Now that we’re through the year-end festivities and returning to work, let’s look at what we can expect from Atlantic Canadian startups in the 21st year of the 21st century.

Here are three things we’re watching in the coming year.

Funding

Funding in 2019 was both fantastic and, well, weird, and it would be nice if financing was a bit more conventional this year. It was fantastic because

Halifax-based Bloxo Inc., which aims to improve access to recreational sports, has partnered with Sports Nova Scotia’s reSPORT initiative and will launch the full version of its mobile app this winter.

Within a single application, Bloxo will allow facility managers to post open time slots, for sports organizers to book those slots and bring in other players, who can join and pay for a game. For

Our final post of 2019 is a simple wish: We hope all our readers have a fantastic holiday and prosperous New Year. 

We're taking the holidays off, and we've now posted for the last time until Jan. 2 (unless something epic happens next week and we feel we have to report on it).

Each year at this time, we post this photo of our official Entrevestor Christmas Tree ornament, which our daughter Cat

It seems obvious there is only one story for a 2019 year-end wrap-up for the Atlantic Canadian startup community.

It’s Verafin.

In September, the St. John’s company whose software helps financial institutions combat fraud and money laundering announced that it had raised $515 million in equity and debt financing. It was the largest venture capital deal ever by a Canadian company.

Yes, we could

For Jenilee Paul of St. Mary’s First Nation, her role as a course instructor at PLATO can help other Indigenous people see a path for growth in the IT sector.

“It’s kind of like being a role model. You’re setting that path so the people in the courses afterward can come into it and know that they can move up the ladder and take on more courses, more skill sets or leadership roles,” she said.

Halifax-based Kinduct Technologies has signed a contract with the Nova Scotia Health Authority that will allow the roll-out of a new program to improve the treatment of orthopedic patients in the province.

The contract nails down the details of an agreement announced in April, when the NSHA teamed up with Kinduct, Montreal-based Emovi Inc., and Halifax’s OrthoMX to reveal a new suite of digital

Cirrus9, a Saint John-based managed cloud and data center operator, has been acquired by Carbon60 for an undisclosed price, and will now grow as part of Carbon60’s coast-to-coast operation.

Founded nine years ago by CEO Fred Bullock, Cirrus9 operates data centres, managed enterprise cloud infrastructure and related hosting services and support. It serves customers in both the public and private

There have been two main trends in the Newfoundland and Labrador startup community in recent years – the flood of new companies, and the accelerating advance of its most successful ventures.

This is rare. Some communities do a great job of nurturing their best companies, but without bringing in a new wave of entrepreneurs. Others continue to encourage and train new entrepreneurs, while their

The Centre for Entrepreneurship Education and Development and BoomersPlus.com have teamed up to develop a network of mentors to support the startup ecosystem in Nova Scotia.

CEED and BoomersPlus issued a press release Tuesday saying they’re now involved in two pilot programs in which experienced business people are helping entrepreneurs to launch and/or grow their businesses.

Halifax-based

My wish-list for the Cape Breton startup community in 2020 (or shortly thereafter) is short and sweet – 1. a university computer science program, and 2. an angel group.

These points came up in the discussion after I delivered Entrevestor’s startup data presentation at Cape Breton University’s Verschuren Centre in Sydney last week. The presentation, sponsored by Onside and the Cape Breton