I've been stepping onto the set of Dans l'œil du dragon for three years now. Every season, Quebec entrepreneurs surprise me with their boldness and ingenuity. This year was no exception.
During Season 15’s final episode, I had the pleasure of awarding the AWS Business Grant, worth $100,000, to Amical—a young company that uses conversational artificial intelligence to break the isolation of seniors living with memory disorders. I also recognized two remarkable finalists: Les vraies aubaines (LVA) and Flyos Games, each receiving a $20,000 grant that includes technology credits and individual support.
These three companies share a common purpose: they leverage technology to help drive positive change, here and beyond.
Read on to find out more about why these three companies made such an impression on me.
Amical: a conversation that changes everything
When Tony Aubé, co-founder of Amical, told me the story of his grandmother, I immediately understood why this project existed.
"My grandmother suffered from Alzheimer's. Even though she had family visiting every day at her residence, she felt alone because she forgot about those visits so quickly. I thought that a virtual companion, that is available and who never gets tired, would be an extraordinary tool for people suffering from cognitive disorders and loneliness," he explained to me.
Tony spent years in Silicon Valley. When he returned to Quebec in 2024, he wanted to find a project that was both exciting for him and useful for society.
The result is Pauline—a conversational companion housed inside a pink telephone straight out of the 1990s. You pick up the receiver, you talk. Pauline makes conversation, asks questions, and detects if something is wrong. The object’s shape is intentionally familiar: no screen, no complex setup. Just a telephone, like the ones these individuals have used their entire lives.
What convinced me was the combination of cutting-edge technology—advanced voice AI and natural language processing models—with a fundamentally human approach. The team collaborates with health and ethics researchers to ensure the tool is developed responsibly. And the results speak for themselves: approximately 70 seniors' residences in Quebec, along with 6 residences in Europe and the United States, are already equipped with Amical companions.
The idea of using a familiar object to put advanced technology in the hands of people with memory loss caught our attention. We look forward to working with the Amical team to prepare the next stage of their growth.
Les vraies aubaines: AI to support family budgets
Jessica Laflamme and her team have set themselves a simple but ambitious mission: reduce Canadians' grocery bills.
Their platform analyzes a large volume of data including flyers, price history and promotions to identify the real bargains at groceries and pharmacies. Users save an average of $250 per month on their groceries.
With the cost of living weighing on so many families, the relevance of this proposition is self-evident.
"With AWS's support, we want to transform the growth already well underway with the LVA effect into a structured rollout. It's an important step to strengthen our artificial intelligence capabilities and reach a new stage in our expansion across Canada," Jessica Laflamme, co-founder of LVA, shared with me.
This is exactly the type of project we want to support: a dynamic team, an engaged user base, and a clear growth vision powered by cloud computing and AI.
Flyos Games: reinventing board games
Thomas Filippi and Gaby Paître of Flyos Games are proposing something I had never seen before: a new generation of board games where technology enhances the social experience of tabletop gaming, rather than replacing it.
Their approach makes it easier to update game content, extends the lifespan of games, and makes the production process efficient enough to remain competitive.
"We want to develop the technology infrastructure needed to support the company's growth, and also accelerate the development of advanced features to improve the creation, translation, and balancing of our games," Thomas explained to me.
The originality of their model and their potential for international expansion convinced us to support them.
Why AWS invests in Quebec entrepreneurs
People sometimes ask me why AWS, the world’s most broadly adopted cloud, gets involved on the set of a Quebec television show. The answer is simple: AWS started as a technology startup, and we're keeping this spirit alive.
We believe technology should be accessible to all businesses, regardless of size or industry. By supporting entrepreneurs like Tony, Jessica, and Thomas, we want to help build an innovation ecosystem in Quebec where the best ideas can take root and flourish.
This is our third year alongside Radio-Canada's Dans l'œil du dragon. Every season, choosing the winners is difficult, because the show's entrepreneurs demonstrate a remarkable level of innovation and determination. With Amical, Les vraies aubaines, and Flyos Games, we are continuing our commitment to support a new generation of Quebec entrepreneurs who harness the potential of artificial intelligence and cloud computing to build tomorrow's flagship companies.
I look forward to seeing what these three teams accomplish in the coming months.
To learn more about AWS for startups.
To watch the show on catch-up, visit ICI TOU.TV.
