The new Venture Newfoundland and Labrador fund has announced its first investment is in St. John’s-based Sequence Bioinformatics, which analyzes genetic data to help prevent diseases.

Venture NL said Tuesday it has invested $300,000 in Sequence as part of a seed round worth $500,000 in equity funding. The other $200,000 came from an angel investor based in Ontario.

The announcement marks the beginning of the portfolio for Venture NL, which has received funding from the Newfoundland and Labrador government, BDC Capital and private investors. It is being managed by Pelorus Venture Capital

Saint John-based Xiplinx Technologies Ltd. has partnered with U.S. distributor R.V. Evans Co. to help increase sales of its flagship product Siteflo.

It is the fourth distribution partnership for Xiplinx, whose technology helps manufacturing plant managers monitor data from around their factories. The company already had partnerships with Shurtape Technologies, Blue Water Automation, and BNAP. It expects to add a fifth, a Michigan-based company, within a few weeks.

Founded in 1937, R.V. Evans is a full-service distributor of industrial packaging and fastening systems based in Decatur,

Social Navigator, a Halifax startup that warns authorities of threats on social media, has issued the following press release:

Social Navigator launches LifeRaft™ cyberbullying and threat detection solution for schools and law enforcement

Intelligent social media monitoring gives schools and law enforcement tools and insight to prevent potential tragedies

HALIFAX, July 15, 2014 /CNW/ - Social Navigator delivers the first release of LifeRaft, an intelligent big data platform that enables schools and law enforcement agencies to understand what is being said on social media channels, the

Assuming all goes well with its Phase 1 trials this year, Sackville, N.B.-based Soricimed Biopharma Inc. expects to select a major drug-maker as a partner with which it can take its flagship product Soricidin through Phase 2 trials.

SOR-C13 is a peptide, or a naturally occurring biological molecule, that binds to TRPV6, a calcium channel found in a cancer cell and deprives the cell of calcium, thereby killing the tumour. Soricimed hopes to establish that it is an effective means of treating cancer with minimal suffering for the patient.

The company is now conducting trials with about 20

Verafin, the St. John’s startup whose software fights financial crimes, has received a $6 million non-repayable loan from the government of Newfoundland and Labrador to help increase its workforce.

The government said Tuesday the loan would help to create about 90 jobs with the company, which employed 200 people as of the summer of 2014. Verafin and Spectrum Equity, a private equity fund based in Boston and Silicon Valley, will invest $4.8 million in the expansion project.

The money from the provincial government will not have to be repaid as long as Verafin creates the 90 jobs over a

The deadline is fast approaching for young life sciences companies in the Maritimes to apply for the BioInnovation Challenge.

To enter the $30,000 pitching competition, companies from Nova Scotia, New Brunswick or Prince Edward Island must submit their application by Aug. 7. To apply, contact BioNova Program Manager Kerri Mannette at kmannette@bionova.ca.

“In addition to the grand prize,

Bolstered by a local partnership agreement, Charlottetown-based Origins Xtractions Ltd. is planning to raise money to finance a new commercial facility in the P.E.I. capital for extracting compounds from natural materials.

The three-year-old company specializes in a process called supercritical extraction, which uses pressurized carbon dioxide in a closed system to draw high-value natural extracts from agricultural and marine resources. It is mainly using the process to offer services to clients, but it is working toward having its own commercial production facility. It recently signed a

Dalhousie University’s Launchpad accelerator graduated 10 teams of entrepreneurs in a ceremony last week. During the ceremony, Professors Mary Kilfoil and Ed Leach outlined a series of new initiatives that together will be known as Launch Dal.

The Dal Launchpad ended up with 10 teams who divided $100,000 to fund the development of their lean business model. Most were IT companies and several had been in the university’s Starting Lean program.

The highlight of the ceremony was the announcement that the university would enhance the program that up to now has been known as the Starting

Startup Canada has issued the following press release:

NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN FOR THE 2015 STARTUP CANADA AWARDS

Celebrating the best in Canadian entrepreneurship

OTTAWA – July 13, 2015 – Startup Canada opened nominations today for the second annual Startup Canada Awards, which recognizes the movers and shakers of Canada’s entrepreneurship movement.

“A culture in Canada that celebrates entrepreneurship, innovation, and offers end-to-end support for entrepreneurs will position Canada as a beacon of entrepreneurship globally,”  said Victoria Lennox, CEO of Startup Canada. “The Awards

Al Sturgeon, an entrepreneur-in-residence at Propel ICT, wants all Atlantic Canadians to know that if they have an idea for a business, Propel and its partners can help them explore and possibly develop it.

Propel ICT is an Atlantic Canadian accelerator for startups. It hosts Build, a Moncton accelerator for mature companies, and Launch, a program for seed-stage startups. Launch operates in