Montreal’s Acquisio Helped Into London Digs by Expansion Québec

Expansion Québec, a non-profit established in 2011 by the Quebec government, has opened a London office, with Montreal performance media platform company Acquisio as tenant for its business premises. Aside from the prestige of having a centrally located London address from which to operate, the footprint provides Acquisio a value-laden network to leverage in the U.K.

Acquisio CEO Martin Le Sauteur said, “Our presence in London represents another step toward the development of our business on the international scene. Expansion Québec is offering us not only space in the heart of London but also advice and an outstanding knowledge network.”

Built for search engine marketing agencies, Acquisio’s platform helps marketers optimize and manage campaigns across media.

An inauguration at the London office was held on Sunday, with François Bouilhac, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Expansion Québec, Jacques Daoust, Quebec’s Minister of the Economy, Innovation and Exports, Stéphane Paquet, Quebec’s Agent-General in London, and Le Sauteur in attendance for Acquisio.

“Business executives may perceive the process of capturing a new market abroad as being complex,” Bouilhac added. “Expansion Québec’s objective is to support them to ensure that they set up operations quickly, effectively and cheaply, thereby facilitating their growth at the international level. Since its inception, Expansion Québec has guided nearly 40 businesses.”

This is the sixth office opened under the auspices of Expansion Québec, which exists to help small-to-medium size business establish a foothold in foreign markets, which can be notoriously difficult to negotiate. The other five offices are in New York, Dakar, Ouagadougou, São Paulo and San Mateo.

Expansion Québec can also leverage its partnership with Entreprise Rhône-Alpes International (ERAI), which consists of 24 business offices, with an aim to open an additional 14 by 2015. This means that businesses participating in either program, whether in the Rhône-Alpes region or in Quebec, will be able to leverage offices in the network operated by both partners.

“Expansion Québec is a major partner of our government that is fostering growth and the rapid development of Quebec exporting firms,” noted Minister Jacques Daoust. “Through its sixth subsidiary in the world, this innovative, dynamic organization is bolstering its support for Quebec companies that wish to capture new markets and broaden their presence abroad.”

Last December, Acquisio established a presence in Tokyo, working to build a localized version of its platform-as-a-service (PaaS) for Japanese marketers.