After years of struggle, indie games developer Xona Games of Yarmouth finally feels it is in a position of strength in the global market.

Xona, the product of twins Jason and Matthew Doucette, was recently honoured with first place in the Rogers Big Idea Contest, which brings with it an award of $20,000.

More importantly, the company has been accepted into Microsoft’s elite ID@Xbox program. Inclusion in this could give the Doucette brothers greater security as they work at bringing their vision to market.

The Doucettes have learned over the years that game development is a precarious

Launch36, the Atlantic Canadian regional startup accelerator, is calling for applications for its fourth cohort, building on its mission of launching 36 companies in three years.

In particular, the accelerator operated by the regional technology association Propel ICT is hoping for its first participants from Newfoundland and Labrador.

[Meanwhile, Canadian Entrepreneurs in New England has announced that it is looking for participants for its 48 Hours in the Hub program.  The biennial two-day program brings Canadian startups to Boston for mentorship, strategic partner visits and

The Honourable Peter MacKay, P.C., Q.C., M.P. for Central Nova, and Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, on behalf of the Honourable Dr. K. Kellie Leitch, Minister of Labour and Minister of Status of Women, recently announced Government of Canada support for a project to enhance women’s participation in Nova Scotia’s digital economy. Status of Women Canada is providing $298,622 to Digital Nova Scotia to lead this 36-month project.

“We are proud to partner with the Government of Canada to help more women leaders in Nova Scotia participate in and lead our digital economy. We

It’s been two years since Jason Janes and Roger Power began Startup St. John’s as an opportunity for isolated entrepreneurs to network and gain mutual support. Meeting in borrowed boardrooms and local restaurants, those first get-togethers attracted around 40.

Today, over 200 members meet to find mentors, space and funding. For Janes, who self-identifies as “a typical IT geek who likes to

SageCrowd, a Halifax startup that develops online networks for personal improvement authors, announced Wednesday it has closed its first round of financing, valued at $850,000.

In a statement, the company said the investors were the Ogden Pond Group, the Halifax-based First Angel Network, and various angel investors. The Ogden Pond Group is a Halifax incubator and merchant bank in which sageCrowd Co-Founder and Chair Sean Sears is involved.

SageCrowd is an online learning network that will deepen the relationship between some of the world’s leading personal improvement authors and their

Maybe it’s a good thing we didn’t learn how much the shareholders pocketed when UserEvents Inc. of Fredericton was bought this week.

It would be nice to know how much Redwood City, Calif.-based LiveOps Inc. paid in the acquisition announced Monday. But without a number, we’re forced to examine the deal’s other aspects, and realize it will help to build stronger institutions, mentors and links with global tech companies.

LiveOps, which offers cloud-based products to improve customer service and call centres, would only say it paid an undisclosed amount for UserEvents.

It’s a natural

We’re overwhelmed by the response we’re getting when we notify people about the Entrevestor Survey, which we will send out to about 300 Atlantic Canadian startups one week from today – Thursday, February 6.

What’s really heartening is the response from entrepreneurs – the people who are being asked to fill out the form, which is just over two pages long. When I tweeted about it last week, I tried to thank the people who were retweeting it. But there were simply too many of them.

This week, I’ve been contacting everyone on the list to let them know the survey is coming. (We’ll finish

Three of the region’s leading ITC companies – LeadSift, RtTech and TitanFile – announced partnerships with blue chip international corporations on Tuesday, which will help develop their sales around the world.

Moncton-based RtTech, whose products use large companies’ operational data to make the manufacturing processes more efficient, has teamed up with Emerson, the St. Louis-based engineering team whose sales hit $25 billion last year. LeadSift of Halifax has announced a partnership with Publicis Modem, a global digital agency network that operates in more than 40 countries and has more

Aside from the financial considerations, the founders of Fredericton-based UserEvents decided to sell out to LiveOps, Inc. this week because they discovered an alignment of ambition and vision for the two companies.

UserEvents, a Fredericton startup whose technology alerts corporations when customers are having trouble with online transactions, announced Tuesday that it would be bought for an undisclosed sum by the Redwood City, Calif.-based provider of cloud contact center and customer service solutions. Though financial details were not released, LiveOps did say earlier the move comes

There’s been a subtle change on the podium of Innovacorp’s I-3 competition, and it’s a change for the better.

The provincial innovation agency released on Monday the regional winners and runners-up of the biennial competition, which aims to find the top new knowledge-based companies in the province. And what leaps out is that the winning company in each of the five zones is more steeped in proprietary technology than in previous years and is farther down the entrepreneurial path than past winners.

What’s significant is that the benefits of the innovation boom are spreading throughout