Calling it an “immigrant’s dream come true”, Hussain Abdullah has launched his business AllinBud, which manufactures and sells secure wooden boxes for cannabis and related accessories.

After selling out an initial 300-unit trial run, he has now launched the company, selling the products in Canada and the U.S. through his website Allinbud.com, as well as other channels.

The AllinBud boxes are

For the second time in six months, Halifax-based security intelligence company LifeRaft has drawn investment from the Canadian Business Growth Fund, or CBGF, which is backed by the country’s largest financial institutions.

The parties did not reveal the size of the round, though the press release announcing the investment said the Toronto-based fund customarily makes investments of $3 million to

Airntell Aerospace, which is developing a drone service to support search and rescue operations, claimed the $1,500 first prize at the Genesis Pitch & Pick competition on Tuesday.

Founded by CEO Mateus Saar, Airntell uses drone technology for offshore search and rescue to help find missing people faster, more reliably, and at a fraction of the cost of current techniques. The company is

Halifax-based QRA Corp., which provides natural language processing for complex engineering tasks, has closed a US$3 million (C$3.8 million) funding round to enhance its business development and customer service teams.

The venture capital funds participating in the round are Paris- and San Francisco-based Newfund and BDC Capital, both of which are first-time QRA investors, and returning investor

Startup Weekend Nova Scotia will be held online starting on April 30, with a special focus on inclusion and diversity.

A division of the global accelerator Techstars, Startup Weekends are frequently held to bring community members together to propose and develop new ventures. Since the pandemic began, they have been held virtually.

The event later this month is supported by the Nova Scotia

Atlantic FinTech, an association supporting financial technology in the region, has partnered with Fintech Cadence, a Montreal-based national non-profit, to help grow the region’s fintech industry and ecosystem.

The region is already home to a growing fintech sector, and has raised some notable companies, most famously financial crime prevention software company Verafin, which was acquired by

Charlottetown-based Island Water Technologies said last week its Sentry subsidiary has closed a Series A funding round, with backing from two key ethical funds that can help it grow.

Sentry, which uses real-time bio-electrode sensors to collect and analyze waste-water data for utilities, received investment from Fort Collins, Co.-based Factor[e] Ventures and Germany’s SKion Water GmbH. Though

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency has committed $2.2 million to support the growth of the emerging biotechnology sector at the Verschuren Centre in Sydney, Cape Breton.

The funding is being provided to the Centre and to four companies which are conducting R&D and commercialization of technologies that will produce more environmentally-friendly products and high-quality food.

The

Eight teams will vie for a $1,500 first prize at Genesis’s next Pitch & Pick competition, which will be held Tuesday, April 13, at 3 pm NST.

Pitch & Pick is the demo day for the eight top teams in the Evolution Program, the eight-week program at Genesis for idea-stage or early-revenue companies. The winner receives a $1,500 prize and gains entry into the Enterprise program for scaling companies.

When QOMPLX of Virginia acquired Hyperion Gray of North Carolina last month in a union of cybersecurity companies, it had some impact in Nova Scotia due to remote working.

Hyperion Gray’s Chief Technology Officer was Haligonian Jason Hopper, and he is now the Director of Internet Research at QOMPLX, a job he’s really enjoying.

Hopper’s experience illustrates a growing trend in Atlantic Canada