RtTech Software, whose state-of-the-art automation helps industrial companies improve manufacturing processes, will announce Tuesday that it has closed a $3-million venture capital round led by the world’s leading industrial Internet of things fund.

McRock Capital's new McRock iNFund LP will invest as much as $2.5 million in the Moncton company, while the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation will contribute $500,000.

The fund is backed by major institutions, such as Cisco Investments, Teralys Capital Innovation LP and BDC Capital, and will be worth about $65 million when funding closes

The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation has issued the following press release:

BREAKTHRU FINALISTS ANNOUNCED!

After months of work for our five finalist teams, the idea of becoming entrepreneurs remains a dream. But three of them will become exactly that, receiving over $750,000 in investments and professional services from our partners to start their own company—and a new life.

Breakthru tickets are already selling fast. Get yours now before we sell out! Breakthru LIVE - March 19th at the Fredericton Convention Centre - is one of the most anticipated events of the season. In

NB BioMatrix, the New Brunswick cleantech company that won the BioInnovation Challenge last autumn, is developing into a bona fide business by adding staff and planning to launch late this year.

The Saint John company is using nano-technology to develop a biodegradable, anti-bacterial liquid that can remove heavy metals and other pollutants from waste water. The product, called Naqua-Pure, binds with water-soluble particles such as heavy metals and non-soluble components such as oil. It then uses electromagnetic forces to remove the material from water.

Founded by CEO Jeff Jennings and

Gerry Pond has offered $500,000 to any university or other body in Atlantic Canada that establishes an academy to teach international sales.

The Co-Founder of Mariner and East Valley Ventures was the 15^th panelist to speak on educational reform at an Association of Atlantic Universities symposium on Thursday. After several speakers had called for action and urgency, Pond brought the room to life by announcing he would contribute half a million bucks to any group that sets up an institute to teach curriculum in sales. (He said the winner can add the words “and marketing” if it likes, but

Halifax is gaining such a reputation for entrepreneurship that the buzz is helping Dawn Jutla attract mature students to the program she runs at the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University.

Now in its second year, the master of technology, entrepreneurship and innovation program offers graduate students the chance to gain their master’s in just eight months of part-time study,

Academic, business and political leaders came together in Halifax on Thursday to call for reform in post-secondary education, and including a greater emphasis on teaching entrepreneurship.

The speakers at the Atlantic Leaders Summit organized by the Atlantic Association of Universities voiced a near unanimous message that the region’s institutes of high education need reform, or at least improvement. They have the potential to be an economic boon, to spur innovation and to train the work force for the modern economy. But there is an urgent need for improvement in various areas, they said.

One of the overlooked segments of Premier Stephen McNeil’s State of the Province speech last week was his revelation that Nova Scotia will soon proceed with a new public-private venture capital fund.

On Feb. 11, McNeil delivered his address to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, and the focus was on the need for change, reinforcing the theme of the Ivany report.

But he also noted that the province would soon release a request for proposals for a private-sector venture capital partner to manage a fund that would be financed in part by the province. The announcement is a followup to the

The following is the text of an address by Gerry Pond given at the recent Saint Mary’s University convocation, where he was awarded an honorary doctorate:

As you graduate from this fine university and begin the next stage in your journey, you will receive considerable amounts of advice, all well intentioned, and much of it useful. Let me add my voice to the chorus with some thoughts on how

The third annual Big Data Congress, to be held in Halifax this October, will feature as its keynote speaker Google’s Director of Engineering Ray Kurzweil.

The brainchild of T4G CEO Geoff Flood, the first two Congresses were held in Saint John and both attracted more than 600 delegates even though they were held in the depth of winter. The event is designed to promote the use of data analytics to generate economic growth and improve the performance of all organizations.

This year, the event will shift to Halifax and to the autumn, and it will have a special emphasis on how Big Data is

The organizers of East Coast Startup Week in Fredericton have issued the following press release:

A Week of Innovation and Entrepreneurship with Something for Everyone! Press Release:

FREDERICTON, NB – The blossoming East Coast start-up scene will get a major boost with the second iteration of East Coast Startup Week, a series of events being held on March 16 to 22 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Brought to you by organizing partners Planet Hatch, the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and the Pond-Deshpande Centre, East Coast Startup Week is a series of events bringing entrepreneurs