STEP’ing into the global market
Cultivator has been lucky enough to have the support of Saskatchewan Trade and Export Partnership (STEP) over the past few years– officially signing STEP on as our Market Expansion in-residence partner in early 2022. STEP is a membership-based trade promotion agency that offers a full suite of export programs and services to businesses in partnership with the Government of Saskatchewan.
We recently had the opportunity to welcome STEP’s Senior Market Intelligence Specialist: Réka Gajári, for her quarterly in-residence hours. Here is what Réka had to say about her experience working with Cultivator startups…
“My first experience with Cultivator was during the 24 Hour Startup event in 2020. I was a research mentor that provided information to the teams to assist them with building out their ideas. Since then, I’ve helped the companies in the START Cohorts with market intelligence a few times a year. If there is a fit and these companies become STEP Members, they can access customized reports created by STEP to help them enter new markets. STEP market intelligence reports for members can include market overviews, competitive analysis, customer and company lists, regulatory information, and more.
I enjoy providing pathfinding and snapshot research to the startups at Cultivator. Sometimes it helps identify something they didn’t have on their radar or provides the information they haven’t dedicated the time to find while they’re busy with other aspects of their business. I can help quickly identify market size statistics, point out relevant industry associations, and provide relevant links for further information.
Currently, I represent STEP as the Market Expansion in-Residence Partner until we hire someone to fill the trade specialist role at STEP that focuses on technology. After that, I’ll still be here to provide behind-the-scenes market intelligence to all Cultivator startups.
The companies at Cultivator are creating real solutions to problems that can be applied to other markets beyond Saskatchewan. As a partner, STEP’s role is to help these companies GROW and SCALE up through trade and export consultation.”
…
In September, Cultivator had the opportunity to learn more about the potential for cultivator companies’ growth worldwide with a trip to the United Kingdom. Bre Walkeden (Community and Partners Manager at Cultivator) and Jordan McFarlen (Incubator Manager at Cultivator) joined Emmertech, Economic Development Regina (EDR), and STEP at the World Agri-Tech Innovation Summit in London.
This experience was featured in Industry West Magazine in an article titled… THINKING BIG: CULTIVATOR IS SOWING SEEDS FOR INTERNATIONAL SUCCESS. In the article, Andrew Doan (former Trade Specialist, Manufacturing & Technology at STEP) explained, “like Cultivator, we’re here to help Saskatchewan businesses grow on the world stage, and we work with tech startups to make that happen. Cultivator is here to help build the companies, and we’re here to help take them to the world.”