The beta launch
breakfast.
Gia's first morning gathering — a room full of nonprofits, artists, and grant writers at Brique par Brique. The conversation that kicked everything off.
What happened
that morning.
About thirty people pulled chairs around tables at Brique par Brique on a Thursday morning in April. Some knew each other; most didn't. What they had in common was a project they were trying to fund and a familiar frustration: the grant landscape in Québec is dense, opaque, and almost designed to discourage people who don't already know the system.
Jordane opened the conversation not with a pitch but with a question: what's the most confusing part of applying for grants right now? The answers came quickly. Eligibility criteria that seem designed to exclude. Applications written in language that doesn't match how artists actually talk about their work. The feeling that funders have already decided before the deadline.
Gia was introduced simply: a tool built to reduce that friction — to surface the right programs, demystify the criteria, and put an actual human expert in the room when it counts. The beta was open. The first discovery calls were being booked.
"I've been applying to the same three grants for four years because I don't know what else exists. I didn't realize how much I didn't know."— Attendee, independent musician, Montréal
The visibility problem
Most participants were only aware of a handful of programs — typically the ones they'd applied to before or heard about through word of mouth. Several had never applied to CALQ or the Conseil des arts de Montréal despite being clearly eligible. The core issue isn't competition; it's that the landscape is genuinely hard to see.
Language as a barrier
A recurring thread: grant applications ask you to translate your work into funder language, which often doesn't map to how artists and small nonprofits actually describe what they do. Writing that sounds authentic in a conversation sounds wrong in an application form — and vice versa. Several attendees mentioned having applications declined without feedback.
Success-fee model: the reaction
When Jordane explained the model — 100% free to discover, 10% only if awarded — the room went quiet for a second and then someone said "that's the only model that makes sense for us." Several organizations mentioned that the upfront cost of grant writing consultants had previously put the option out of reach entirely.
The cooperative angle resonated
More than one person made a point of asking about the cooperative structure. The fact that Gia is built by a cooperative, not a SaaS company, and serves the social economy sector felt meaningful — not just as positioning but as an actual reason to trust the tool and want it to succeed.
What people wanted to see next
The most common requests: better visibility into deadlines, more information about acceptance rates ("so we can decide where to put our energy"), and notifications when relevant new programs open. Several participants also asked about artist-specific flows — the CALQ and Canada Council landscape feels distinct enough that a tailored experience would help.