WELLINGTON – March 10, 2026 – The new business Knead A Brake, which operates a café-bakery and bicycle shop, will be able to proceed with its dream expansion now that it has won a $25,000 investment from RDÉE Prince Edward Island’s Francophone Ignition Contest.

Raphaël Amiot Savard and his wife Kirsten established their business on the Barbara Weit Road in Travellers Rest in a former small country school. Kirsten honed her baking skills in Australia and France and learned alternative baking in Ottawa. Raphaël is a high-quality bicycle salesman. He is there to meet a variety of fitness needs, whether it’s coaching, nutrition, adjusting running or cycling equipment, or maintaining equipment.

Their medium- to long-term goal was to set up and open a beautiful modular café in either Kensington or Summerside, where there would be a much larger customer base. Now, their dream will come true much sooner than expected.

THE COMPETITION

Eleven entrepreneurial projects originally registered for the 2026 Francophone Ignition Contest. Nine of them, including Amiot Savard, had taken the training courses offered at the beginning of the year. The competition’s preliminary round narrowed the field down to four finalists with the greatest potential for success. During the final round of the competition, held privately in Wellington on March 7, entrepreneur judges Nico Durant (Front Gate Financial Group), Éric Morency (Tenacity Hockey), and Velma LeBlanc (RaVe Event Decor) determined that Knead A Brake’s project had the greatest chance of success and awarded it the $25,000 investment that was up for grabs.

The judges were impressed that its profit margin is already quite interesting and that its products have already proven themselves on the market, even though its store is located a little out of the way on a small country road. They therefore expect great things from Knead A Brake once it sets up shop in a municipality with much more traffic. The jury also noted that the winning company has very little competition for its unique combination of products. In addition, its products are exportable. Finally, they greatly appreciated the fact that Amiot Savard already has six employees (many of whom are young people) and that he plans to multiply that number with his expansion.

The two rounds of the contest were conducted in a style similar to the television shows Shark Tank, Dragons’ Den, and Dans l’œil du dragon. The competitors presented their projects in 10 minutes to try to “sell” their business idea, and then the judges asked them questions to better understand their projects.

The other 2026 finalists were chocolatier Julie Monfette from Choco Gourmet in Charlottetown, who wanted to purchase professional equipment and promote her products; Samantha Connelly, a woodworker from Pink Hat Woodworks in Harrington, who wanted to better equip her workshop, purchase production equipment, and promote her business; and Wijdane Bijou from Charlottetown, creator of crocheted handbags under the Le Bijou brand, who wanted to strengthen her brand and participate in more local and Canadian markets.

The Francophone Ignition Contest is made possible thanks to contributions from Innovation PEI (through its Ignition Startup Fund) and the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency. This year marks the 12th year of RDÉE PEI’s entrepreneurial competition.

OTHER PRIZES

In addition to the financial investment, Amiot Savard also wins other prizes:

• A course of his choice at Collège de l’Île;
• A free three-year membership to the Greater Summerside Chamber of Commerce;
• A free one-year membership to the Greater Charlottetown Area Chamber of Commerce;
• A pair of free tickets to the 2026 Acadian Entrepreneurs’ Gala hosted by the Acadian and Francophone Chamber of Commerce of PEI (CCAFLIPE).

The Acadian Chamber also offered a free one-year membership to the four finalists in the competition.

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PHOTO: Seen following the 2026 Francophone Ignition Contest, from left, are coordinator Natalia Saldarriaga, judges Velma LeBlanc and Nico Durant, champion Raphaël Amiot Savard (who wins the $25,000 investment), and judge Éric Morency.

PHOTO MONTAGE: The other finalists in the 2026 Francophone Ignition Contest were Julie Monfette from Choco Gourmet in Charlottetown, Wijdane Bijou from Le Bijou in Charlottetown, and Samantha Connelly from Pink Hat Woodworks in Harrington.

 

For more information:
Natalia Saldarriaga
Coordinator
2026 Francophone Ignition Contest
RDÉE Prince Edward Island
(250) 253-5794
natalia@rdeeipe.org