The Digital Side of Charlottetown

Gillian McCrae smiled as she looked back at the makeshift stage where six Prince Edward Island digital technology companies had just pitched.

McCrae, the Propel ICT Vice-President, had just overseen her organization’s first Local Demo Day in Charlottetown. It had taken place before a packed house at the Upstreet Craft Brewery, the crowd full of mentors, entrepreneurs and politicians. And, she

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Job of The Week: 4Deep Inwater

Halifax-based 4Deep Inwater Imaging, which makes cutting-edge microscopes that can operate in the water, is seeking a product verification/quality control lead.

The company makes advanced microscopes that can examine micro-organisms and other small material in the water in real time. They can check the size, shape, and movement of anything from embryonic invasive species to beads of oil in an

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New Programming at Planet Hatch

A method for streamlining access to entrepreneurial services is being developed in New Brunswick. The idea is to prevent service duplication, said Lisa Kinney, Entrepreneurial Services Coordinator at Fredericton’s Planet Hatch.

Chicago-born Kinney, who has been in her post at the New Brunswick incubator and co-working space for the past six months, said she is impressed by the collaboration in

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Sequence Announces US$3M Funding

Silicon Valley venture capital firm Data Collective is leading a US$3 million (C$3.9 million) seed round of funding in St. John’s-based Sequence Bio, calling the company’s work in health data “a globally significant opportunity.”

The parties issued a press release Wednesday saying the other investors in the round were: Killick Capital, the St. John’s investment fund headed by Mark Dobbin;

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Unique Solutions Closes its Doors

Dartmouth-based body scan company Unique Solutions has closed down after burning through tens of millions of dollars in capital, including $5.6 million it raised from the Nova Scotian government.

A spokesman on Wednesday said that the company had ceased operations and that the secured creditors would appoint a receiver or agent to auction off the company’s assets.

[Full disclosure:  Entrevestor founder Peter Moreira invested in Unique Solutions and did some freelance work for the company, all in 2010.]

The termination is the final chapter in a corporate story that began in 1997 when

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Event Season in 2016 Focuses on NB

We’re entering event season in the Atlantic Canadian startup community, and the focus this year will be on New Brunswick.

There are at least five big events planned for the region this autumn, and three that were held in Halifax last year will be in New Brunswick this year.

The regional finals for the Startup Canada Awards will be held Sept. 13 in Fredericton.  Invest Atlantic arrives in

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Government Must Adopt Innovation

There are a few things that investors don’t like to hear from entrepreneurs who are pitching them for money, and one is that the startup plans to sell mainly to government.

Selling to government is difficult. The sales cycle is long – so long the startup can run out of money waiting for an answer. Bureaucracies often resist change, which interferes with the adoption of new technology. If the

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Briefs: Curbza, V4C, BDC, Cheep

Peer-to-Peer Commerce Startup Curbza Raises $83,000

Curbza, a new Dartmouth company that is developing a peer-to-peer mobile commerce platform, has raised $83,000 in seed capital from angel investors.

Curbza has developed a mobile application that lets individuals buy, sell and barter their household goods. It can also act as a personal inventory for their possessions.

“Curbza has been in

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MentorCamp to Debut in Sydney

MentorCamp, the event that brings together entrepreneurs and mentors for intense training sessions, will take place in the Sydney area this month — the first time it’s been held in Cape Breton.

Founder Permjot Valia launched MentorCamp in Halifax in 2011 and has since held the event in such locations as Arkansas, South Africa, and Manitoba. He recently became the Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the

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Jobs of the Week: Forestry.io

Forestry.io, a Charlottetown company developing a new content management system, or CMS, is looking for two programmers to help the young company grow.

Today’s Jobs of the Week column highlights the postings by this startup, whose recent beta test attracted 2,500 users around the world.

Founded by startup veterans Scott Gallant and Jordan Patterson, Forestry.io is developing a CMS for static site generators like Jekyll, Middleman, and Hugo, rather than the more conventional systems like WordPress and Drupal.

The company is looking for a Javascript/full-stack developer and a backend

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