The government of Newfoundland and Labrador on Thursday embraced the startup economy by announcing a $10 million investment in Build Ventures and the creation of a new VC operation, the Venture Newfoundland and Labrador Fund.

In delivering the 2014 budget, Finance Minister Charlene Johnson said the government aims to support innovative businesses with high growth potential.

“Access to venture capital in emerging growth sectors, such as ocean and Arctic technology and other knowledge-based industries, will improve the global competitiveness of companies operating in those sectors,

Whether he’s coaching young basketball players or mentoring fledgling entrepreneurs, Jeff White, co-founder and chief operating officer of New Brunswick’s East Valley Ventures, lives his belief that success depends on building strong teams.

 “A team approach is the central cog of families, organizations or companies,” said the six-foot-six former varsity player, who played for St. Francis

After owning the podium at the Innovacorp entrepreneurship competitions this year, Jim DeLeskie is now turning his attention to business development of his cyber-security company, with a special focus on Japan.

DeLeskie is the CEO of Heimdall Networks, the Sydney-based winner of the 2014 I-3 Technology Startup Competition, Innovacorp’s event that aims to find the best new startups in Nova Scotia.

The company, whose software battles distributed denial of service, or DDoS, attacks, captured $225,000 at I-3, as the overall winner, the winner for the Cape Breton region and as the top IT

If you believe in the law of averages, there is now a startup somewhere in Atlantic Canada that didn’t exist this time last week. And by next Wednesday, there will have been another launch.  Or maybe two.

One thing that has struck to me as I’ve gone through the results of our recent survey is the speed with which Atlantic Canada is now producing startups. The region launched more than one company a week last year, and the pace hasn’t slowed down in 2014.

We’re now reaching the end of the first quarter, so we should have seen 13 new companies if we’re to reach our new-startup-each-week

Almost a year after altering its business model, SHIFT Energy of Saint John is on track to complete two pilot projects that should validate its automated energy optimization software, or EOS.

SHIFT Energy is one of several industrial Internet companies in New Brunswick, meaning the province is developing a group of startups developing machine-to-machine learning software in which equipment reacts to disparate sensor readings to improve efficiency or save money.

The company was spun out of Saint John-based Mariner, a global provider of IP video monitoring technologies and other

BioMer Innovations of Halifax released the following press release:

New start-up BioMer Innovations is picking up steam with another successful result; achieving a first place finish at the Boyne Clark Innovative Ideas Competition on March 20th, 2014. 

The Nova Scotia Association of Community Business Development Corporations (CBDC), in cooperation with Common Good Solutions, organized the

I get to Fredericton every few weeks or months, so my image of company development in the New Brunswick Capital is a bit like time-lapse photography. I get a shot every four to eight weeks, and it looks like everything is unfolding quickly and effortlessly.

So in a flying visit to the city last week for the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation's R3 Gala, I was able to catch up with several founders and organizers and was struck by their steady progress.

Barely half a year old, Planet Hatch is now wrapping up the selection process for the second cohort of its Accelr8 program. Executive

Innovacorp, Nova Scotia's innovation agency, this morning announced the winners of the Spark Cape Breton competition in the following press release: 

Spark Cape Breton Winners Named

Six new technology companies in Cape Breton have been named winners in the inaugural Spark Cape Breton competition.

A total of $200,000 in cash will be awarded to the following ‎companies:

Artisync Technologies Co-Op Ltd. – Rob Parsons – Sydney

 Amount:  $50,000

 Artisync is developing a cloud-based hub for the comic book and graphic novel industry that will allow artists to network, communicate and

Aspiring young Canadian entrepreneurs are invited to apply for an upcoming Startup Weekend hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Ottawa from June 13–15, 2014.

The Embassy will fund travel, accommodation and meals for participation in the Startup Weekend for about 50 selected nominees, Marcia R. Seitz-Ehler of the  U.S. Consulate General in Halifax said in a release.  

The nominees will be Canadians aged 18 to 30 with a strong interest in entrepreneurship and a clearly defined idea for a new business. However, they may be lacking in concrete business development skills, or have limited access to

A leading authority on the Israeli startup behemoth told New Brunswickers last night to recognize the strides they’d made in developing their own startup community and to look for collaboration opportunities around the world.

Saul Singer, the Co-Author of Startup Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle, said in the keynote speech at the R3 Gala that Atlantic Canada’s startup community had progressed further than many other locations, and we should recognize and celebrate that fact.

“You’ve had your first successes,” said Singer, noting that the most difficult of developing a