesses and organizations enhance their visibility and increase their export profits in global markets. This benefits Canada's creative professionals and our economy.

The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage, announced today that 21 projects are receiving funding from the Creative Export Canada program Export-Ready Stream. This support will help Canadian companies and organizations grow their business and achieve financial success abroad. The minister made the announcement in Toronto while visiting one of this year's funding recipients, Israella Kobla fashion design house, as part of Black History Month celebrations.

The Israella Kobla design house creates contemporary women's clothing and accessories with the goal of becoming an innovative and sustainable global women's clothing brand.

The Creative Export Canada program Export-Ready Stream is investing more than $113,000 in the company's wholesale expansion project, aimed at promoting and distributing its Spring/Summer 2024 collection at fashion events in Copenhagen and New York. This export project will help strengthen and diversify the company's wholesale operations and revenues internationally, build contacts with the international media and fashion industry influencers, generate leads and increase brand awareness.

Israella Kobla will be in New York this month as part of the Canadian Creative Accelerator Program for Fashion companies, a separate Creative Export Strategy program focused on international business growth. This program is run jointly by Global Affairs Canada's creative industry trade commissioners in New York and London.

The sixth annual Export-Ready Stream also supports 20 other projects by businesses and organizations across Canada. This includes support for eight creative businesses and organizations from equity-deserving communities and one Indigenous business. Please see the attached backgrounder for more information.

Quotes

"Our Creative Export Strategy continues to help our creative entrepreneurs thrive internationally. This increased support through our Creative Export Canada funding program will ensure that more homegrown export-ready businesses like Israella Kobla can succeed, reach more people around the world and showcase our country's diverse creative talent in key markets abroad. Black excellence is something to celebrate. We are proud to showcase the accomplishments of Black women and business leaders in Canada."

—The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Canadian Heritage

"I've always known what I needed to do in order to take Israella Kobla to the next level. However, the financial commitment was always too much. The funding from Creative Export Canada allowed me to execute our export strategy and it resulted in us securing a significant wholesale order from Nordstrom in the U.S. Without the funding, I wouldn't have been able to be in the spaces to connect with the right buyers and retailers."

—Emefa Kuadey, Fashion Engineer and Founder, Israella Kobla

Quick Facts

As part of the renewal of the Creative Export Strategy in April 2023, the Creative Export Canada program received $33 million over three years, from 2023 to 2026. The Export-Ready Stream invest $7 million per year in export-ready projects that generate export revenues and help Canadian creative industries reach more people around the world. The new Export Development Stream invests $4 million per year in new and early-stage exporters entering international markets and in experienced exporters expanding their global networks.

Since its launch in 2018, Creative Export Canada has invested $51.7 million, under the Export-Ready Stream, in 117 export-ready projects from 103 creative industry businesses and organizations.

The Canadian Creative Accelerator for Fashion Companies is a joint initiative of the High Commission of Canada in the United Kingdom and the Consulate General of Canada in New York. The accelerator supports emerging and established Canadian fashion companies that are ready for international growth to export to the United States and the U.K.

Canadian Heritage recently published a new guide, Doing business with Indigenous creative industries in Canada. This publication was developed in collaboration with an Indigenous advisory panel and is designed to help encourage more positive interactions between international buyers and Indigenous creative industries in Canada.

In December 1995, the House of Commons officially recognized February as Black History Month in Canada, following a motion by the Honourable Dr. Jean Augustine, the first Black Canadian woman elected to Parliament.

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Backgrounder: 21 creative businesses and organizations receive support to achieve financial success on the world stage

TORONTO, February 21, 2024

The Creative Export Canda program, Export-Ready Stream, is supporting 21 selected projects by businesses and organizations from across the country, under its sixth annual funding cohort (2023-24).

