Entrepreneurs’ Forum Relaunches

Entrepreneurs’ Forum, the pan-regional not-for-profit that promotes entrepreneurship, has rebranded itself as Entrepreneurs3.0 as a sign of its enhanced mission.

As Entrepreneurs’ Forum, the group was known for bringing together entrepreneurs and mentors in an intimate dinner so they could work together to improve the company’s prospects. The not-for-profit has held 55 to 65 for these meals a year, and they will continue to be a pillar of its product offering.

But CEO Kathleen Rayworth says the organization has been expanding its suite of services, including successful efforts to help

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Press Release: CBU & Sona

The Verschuren Centre at Cape Breton University has issued the following press release:

VERSCHUREN CENTRE, CAPE BRETON UNIVERSITY, WELCOMES DEVELOPERS OF WORLD’S FIRST TOXIN-FREE GOLD NANO RODS - SONA NANOTECH LIMITED

Sydney, NS – Sona Nanotech Ltd., a new Nova Scotia company developing nano materials for health and clean technology applications, signed a three- year research agreement to collaborate on the creation of a Smart Metallic Nano Material Research Program at the Verschuren Centre, Cape Breton University. "Nanotechnology is proving to be one of the most exciting developments

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PEI Seeks Applicants for Ignition

Innovation PEI is looking for promising new P.E.I.-based businesses and startups to bring forward proposals for the second round of its Ignition program.

The provincial government’s innovation agency recently announced the winners of its Development and Commercialization Fund, and is now similarly encouraging earlier stage companies with its Ignition program.

The first round of the ignition program, launched in 2014, provided mentorship and $25,000 of early stage capital to start-ups and traditional small business in P.E.I. Forty-six businesses applied to the Ignition program, the

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Gingles Buoyed by Live Streaming Fad

Erik Gingles reacted to the news of Periscope’s purchase by Twitter with equal measures of elation and frustration.

The news broke March 9 that Twitter had bought Periscope, which allows Twitter users to display live video from their smartphones, for just under $100 million. It was a blow for Meerkat, another app that allows video live streaming, as Periscope’s links with Twitter appeared to

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How Budgets Changed Tax Credits

Lost in the recent controversy over budgets in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick is the fact that we’ve moved no closer to harmonizing or unifying investment tax credits in the region.

In fact, there are now greater differences in the provincial programs than ever before.

The recent budgets have created controversy over the film tax credit in Nova Scotia, over the fiscal picture in New Brunswick, and over education funding in both provinces.

The issue that the startup community had focused on in the lead up to the budgets was the tax credit given to equity investors in small businesses,

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Sears Moves SageCrowd Forward

From the outset, Sean Sears and his team at sageCrowd felt that modern learning science would provide a sound basis for their e-learning platform.

Nonetheless, in a pattern typical of startup development, the sageCrowd founders shifted the direction of their company several times before finding the best course.

The Halifax company works with well-known authors to deliver competency-based

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The NS Link to the LinkedIn Deal

There was a Nova Scotian angle to the $1.5 billion deal that was the talk of Silicon Valley yesterday.

Professional social media network LinkedIn announced it would pay $1.5 billion in cash and stock for Lynda.com, a Carpinteria, Calif.-based company that offers online training. Part of the technology that LinkedIn is buying was developed by Halifax-based Compilr, founded by serial entrepreneur Patrick Hankinson.

Last year, Lynda bought Compilr for an undisclosed price, and Hankinson and his CTO Tim Speed have continued to work on the product since the deal closed.

Compilr began life

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NBIF, Innovacorp Fund Propel Grads

PropelICT, Atlantic Canada’s startup accelerator, announced Wednesday that the best Nova Scotian and New Bruncswick graduates from its accelerator will now be eligible for an additional $100,000 in funding.

The accelerator has struck a partnership with the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and Innovacorp, which will consider investments in the leading graduates from each cohort. This program will begin with the coming cohort, which will run through the summer.

These graduates – those that complete the more advanced “Build” program – are already being considered for $150,000 in funding

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Alston Calls for a Cultural Shift

I returned recently from a trip to India. We were there to film part of a new documentary called The Millennial Dream. We wanted to see how millennials and an emerging culture of social entrepreneurship in a city of 1.5 million people could inspire us back home. The documentary records New Brunswick’s journey toward becoming Canada’s mecca for millennials or “digital natives” who want to create

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