Feds Lend BioVectra $5M for NS Plant

The federal government has announced a loan of $5 million to Charlottetown pharmaceutical manufacturer BioVectra to help it expand operations, including upgrading a plant in Nova Scotia.

Treasury Board Secretary Scott Brison made the announcement Thursday in Windsor, where the facility is being renovated, creating 28 jobs in the near term. Once the plant is operational in 2020, the company

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Oberland Finds Market for Fly Larvae

A young Halifax company that includes a NASA scientist and a gecko called Obie has announced that your supply of black soldier fly larvae is just a click away.

The company is a one-year-old enterprise called Oberland Agriscience, which has just launched an e-commerce site called obiesworms.com. It allows anyone to order live black soldier fly larvae, or BSFL, the things that grow in your green

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V4C Lands $4.4M for 505 Interns

The federal government on Wednesday announced $4.4 million in funding for Venture for Canada, which will allow 505 graduates to intern at innovative Atlantic Canadian companies.

The government issued a statement saying that it will provide funding for the organization that helps graduates of Canadian post-secondary institutions land positions at startups and innovative companies. The funding is

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Jobs Analysis Reveals R&D Problem

An analysis of the 299 first-quarter job postings for Atlantic Canadian tech developers shows early-stage companies – not larger corporations -- are using most of the cutting-edge technology in the region.

Our survey of three job boards in the region between December and mid-March 2018 found 299 technology jobs open in the region. Our research also revealed only 23 percent of the postings are

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Dovico Lands NB, ACOA Funding

Moncton-based Dovico Software Inc., which makes time-management software, plans to hire as many as 13 people full-time with about $460,000 of funding from the provincial and federal governments.

The governments said this week they would provide funding for the company, which has been selling its software for more than 25 years and now has about 30 employees. Its flagship product Dovico Timesheet

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Ayles’ Allergy App Wins UNB Contest

A University of New Brunswick student has been recognized for her smartphone app that allows people with food allergies to find safe places to eat.

Holly Ayles, a third-year UNB business administration student from Fredericton, captured first place in the ideas category of the 12th annual RBC Student Pitch Competition hosted by UNB’s Technology Management & Entrepreneurship program.

She came up

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Replies to My Rural Startups Column

My opinion piece last week on policies on rural startups drew a range of responses, many of them disagreeing with my premise.

You can read my arguments here for policies that encourage startups in population centres, rather than rural areas. I want to highlight a few of the responses on social media.

Here’s what Bob Pelley, Innovacorp’s regional manager for Cape Breton and Northern Nova Scotia,

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CarbonCure in US$20M XPRIZE Finals

CarbonCure Technologies is a finalist for the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE Challenge and has a shot at winning a total of US$8 million in the next two years.

The organizers of the competition announced the 10 finalists for the prize this morning. Each finalist will receive US$500,000 and spend the next two years testing its product in one of two tracks. At the end, one winner from each track will

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Chicago Group Cites Squiggle Park

As its traction accelerates, Dartmouth-based Squiggle Park has received validation from a panel of education experts by being one of 12 EdTech programs selected this year by LEAP Innovations in Chicago.

LEAP issued a statement last week saying that its Leap Pilot Network had selected a dozen IT programs that help children, teachers and parents improve educational outcomes, and one was Squiggle

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