 Alphabetical list of Creative Export Canada, Export-Ready Stream, funding recipients

Funding recipient	Project title and description	Funding support
Albedo Informatics Inc.	SIGIL: Reaching Global Audiences and Driving Export Revenue through Interactive Digital Media Funding will support the continuation of its export growth plan for its mobile augmented reality game, SIGIL, a role-playing game inspired by myths, legends and folklore. The user's location is integrated into the game's narrative. Albedo will build a solid long-term player base with the launch of the game in new markets in the United States and Europe, which will generate export revenues while continuing to promote Canadian artists.	$268,000 (2023-24)
Alchimies, Créations et Cultures	Et la Femme chanta Dieu The project will promote and present the international tour "Et la Femme chanta Dieu", targeting audiences in France.	$138,000 (2023-24)
Alpaca House Canada Inc. (LATIERRA)	Global distribution of premium alpaca outerwear through in-person tradeshows and ecommerce platform. Investment will support a project to engage in global distribution of alpaca outerwear and knitwear by exhibiting in fashion trade shows and renting showrooms as a way of inviting key buyers to view its products during key fashion weeks in the United States and Europe.	$280,000 (2023-24: $200,000 and 2024-25: $80,000)
Array of Stars	Array of Stars Immersive Digital Creative Experiences Expansion The investment will support a project to develop Array of Stars' NVRSE platform and Radia technology, focusing on the United States market while maintaining a global reach. By partnering with the entertainment, sports and cultural sectors as well as Canadian artists, the goal is to establish a strong presence in the industry and refine the platform.	$734,000 (2023-24: $596,000 and 2024-25: $138,000)
Astrolabe Interactive Inc.	Aloft The project will promote its latest intellectual property, named Aloft, an action-adventure video game that will target the United States, France, Germany, Japan and China. Astrolabe aims to take part in various conferences in the audiovisual and interactive digital media industries, as well as implement a promotion and marketing strategy.	$346,000 (2023-24: $336,000 and 2024-25: $110,000)
Daily tous les jours (Andraos & Mongiat Inc.)	Vivre et voir l'expérience Daily tous les jours à travers le monde! This investment will support the acceleration of its commercial initiatives around the Exportable Product Line catalogue to amplify its international interactions and visibility. The studio will take advantage of the installation of new artworks to reinforce the promotional documents of the Exportable Product Line's international range.	$205,000 (2023-24: $165,000 and 2024-25: $40,000)
Dark Slope Inc.	Dino Habitat Meta Quest International Experiential Launch The project will promote the Dino Habitat game, an original interactive extended reality experience, combining educational content with a captivating game system, which aims to educate players in an immersive experience linked to the dinosaur ecosystem.  The project will localize the experience for non-English-speaking markets and support a launch campaign and activations, while developing a social and shareable promotional experience.	$212,000 (2023-24: $81,000 and 2024-25: $131,000)
Echo Media Distribution Inc.	Recentrer l'exportation au coeur de nos activités The investment will support a project that aims to establish an international distribution network to increase export revenues. This project will allow the creative and production team to adapt to market needs, activate an efficient and enviable development-production-distribution cycle and deploy in new markets in Europe and the United States.	$145,000 (2023-24: $105,000 and 2024-25: $40,000)
Israella Kobla	Wholesale Expansion Project The investment will support the Promotion and distribution of its Spring/Summer 2024 collection at fashion events in Copenhagen and New York. This project will strengthen and diversify its international wholesale business operations and revenues, build relationships with international press and fashion industry influencers, generate leads, and increase brand awareness.	$113,500 (2023-24)
Jack World (Le Consortium Jack World Inc.)	La tournée Jack World The project will focus on the promotion and implementation of three works in Texas: Skip Up, a participatory jump rope work; POP!, a work featuring five creatures reacting to visitors' encouragement; and SOLSTICE, a monumental interactive installation that disrupts our perception of the environment.	$580,000 (2023-24)
Maison Marie Saint Pierre	Accélération de l'exportation sur le marché US The investment will support a project aimed at recapturing the United States market in the wake of the pandemic, while developing new markets by setting up new points of sale, pop-up boutiques and participation in various trade events.	$140,000 (2023-24)
