Twelve companies from the Creative Destruction Lab Atlantic will head to Toronto this week to take part in the CDL Super Session – a celebration of the program’s graduates from across the country.

Operating out of Dalhousie University, the CDL-Atlantic just finished its first cohort, which began last December with 28 companies being mentored by some of the region’s top business leaders. The cohort met every two months, and the participating companies were given tasks to achieve by the following meeting. Companies that failed to meet their milestones were asked to leave, until the cohort comprised just the 12 graduates.

The CDL began a few years ago at University of Toronto and now offers programing in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax and New York. The Super Session on Wednesday and Thursday will be a celebration for the graduates from all these centres.

Two startups from each city will present at the Super Session, and St. John’s-based Empowered Homes and Halifax-based Harbr will represent CDL-Atlantic.

“Although Empowered Homes is headquartered in St. John’s, our presence is global, and we can’t wait to share our story and the learnings from CDL Atlantic with a national audience,”  Empowered Homes Co-Founder and COO Zachary Green said in a statement.

CDL is accepting applications for its 2018-19 cohort in all six cities until Aug. 12. You can apply here.

Here is a complete list of the CDL-Atlantic graduates (and links to Entrevestor articles on those we’ve covered recently):

Bereda Training, Halifax – Bereda Training has developed an online platform to help endurance athletes quickly and easily develop training plans. (Bereda Training Raises $250,000)

Borealis Wind, Kitchener, Ont. – Borealis Wind’s wind turbine blade de-icing retrofit is simple to install and maintain. It is able to reclaim 80 percent of the power that would have otherwise been lost to icing downtime.

Chinova Bioworks, Fredericton – Chinova Bioworks has developed a new clean label preservative using natural mushroom chitosan. This preservative is broad-spectrum, easy to use and meets producer and consumer needs. (Chinova CTO Tanzina Huq Recognized by Mitacs)

Empowered Homes – This company manufactures a smart thermostat called Mysa that optimizes the performance of electric baseboard heating systems. (Empowered Homes Lands $600K in Funding)

Energy X, Toronto – Energy X is an energy management technology company that has developed an online energy audit called MyEnergyXpert.

Graphite Innovation & Technologies, Halifax – GIT produces high-quality graphene GNP and develops advanced materials customized for specific applications and technologies. (GIT Mulls New Graphene Products)

Harbr – Harbr gathers data for the construction industry to produce market intelligence that improves efficiency in construction sites.

Jaza Energy, New Brunswick and Halifax – Jaza provides solar energy to people living in Sub-Saharan Africa. The company builds solar charging stations that customers use to charge batteries that they use in their homes to power lights and mobile phones. (Jaza Secures $750K in Equity Funds)

Kognitiv Spark, Fredericton – This company provides Holographic Worker Support technology for industrial cases. It uses augmented reality to help specialists with certain machines help workers in remote locations. (Kognitiv Spark's Sales Top $1M, Enters Plug and Play Accelerator)

Salient Energy, Kitchener, Ont. –  This company has created a zinc-ion battery, made from zinc, water, and a proprietary nanomaterial, that is costs less, lasts longer, and is safe than existing products.

Seaformatics Systems, St. John’s – Seaformatics is producing turbine products that allow customers to harness renewable energy from flowing water or wind to power stand-alone devices. (Seaformatics Unveils Surprising Retail Product)

Whitecap Scientific, St. John’s – Whitecap's ROV3D Recon software transforms subsea video collected by remotely operated vehicles into real-time 3D data. This makes it easy for offshore oil and gas companies to make faster, more informed decisions about their subsea operations. 

Two of the companies have female CEOs and a third has a gender-balanced hiring policy.

CDL Atlantic’s mentors include such businesspeople as developer George Armoyan, former Emera CEO Chris Huskilson, Clearwater Fine Foods Founder John Risley, and IMP Founder Ken Rowe. The program helped to build links between the startup community and leading businesses.

“It’s exciting to be exposed to new innovative technologies, and have the opportunity to help shape the course of their direction early on,” said Jim Spatz, Chairman and CEO of Southwest Properties. “Not only do we get to provide advice and guidance, but the mentors are also learning from these inspiring young entrepreneurs.”