They are stars in the regional startup community, enjoying a high degree of success at a young age.

When they are asked to explain their early achievements, brothers Stephen and Patrick Hankinson say that growing up in rural Nova Scotia they had few leisure options, so they began tinkering with their dad’s computer, learning a passion for tech and entrepreneurialism from him.

Both credit

Paul Singh has a message that Atlantic Canadian startups need to listen to.

Singh is the founder of Disruption Corp. in Arlington, Va., which recently announced a $50 million post-seed fund for startups.

Last year, when he was working for another investor group called 500 Startups, he visited Halifax twice. He will return next month to be one of the speakers at the Atlantic Venture Forum.

Frequently, when he travels, he sends out tweets along the lines of the one he posted May 20, which said:

“How to build a Silicon Valley in your own city:

1. Focus on importing urgency.

2.

The organizers of Atlantic Venture Forum have named 24 companies to present at the two-day event next month, representing all the main segments of the startup community.

The second annual AVF, presented by Critical Path Group, will take place at the Westin Nova Scotian in Halifax on June 17-18. One of the great features of the event is that local companies get to pitch to the entire forum, which includes local and international investors.  

There will be two more presenting companies than last year, and one person familiar with the deliberations said the organizers had a tough time

Many in the region’s business world are saddened by the death of David McNamara, former vice president of incubation at Innovacorp in Halifax, who has died at the age of 63 after just two months of retirement.

Business leaders have been quick to praise McNamara’s long service to the province, both at Innovacorp and in many senior positions in community, economic and business development.

Joe Catalfamo had heard the story of Radian6 before, but he certainly didn’t seem to mind hearing it again.

The managing partner of the Toronto venture capital fund Summerhill Venture Partners sat happily at the back of the hall during a panel discussion at Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association's annual meeting in Ottawa last week.

On the stage, Radian6 CEO Marcel LeBrun told the story of how angel investor Gerry Pond got him together with fellow entrepreneurs Chris Newton and Chris Ramsey. Together, they decided to launch a company that would help corporations monitor

As her business grows, Gillian McCrae is rewarding more than just merchants and their customers.

She’s also rewarding a lot of workers.

McCrae is the Founder and CEO of GetGifted, a year-and-a-half-old Charlottetown startup that allows local merchants to give customers vouchers for gifts that can only be redeemed in person. The idea is to draw people to the outlets where they’ll spend money. As it grows, it needs more employees.

“Right now, we are at five employees based out of P.E.I.,” said McCrae. “I’m working on three employees in Halifax. In 2014, we’re probably going to be up to

Atlantic Canadian Expertise Recognized in Awards: Leadership & Innovation

Atlantic Canadians were featured in the 2014 Award Winners at the most prestigious event of the high-tech industry.

The 29th Annual Gala of Canada’s largest high-tech association  -  the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance  --  featured a keynote address from CATA National Spokesperson & Chair of Mitel and Wesley Clover, Sir Terence Matthews who reported on the status of Canada's innovation nation, and next steps for boosting our competitive performance.

The Wilfrid Laurier University Public Sector Leadership

Cloud-A Launches “Seeded”: Cloud Support for Startups 

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada – May 23, 2014 -- Cloud-A, Canada’s high performance Cloud, announced it is launching “Seeded” – a program to support the development of internet based, seed stage startups.

Interested startups need to sign up for the program and once verified will receive six months of unlimited access to their Cloud platform, giving startups room to grow without worrying about limits; the ability to schedule one-on-one time with members of the Cloud-A team to chat through technical, or business related challenges and

Three years ago, Roswell James was suffering from shingles, which so weakened his eyes he could only use them for brief periods each day. In that precious time, he went online to research his condition, but found there was no one site that contained all the information he needed. So, when he recovered, he set about creating his own site -- Enablers.ca, the disability site -- a one-stop shop for

Mirametrix, a Montreal company that makes it easier for people to use computers, has won the first BDC Innovation Award, edging out three other competitors including an Atlantic Canadian company.

Launched in 2011, Mirametrix has developed software that allows people to operate computers or devices with their natural acts. It tracks the user’s eye as he or she reads a screen and integrates the eye-tracking with other actions, such as speaking or gesturing.

“We bring to market a novel way to interact with laptops, tablets and other devices, creating a world of new opportunities in