Entrevestor recently completed its second survey of Atlantic Canadian startups, and one of the striking figures was the number of companies that vanished in 2014.

Here are the basics. Of the 290 companies we surveyed last year, eight were acquired or merged with other startups. Nine moved outside the region. There were 43 that either went out of business or never really moved beyond a group of dreamers with an idea.

So the headline number is that about 15 per cent of the startups we were tracking at the end of 2013 went under or never got going. But the deeper truth is more complicated,

Fredericton-based VeroSource Solutions, a tech startup that incorporated last year, has launched its first product WaitShare, a free app that aims to inform the public about wait times at walk-in clinics and emergency rooms.

Though several startups have tried to tackle the problem of people spending too long to wait to see a doctor, WaitShare relies on crowdsourcing to build up information on wait times. The idea is to give a patients an idea which facilities near them would offer the fastest service so they can choose the most efficient option.

“As a mother, I’ve been in the situation

The Rowe School of Business at Dalhousie University has issued the following press release:

Call for Student Startups: Canada’s Business Model Competition

Dalhousie University’s Rowe School of Business is hosting Canada’s Business Model Competition (CBMC) on March 13th and 14th. The event gives student entrepreneurs from across Canada an opportunity to showcase their startups, expand their networks, and compete for prizes. This is the last week for students to submit an application before the deadline on February 28th at midnight AST.

The organizers are expecting 25-30 applications

RtTech Software, whose state-of-the-art automation helps industrial companies improve manufacturing processes, will announce Tuesday that it has closed a $3-million venture capital round led by the world’s leading industrial Internet of things fund.

McRock Capital's new McRock iNFund LP will invest as much as $2.5 million in the Moncton company, while the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation will contribute $500,000.

The fund is backed by major institutions, such as Cisco Investments, Teralys Capital Innovation LP and BDC Capital, and will be worth about $65 million when funding closes

The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation has issued the following press release:

BREAKTHRU FINALISTS ANNOUNCED!

After months of work for our five finalist teams, the idea of becoming entrepreneurs remains a dream. But three of them will become exactly that, receiving over $750,000 in investments and professional services from our partners to start their own company—and a new life.

Breakthru tickets are already selling fast. Get yours now before we sell out! Breakthru LIVE - March 19th at the Fredericton Convention Centre - is one of the most anticipated events of the season. In

NB BioMatrix, the New Brunswick cleantech company that won the BioInnovation Challenge last autumn, is developing into a bona fide business by adding staff and planning to launch late this year.

The Saint John company is using nano-technology to develop a biodegradable, anti-bacterial liquid that can remove heavy metals and other pollutants from waste water. The product, called Naqua-Pure, binds with water-soluble particles such as heavy metals and non-soluble components such as oil. It then uses electromagnetic forces to remove the material from water.

Founded by CEO Jeff Jennings and

Gerry Pond has offered $500,000 to any university or other body in Atlantic Canada that establishes an academy to teach international sales.

The Co-Founder of Mariner and East Valley Ventures was the 15^th panelist to speak on educational reform at an Association of Atlantic Universities symposium on Thursday. After several speakers had called for action and urgency, Pond brought the room to life by announcing he would contribute half a million bucks to any group that sets up an institute to teach curriculum in sales. (He said the winner can add the words “and marketing” if it likes, but

Halifax is gaining such a reputation for entrepreneurship that the buzz is helping Dawn Jutla attract mature students to the program she runs at the Sobey School of Business at Saint Mary’s University.

Now in its second year, the master of technology, entrepreneurship and innovation program offers graduate students the chance to gain their master’s in just eight months of part-time study,

Academic, business and political leaders came together in Halifax on Thursday to call for reform in post-secondary education, and including a greater emphasis on teaching entrepreneurship.

The speakers at the Atlantic Leaders Summit organized by the Atlantic Association of Universities voiced a near unanimous message that the region’s institutes of high education need reform, or at least improvement. They have the potential to be an economic boon, to spur innovation and to train the work force for the modern economy. But there is an urgent need for improvement in various areas, they said.

One of the overlooked segments of Premier Stephen McNeil’s State of the Province speech last week was his revelation that Nova Scotia will soon proceed with a new public-private venture capital fund.

On Feb. 11, McNeil delivered his address to the Halifax Chamber of Commerce, and the focus was on the need for change, reinforcing the theme of the Ivany report.

But he also noted that the province would soon release a request for proposals for a private-sector venture capital partner to manage a fund that would be financed in part by the province. The announcement is a followup to the