As we research our Atlantic Canada Startup Data Report, which we’ll publish in the spring, we think it’s more important than ever that startup founders or CEOs complete our short survey.

Why more important than ever? Because the startup community is at a crossroads and there are vital questions that need to be answered.

Each year, Entrevestor publishes the report to give founders, investors and policy-makers the clearest picture possible of what is happening in Atlantic Canada’s innovation economy. And to get that information we ask the startups to complete our 10-question survey. We know CEOs are busy, and they’re pestered repeatedly to fill out forms, so we keep our survey as short as possible.

If you’re a CEO, please take a few minutes to complete the Entrevestor survey, which you can find by clicking on this image.

Our report last year showed there were problems in the ecosystem, and we need to see if these problems are persisting. To do that, we need information from the companies themselves. Here are some questions we hope to answer:

Is the community shrinking?

In our last report, we reported on record failures, and our preliminary research this year shows more than 100 startups shut down in 2024. The big question is whether there are enough new companies to make up for the losses. We need new companies to fill in the survey.

Did angel and early-stage funding decline further?

This one’s really important. We really need to hear from companies that raised, say, less than $1 million, to determine if these companies are accessing capital. We also need to hear from companies that were unable to raise.  

Are fewer people working for startups?

We saw a decline in employment last year, and we need to look into whether that is continuing.

Are the core companies still performing well?

The bright spot last year was that scaling and elite companies continued to grow strongly. We have to hear from these companies to get an update.

Is there real progress in diversity, equity and inclusion?

So far, our DEI monitor has shown a great performance among immigrants, and little success in growing the numbers of female, Black and Indigenous founders. It’s important that we continue to track these metrics.

We’re pushing hard this month to get as many survey responses as possible, and will begin contacting people directly today. Please take just a few minutes to complete the survey so that all members of the ecosystem will understand the dynamics at work in our community.