Editor’s note: We’re delighted to introduce the first Canadian Startup Lawyer blog by Rob Cowan, Partner at McInnes Cooper.  This will appear monthly on Rob’s blogging site, StartupLawyer.ca, and Entrevestor.

Each month, Rob will select a topic that arises frequently in his work with leading Canadian startups, and provide the advice that sets young companies on the course to success. It cuts

Spring Loaded Technology of Halifax has landed a $100,000 investment from a prominent Halifax tech entrepreneur, validating not only the company’s product, but also entrepreneurship courses at the region’s universities.

John Hamblin, the president of Clarke IT Solutions, has invested in the company, accounting for one-fifth of a seed funding round with a target of $500,000. The money is helping the company protect its intellectual property and further develop its prototype.

Spring Loaded Technology is developing a knee brace that not only stabilizes the joint but also strengthens it,

We're delighted to post for the first -- and certainly not the last -- time a joint panel with Startup Kitchen.

We've taped a discussion among Startup Kitchen's Robert Foley and Suhaim Abdussamad and me, covering a few of the big startup stories in the region this month. The topics include the recent controversy over the First Angel Network, the wave of hirings and East Coast Startup Week.

Jevon MacDonald, the co-founder and CEO of GoInstant, is leading a drive to open a new working space in Halifax where tech entrepreneurs can rent space and benefit from each other’s experiences.

MacDonald and his collaborators plan to open the facility, called Volta, this year, starting out mainly as a workspace where founders of young companies can meet and feed off each other’s energy. In time, it might offer some programs, evolving into an incubator or accelerator, which are more structured systems for developing young companies.

MacDonald has been working on Volta since he and his

The story of SkySquirrel Technologies is a story of two immigrants in rural Nova Scotia, a kick-ass medical device company and the development of an unmanned aerial vehicle that could save lives.

Though very much in its infancy, SkySquirrel is a company that’s already creating buzz at support agencies due to its potential in both software development and manufacturing from its base in

There’s going to be a bit of a change this year in the Pitching Den at Invest Atlantic.

The fourth annual Invest Atlantic conference will be held at the Halifax World Trade and Convention Centre on Sept. 25, and like its three predecessors it will include pitchers telling the hundreds of delegates about their companies. In the previous years, the Pitching Den has been the final segment of the conference, with the winner usually walking away with beer tickets and bragging rights.

This year, Bob Williamson, the head of Invest Atlantic, is trying something different. He’s organized

To further the debate about whether companies should pay to pitch, Entrevestor today is publishing guest columns outlining opposing views.

Since Toronto-based startup evangelist David Crow criticized the First Angel Network in Startup North on Feb. 19, members of the community have discussed publicly and privately the pros and cons of FAN’s model .

FAN has channeled more than $9 million into 22 companies (and counting) since 2005, during which time it has accepted $1.1 million in funding from the Atlantic Provinces Opportunities Network. It charges each company that pitches to its full

The First Angel Network, or FAN, goes where other investors fear to tread. Since 2005, it has directed more than $9 million to business startups in Atlantic Canada.

As co-founders of Atlantic-based FAN, we are proud of the performance of the companies our angels have supported. Since 2005, we have invested in 22 early-stage companies. Only two have failed, while two FAN-supported firms have successfully exited – one after being sold for 1.5 times the organization’s investment.

Overall, FAN’s $9-million has leveraged more than $60 million in additional investment in firms that have

After 25 years in venture capital, I first heard the term “investment ask” five years ago, when working in Nova Scotia.

I didn’t like it at all! And I really don’t like the practice of asking entrepreneurs to pay to pitch.

One important thing I learned during all those years is a good deal requires equal parties. Entrepreneurs and investors are of equal importance to the deal and to each other. If anyone feels treated any other way than equally, it will lead to friction, and the deal will be harmed.

You may think the investor always has the upper hand, but you’re wrong. The investor

The staff of Ooka Island Inc. gathered at their Charlottetown office a few weeks ago to watch the educational software company’s pitch on CBC’s Dragons’ Den.

One staff member’s smartphone was logged on to the company’s e-commerce site, which pings every time Ooka Island gets a new client.

As the pitch was broadcast, the phone began to ping and ping until it sounded like a drum roll. The sound eventually died down, only to happen each hour as the show was broadcast in the next time zone and then the next.

“That started a pretty steady stream (of sales) for about the next two weeks,”