As an entrepreneur, Tim Burke eschews giving cigars or wine to his contacts when the holidays roll around.

Instead, he offers Kiva gift cards, which allow those in his network to support an entrepreneur in a less prosperous part of the world.

The Business Development Bank of Canada’s venture capital arm on Thursday committed to invest $10 million in a regional venture capital fund, bringing the federal government’s seal of approval to the initiative and raising the total funding to

After winning  his first business plan competition, Peter Goggin is hoping his social venture Green Trade, which trains ex-convicts and recovering addicts for employment, will take advantage of the skills shortage in the Maritimes to help people

Jeff Slipp is heading to Anaheim, Calif., next month with the hope  of finding a manufacturer that  will be able to  produce the enhanced-expression-effects pedals for electric guitars that Slipp is developing in Sydney.

Slipp, the founder and

Organizers of the Big Data Congress, to be held in Saint John on January 24, hope it  will evolve into a national event that will be held annually to promote the development of the digital economy in Canada.

Geoff Flood, the CEO of the data

Springleap, the South African crowdsourcing startup that was the co-winner of MentorCamp in September, will move to Halifax in the New Year, complete with a new feature and (hopefully) a new round of funding.

Now based in Cape Town, Springleap

Fredericton-based Inversa Systems, whose technology can detect structural flaws through backscattered radiation techniques, intends to pursue a twin-track strategy in 2013 to pursue its two key markets – civil infrastructure and the offshore oil

Halifax startup Novawise Inc., has raised an additional funding of $350,000, bringing its total equity fundraising from Atlantic Canadian angel investors to more than $1 million.

Founded last year by Chief Executive David MacKinnon and Chief

ClinicServer, a Saint John-based company that helps health clinics digitize their operations and records, has expanded into Zimbabwe as it moves from allied health facilities into more mainstream patient care.

The company began in its current

Cube Automation and Sunny Corner Enterprises of northern New Brunswick have formed a joint venture with seed funding from the Frank McKenna Technology Fund to develop remote monitoring and automation applications for the mining industry.

Sunny

NewfoundOcean, a four-day training and mentoring program for entrepreneurs involved in ocean technologies, will be held in St. John’s from March 18 to 22, said MentorCamp CEO Permjot Valia, who is helping to organize the event.

The event will

Shannon MacDonald is on a crusade to improve productivity in the Maritimes, and she sees one shining example of progress  -- the region’s startups.

The Managing Partner (Atlantic) of the professional-services company Deloitte, MacDonald has