Fractional Finance Raises $500K

Halifax-based Fractional Finance has raised about $500,000 for its new, blockchain-driven platform that’s designed to change the way people invest in real estate.

The company’s first product is called the Frabric, which allows users to buy into real estate investments using tokens purchased on the platform. It aims to allow investors of limited means – who are shut out of many real estate

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Al-Otumi Leaving Shiftkey

Well-known Halifax-based entrepreneur and educator Akram Al-Otumi is leaving Shiftkey Labs, the software innovation sandbox, and moving to a new position as a Catalyst Project Director with Toronto-based SVX.

Since 2019, Shiftkey Labs has hosted and organized 185 events and programs which have attracted over 6,500 participants and achieved an overall growth of 300 percent, he said in

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Startup Observers on Overcoming Recruitment Barriers

In the wake of a PEI BioAlliance white paper that described systemic barriers to recruiting life sciences talent from outside Atlantic Canada, startup community observers say the same stumbling blocks exist for information technology companies across the region.

But the Atlantic provinces still enjoy comparative advantage even in some domains where they are troubled — a distinction industry

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Regional Partnership in Bio Trials

The four Atlantic provinces have launched a new initiative to collaborate on clinical trials for medtech and pharmaceutical research, dubbed the Atlantic Clinical Trials Network, or ACTN.

Health authorities from each province, along with industry groups BIOTECanada and Innovative Medicines Canada, have said they will “streamline” the clinical trial process and reduce barriers to patients

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Karina LeBlanc Leaving PDC

Karina LeBlanc, Executive Director of the Fredericton-based Pond Deshpande Centre is leaving her role at the head of the socially conscious group after 10 years with the organization.

PDC is part of the University of New Brunswick and was established by entrepreneurs Gerry Pond and Desh Deshpande to find solutions to complex social issues. Recently, PDC announced it is moving to a revenue-driven

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Coding Boot Camp, SkillsBuild Programs Unveiled

The University of New Brunswick, its new McKenna Institute and TechImpact have announced two initiatives to help prepare New Brunswickers for the growing employment opportunities in information technology. 

The first is a new Coding Boot Camp. The program is a partnership between UNB’s College of Extended Learning for adults not interested in pursuing a four-year degree, the university’s McKenna

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Lazaridis Institute Seeks Scale-ups

The Lazaridis Institute at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo is looking for 10 companies to join its next cohort of the Lazaridis ScaleUp program, which helps promising Canadian companies to increase their revenues. 

Through the program, selected teams receive the mentorship and support they need to succeed at a global level, organizers said in a statement. The program is free and

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Data Shows Two-Tier Startup Community

A troubling divergence has developed in the Atlantic Canadian startup community as early-stage companies have difficulty launching even as their elder comrades grow rapidly.

This is the main conclusion of the 2021 Atlantic Canada Startup Data report, which we are unveiling today. This is the first of our annual data reports in which we have warned about early-stage founders experiencing undue

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