One week after taking office, New Brunswick Premier Brian Gallant has announced a $90,000 funding for Fredericton-based HotSpot Parking Inc., a recent graduate of the Launch36 accelerator.
Beyond the facts of the funding and its benefit for an interesting company, Gallant has sent a few strong signals about startups.
When the new Liberal premier and his cabinet were sworn in on Oct. 7, Gallant took a few cabinet portfolios for himself, including innovation. It’s noteworthy that innovation – which usually isn’t mentioned in cabinet titles – is given enough importance that the premier wants to oversee it personally.
And his first job-creation announcement was a funding deal revealed Tuesday for a startup – a $90,000 contribution that will allow the company to hire six people.
“Our investment in this small business will help create new jobs and assist in stimulating other capital investment opportunities for HotSpot Parking Inc.,” said Gallant, who is obviously signaling that startups will play a key role in his government’s economic strategy.
The HotSpot technology allows the remote payment of parking meters. Drivers can feed the meter without interrupting their shopping or meetings. Or merchants can use a cellphone to pay a customer’s parking, rather than have the customer run out of the store to feed the meter and never return.
But that’s only what the driver sees in the solution.
In the past year, CEO Phillip Curley and his team have advanced their system so it produces invaluable data for downtown businesses. Hotspot Parking allows these businesses to advertise directly to customers through their cellphones. And because of the geolocation capabilities of cellphones, the company can track how many people respond to their ads, who returns and who spends money.
“With the investment from the provincial government, our company will be able to grow rapidly, expand to global markets and help boost our local economy,” said Curley in a statement. “HotSpot sees massive potential in small businesses and we will continue to work hard to increase downtown health and through the collaborative work with our local small business entrepreneurs."
The government is making the contribution through the NB Growth Program, which authorizes grants of up to $100,000 to new and growing businesses. The CBC said Tuesday that HotSpot is currently operating in Fredericton, Saint John and Charlottetown, and the company plans to expand to Moncton and Halifax.
Disclaimer: Entrevestor receives financial support from government agencies that support startup companies in Atlantic Canada. The sponsoring agencies play no role in determining which companies and individuals are featured in this column, nor do they review columns before they are published.
