Umano launched an ambitious $38-million plan this year to develop new products
Fonds régionaux de solidarité FTQ Chaudière-Appalaches (FRS) have invested in Umano Medical Inc., a company based in L’Islet and Lévis that develops, produces and commercializes medical equipment, including hospital beds.
In 2011, a company called Groupe Bertec was established by Christian Cariou, Robert Dion, Ghislain Demers and Denis Bourgault. These four founding shareholders, former employees of a multinational medical equipment firm, brought solid expertise in this field. From 2012 to 2014, the company embarked on the development of a revolutionary new hospital bed. In January 2015, it changed its name to Umano Medical and launched the new bed while creating its own sales network.
It was at this time that the FRS invested in the company’s working capital. In 2018, following three years of development, Umano launched a new bed for overweight patients. This bed achieved instant success in various countries, including Canada, the United States, Australia and parts of Europe. Umano continues to support innovation and embarked in 2020 on an ambitious $38-million four-year product development plan. The most recent financing from the FRS Chaudière-Appalaches is intended to support the company’s development strategy and its future projects.
“We are pleased to benefit from the expertise of the Fonds régionaux de solidarité FTQ Chaudière-Appalaches and their support through this process,” says Umano Vice-President Robert Dion. “We aim to pursue a strategy of developing proprietary and complementary products, investing continuously in R&D, being on the lookout for potential acquisitions and boosting our market share in Canada and the United States.”
Adds Frédéric Bernard, Regional Vice-President of the Fonds régionaux de solidarité FTQ for the Chaudière-Appalaches and Québec City regions: “Our mission is to support promising SMEs such as Umano Medical and to help them grow and innovate while maintaining high-quality, long-lasting jobs in our region. We are proud to be teaming up with this group of visionary entrepreneurs.”
The 16 offices of the Fonds régionaux de solidarité FTQ provide small and medium-sized enterprises with customized business solutions through loans or equity. Each product is developed with a company’s characteristics and the regional economic reality taken into account. Loans from the regional funds, made without guarantees or personal sureties, are free of legal and management fees and are intended to complement the financing provided by traditional financial institutions.
About the Fonds régionaux de solidarité FTQ
The Fonds régionaux de solidarité FTQ have been participating in the economic development of Québec’s regions for over 24 years. Created in 1996, the Fonds régionaux have invested just over $1 billion dollars in 1,400 companies, supporting close to 52,000 jobs.
About Umano Medical
Industry leader Umano Medical designs, manufactures and markets innovative medical equipment. The company also stands out for its attentiveness to healthcare professionals, its proactive service and its engaged team. The main supplier of medical beds in Québec, Umano Medical has a presence on four continents. With more than 300 employees at its L’Islet headquarters and its Lévis office, it is among Québec’s 300 biggest SMEs, ranking 173rd.
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