Moment Factory	L'accélération et l'amplification de la diffusion des formats d'expériences de Moment Factory This investment will support a project that will accelerate and amplify the export volume of its signature works from its catalogue and its new immersive travelling exhibitions, Astra Lumina, Digital Art Exhibit, Miroir/Miroir and ARCade.	$1,325,000 (2023-24: $1,250,000 and 2024-25: $75,000)
Mr. Saturday (Saturday Industries Limited)	Mr. Saturday expands export business in Europe and Asia. This investment will support a project that will help the company enter new markets and commercialize its menswear line, in addition to diversifying its products by launching womenswear and accessories.	$250,000 (2023-24)
Nagamo Publishing Inc.	Indigenous Music Publishing Catalogue Digital Discoverability Project This investment will support a project that will promote its newly created Indigenous music catalogue internationally through a dedicated digital marketing strategy in France and the United States, with other markets of interest such as the United Kingdom, New Zealand and Australia.	$219,000 (2023-24: $124,000 and 2024-25: $95,000)
Paintillio Enterprises Inc.	Painting-by-States Paintillio will participate in events in the United States by featuring murals created by Canadian BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ artists, running digital advertising campaigns, and improving its search engine optimization.	$145,000 (2023-24)
Pixcom International Inc.	Expansion à l'international In order to be recognized as a leader on the international scene, Pixcom will implement an expansion and export strategy targeting television broadcasters, online content platforms and content distributors in France, Germany, the United States and Scandinavia.	$690,000 (2023-24)
Playmind (Global Mind Inc.)	Projet stratégique d'exportation dans l'industrie du divertissement Location Based Entertainment Playmind is now establishing international visibility for its Playbox, with the breakthrough in the European market, and the initiation of the Middle Eastern market. This project will continue the expansion of Playbox, by offering trial purchases that will validate performance with its customers and generate revenue, helping it to promote its new products.	$180,000 (2023-24)
Science North	Canadian Creative Content in International Markets: Nature Exchange The investment will help support a project that will grow its creative exports and presence in the global market with its Nature Exchange experience through trade show attendance, expanded new partnerships and the adaption of its existing digital visitor experience infrastructure for international markets.	$710,000 (2023-24: $695,000 and 2024-25: $15,000)
Shifty Eye Games Ltd	International Video Game Marketing Project This investment will support a project that will distribute, sell and promote a major video game production in more than 180 countries. This game will be available on multiple platforms for PC/Mac and gaming consoles, translated into 20 languages and will be accessible to a broader audience as it avoids violence and focuses on puzzle solving, stealth and espionage.	$788,500 (2023-24: $628,500 and 2024-25: $160,000)
Starseed Records	USA Radio Promotion Team This investment will support a project to grow the American audience for Canadian country artists the company represent by targeting radio stations in the United States to generate more artist airplay. It will have a fully-staffed and operational team in the United States, in addition to promoting at least one artist from an underrepresented demographic in country music.	$405,000 (2023-24) (2023-24: $155,000 and 2024-25: $250,000)
Wireframe (Studio Wireframe Inc.)	Pénétration intensive du marché américain pour l'exportation d'œuvres d'art public interactives This investment will support a project to enter the United States and European markets by distributing interactive works and deploying an export strategy targeting airports, business associations and real estate developers, festivals and art events.	$160,000 (2023-24)
The total funding for the sixth cohort of the Creative Export Canada, Export-Ready Stream is $8 million. The program is investing $7 million from its 2023-2024 fiscal budget. An additional $1 million will be allocated through fiscal 2024-25 for those projects that are multi-year projects.

Creative Export Canada
Creative Export Strategy
February is Black History Month

Associated Links

Doing business with Indigenous creative industries in Canada 
Helping Canada's creative industries succeed in global markets

SOURCE Canadian Heritage

For more information (media only), please contact: Ariane Joazard-Bélizaire, Press Secretary, Office of the Minister of Canadian Heritage, [email protected]; Media Relations, Canadian Heritage, 1-819-994-9101, 1-866-569-6155, [email protected]