At an Atlantic Institute for Market Studies symposium in February, Clearwater Seafoods president John Risley remarked, almost as an aside, that there was virtually no downside in a young person trying to start a business.

His rationale for such a statement is now in evidence throughout the startup community in Atlantic Canada.

“If it doesn’t work out, you’ll be a much better employee for someone than if you hadn’t had that experience,” Risley said. “But if it does work out, of course, that’s great.”

The hard truth is that businesses usually don’t work out — as has been witnessed in

When Steve Nicolle was looking for growth funding for Halifax-based pharmaceutical services company STI Technologies Ltd. in 2013, he decided the founding source that made the most sense was private equity.

STI was transitioning from a startup to a growth company, and Nicolle, then the CEO, wanted to partner with a company that could help it grow.

“We were looking for investors aligned with

Kevin Springer and Kyle Racki have forged an unusually successful partnership — forming two businesses and exiting one — despite a 20-year age gap and early religious differences.

Springer, 51, is president of Halifax-based PitchPerfect Software, the parent company of Proposify.biz.

Proposify is a software-as-a-service, or SaaS, product, which allows members of an agency to collaborate on

I’ve been diving into the data we’ve collected on Atlantic Canadian startups, and one thing that’s become clear is that we underestimated job creation by startups in 2014.

Earlier this year, we reported that the results of our most recent survey showed that employment at Atlantic Canadian startups rose 9.4 per cent, while revenues rose 36.5 per cent. It’s becoming clear we underestimated things on the jobs front. So we’re restating our data to say that the number of people working for Atlantic Canadian startups rose 14.3 per cent in 2014.

Here’s what happened, from the beginning. At

In recognition of Canada Day, we’re pausing today  to reflect on how lucky we are to live in Canada.

Every day on social media, I read friends complaining that Stephen Harper has ripped the heart out of the country. I hear conservatives complain of the overbearing government and high taxes.

But I really don’t think there’s a better place in the world to live. As proof, here’s some data

Transit 360, a mobile app that gives information on public transportation, has experienced a five- to six-fold increase in downloads since its 5.0 version launched and it expanded into more cities this month.

MindSea Development Inc. of Halifax first launched the iPhone app, then called Transit To Go, in 2010 so commuters in its home city could see when buses were coming. Since then, it has

More than a decade after encountering skeptics at a conference, Mark Dobbin feels vindicated for his faith in Atlantic Canadian entrepreneurs.

The Founder and President of St. John’s-based Killick Capital Inc. was reminiscing lately about how he felt when attending an event for venture capital investors in Halifax in 2004 – about the time he launched his investment firm.

“They were

In its first investment outside of Atlantic Canada, Build Ventures of Halifax has invested in InteraXon, a Toronto company developing a consumer product that operates off brainwaves.

The Atlantic Canadian regional venture fund has announced it’s joined an investment syndicate led by OMERS Ventures that invested $10 million in the Toronto company. Build accounted for $2 million of the Series B

Venture for Canada,  a not-for-profit organization that places graduates with startups, has issued the following press release:

Venture for Canada Announces Partnership with RBC

TORONTO, June 25, 2015 /CNW/ - Most recent university and college graduates seek employment with well-established companies, but those interested in entrepreneurship should take a closer look at opportunities with top Canadian startups. 

Venture for Canada, a not-for-profit organization that recruits top graduates to work at leading Canadian startups, announced today a three-year partnership with RBC's Social

Two Nova Scotian startups, Unified Software Technologies and NeoThermal Energy Storage, are the co-winners of the $100,000 Smart Energy Demo Challenge, which will help them move their product closer to a market launch.

Innovacorp, which organized the competition for startups that promote energy efficiency, said Thursday night its panel of judges had chosen co-winners and each will get about $50,000 in non-dilutive funding to work on a demonstration project with their product.

The contest was aimed at companies that have a working product but have not yet launched it in the marketplace.