Mara Renewables Raises $39.5M

Mara Renewables Corp., which makes algae-based ingredients for nutritional supplements, baby formula and food, has raised the largest funding round so far this year for an Atlantic Canadian startup: a $39.5 million deal led by Toronto specialist VC InvestEco Capital.

Mara, headquartered in Dartmouth, has not disclosed the valuation at which it raised the money. But only a handful of startups in

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TechNL Seeks Firms for High School Work Terms

Newfoundland and Labrador industry group techNL is looking for technology companies to participate in its High School Tech Immersion Program, which is a six-week, work-integrated learning course for Grade 10, 11 and 12 students.

This year’s Tech Immersion Program is a modified version of what techNL first offered last year. Participant feedback from the earlier iteration has led techNL to

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Drinkable Water Wins BUILD

Halifax wellwater testing startup Drinkable Water won the Emera ideaHUB's BUILD demo day Thursday, winning a $3,000 cash prize, while medical device maker Hollo Medical won the People's Choice Award, chosen by audience members.

Drinkable beat out a field of eight competitors – originally planned to be ten, but two founders could not pitch because of travel problems – by a panel of judges that

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Startup Data To Be Released June 14

We’re delighted to announce we’ll launch our 2021 Atlantic Canada Startup Data report at noon on June 14 in a live event at Volta, which will be streamed to people who can’t attend in person.

Our data has become the benchmark for the Atlantic Canadian startup community in recent years. Each year, we tally up the total number of startups, and assess their employees, funding and revenue, providing

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Pressto Raises $1.5M

New York- and Halifax-based education technology startup Pressto has raised a $1.5 million round of pre-seed funding led by Halifax’s Tidal Venture Partners, with New York edtech fund Copper Wire Ventures and a handful of angel investors also signing on.

Tidal Ventures, founded last year, is a pre-seed and seed-stage venture capital fund that invests specifically in Atlantic Canadian companies.

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ACOA Funds Five NS Startups

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency has announced a raft of funding deals for Nova Scotia companies, including five startups, as part of the federal government's Jobs and Growth Fund, created last summer to buttress the economic recovery after COVID-19.

ACOA is administering $70 million of the total $700 million fund, with investments focusing on environmentally friendly and socially

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Founders, BAIs Sought for Startupfest

Several startup organizations have come together to generate a major Atlantic Canadian presence at Startupfest in Montreal this summer and are branding the initiative Startup Atlantic.

In particular, the organizers are hoping business accelerators and incubators, or BAIs, will send representatives and that founders themselves will attend the event to network and promote their companies.

Though

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