One subject that has cropped up increasingly in recent conversations about Atlantic Canada startups is the difficulty many have had this year with the federal government’s Scientific Research and Experimental Development program.

Known as SR&ED and pronounced “sred,” the program administered by the Canadian Revenue Agency has long been used by small and large Canadian companies to finance research and development. However, several entrepreneurs said they have been denied funding — sometimes amounting to hundreds of thousands of dollars — in 2014, even though their applications were

Several startups this year have had trouble with the Scientific Research and Experimental Development program, walking away empty-handed from reviews with the Canada Revenue Agency.

So should startup founders even try to tap the program?

Yes, most definitely, say accountants and experts in financing startups.

But they quickly add two provisos. Founders should only apply if they’re in a business conducting bona fide research. And they have to take a few steps to make avoid the problems that have plagued many startups this year.

“Startups should investigate SR&ED because it is a good

The Pond-Deshpande Centre at the University of New Brunswick has received $500,000 in funding from the J.W. McConnell Family Foundation, which will help to finance UNB’s new diploma in social entrepreneurship.

The Pond-Deshpande Centre is one of six Canadian institutions to receive “transformation” funding from the Montreal-based foundation to develop a social venture ecosystem as part of its national RECODE initiative. Eight other institutions will receive the smaller $250,000 funding packages to begin to develop social entrepreneurship courses. The only other RECODE recipient in

Nova Sun Power, a renewable energy company based in Pictou, N.S., has become the first Canadian solar company to secure BCorp certification and will soon complete the largest photovoltaic solar installation ever in Nova Scotia.

The company said in a statement Tuesday that the 30-kilowatt hour project is a partnership with the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’Kmaq and Millbrook First Nation. The project will provide power to the community gymnasium and the Confederacy of Mainland Mi’Kmaq offices. Funding was secured through Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada’s Eco Action

Laurie and Layton Perrin are twin brothers originally from Parrsboro, N.S., who are developing a solution that could dramatically improve the speed and energy efficiency of most software on the market.

Their startup, Unified Software Technologies, is developing technology that, if successful, will be especially attractive to sectors requiring huge computing power, such as data analytics or cloud-based data storage. These industries are having problems because most software has difficulty operating correctly and efficiently on most modern processors.

“We’ve seen a ceiling on clock speed;

GrowthWorks Atlantic Venture Fund, a labour-sponsored VC fund based in Halifax, issued the following press release:

GrowthWorks Atlantic Venture Fund Provides Update on Sales and Redemptions

November 20, 2014, Halifax, Nova Scotia – GrowthWorks Atlantic Venture Fund Ltd. (“Atlantic Fund”) reported today that it has suspended until further notice sales and weekly redemptions of its Class A Shares (the “Shares”), specifically the Balanced Series and the GIC Series.

The Fund’s Board of Directors considered several factors in determining to suspend redemptions and sales of Shares,

ViTRAK Systems Inc., a Charlottetown startup commercializing a pressure-sensitive floor tile system, has raised as much as $2 million in funding from P.E.I. investors.

The company said in a press release yesterday the investors included the Regis Duffy Bioscience Fund and associated companies, but gave few other specifics of the funding round.

Founded by CEO Crystal Lavallée, the company has developed Stepscan, a patented electronic floor tile system that can be used to analyze people’s gait when they walk across it. The system can analyze the mobility and balance in patients or

Cracking the global marketplace is tough. Jean-Paul Deveau, president of Nova Scotia-based Acadian Seaplants has done it. He advises investing in research and development to create value-added products that clients will want to buy.

Founded in 1981, Acadian Seaplants is based in Dartmouth and exports value-added seaweed-based products to over 80 countries.

The company operates five

Island Water Technologies is tackling environmental and financial problems that are troubling homeowners today and looming large for small Canadian towns in 2020.

Based in Montague, P.E.I., the company uses patented technology to treat water in septic systems serving people’s homes or small communities. While the focus in water treatment usually is on big plants in urban areas, there is an acute need for affordable solutions in rural areas and small towns.

 “The thinking up to now has been, ‘We need a big, shiny waste-water treatment plant,’” said Patrick Kiely, the company’s Irish-born

A Nova Scotian panel reviewing tax policy has recommended the province double the ceiling for investments eligible for the equity tax credit to $100,000, and pays faint homage to the idea of a regional investment tax credit.

The Tax and Regulatory Review, conducted by former Ontario cabinet minister Laurel Broten, is garnering headlines for its recommendations that the province shift the burden of taxation toward consumption and carbon use and away from income. It would introduce a carbon tax, broaden the Harmonized Sales Tax while lowering the income tax rate for corporations and top