A Montreal startup is raising $2.1 million to expand in Canada and abroad.
After the birth of her first child, Fauve Doucet remembers looking around her apartment in Montreal and realizing how things she had; It was so crowded that she didn't even have room for her son's bike.
“It’s another way of looking at economics that takes into account all the social and environmental components.”
Fauve Doucet
Exchange Club
So instead of buying a bike, she asked a neighbor if her son could borrow it. The mutually beneficial agreement reminded her of a concept she studied in business school: the sharing economy, which can act as a bulwark against climate change by curbing demand for disposable, mass-produced goods.
“That’s where I got the idea that we need to think differently,” Doucet told BetaKit on Thursday.
In just a few years, Doucet turned this idea into the lending app Partage Club. On November 18, it announced a $2.1 million seed round led by local investor Frédéric Bastien, with participation from BDC Thrive Lab, Desjardins Startup in Residence program, Mistral Ventures and other angel investors. After winning the “Startup of the Year” category at a competition in Montreal Startup Community Awards in 2024, it added hundreds of users and established partnerships with more than a dozen cities and municipalities across Quebec.
The app functions as a sort of Facebook marketplace with one rule: no sales. Opening it in downtown Montreal gives you an idea of the big-ticket items people need for perhaps only one or two uses: a ladder, board games like Scrabble, or a sled for toddlers to go down the hill at Jeanne-Mance Park. There are also more unconventional lending options: a room in someone's house near a metro station, offered to people who are unable to get home due to the bustle of the city. recent transit strike.
In a world where people are inundated with stuff, Partage Club positions itself as an opportunity to turn social connections into a positive economic force.
“This is another way of looking at the economy that takes into account all the social and environmental components,” Doucet said.
Partage Club conducted the study in collaboration with Sanjeet Gopalakrishnan, assistant professor in the Desautels Faculty of Management at McGill University, to evaluate the app's potential environmental, economic and social impacts. According to their analysis, every time a neighbor shares something through the app, it is equivalent to an average savings of $58 per user and a reduction in waste of 238 grams (or approximately 11 plastic 1.5-liter bottles). During the school year, Partage Club users saved about 400 kilograms of waste by borrowing items. But there is a way out: according to the 2025 plan. Global Waste IndexThe average Canadian produces 694 kilograms of waste per year.
The startup relies on venture capital money, but that money comes with internal tensions: investors expect big returns, but Partage Club's business model promotes anti-consumer sentiment. Despite the controversy, Partage Club says it has been profitable since last year. What started out largely as an individual consumer model has evolved into selling licenses to city and municipal governments that they can offer for free to their constituents. The model also works for property managers, educational institutions, organizations and businesses. Individuals can still try the app for free for three weeks and then pay $60 per year or $8 per month for access.
Doucet said they have raised money to expand in Canada and abroad, doubling the team next year and adding features to “gamify” the user experience. The company uses artificial intelligence (AI) to improve its algorithm to show users items related to those it borrowed.
But Doucet warned that the team has a “responsibility” for how it uses AI. As technology increasingly enhances online shopping experience For consumers, she expects Partage Club to be a welcome contrast for people looking for a more human-centric experience.
“We focus on the community,” she said.
Image courtesy of Partage Club.
