JEDI Seeks Startup Group Partners

As it prepares for its next round of accelerator and incubator programs, the Joint Economic Development Initiative is hoping it can build stronger ties with startup organizations throughout Atlantic Canada.

Based in North Fredericton, the Joint Economic Development Initiative, or JEDI, fosters economic growth for First Nations communities. One of its key missions is to help Indigenous

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Sona Stock Up 123% on Test Results

Shares of Halifax-based Sona Nanotech more than doubled Friday after the nanoparticle technology company said clinical trials showed its COVID-19 rapid testing kit has a 96 percent sensitivity to the virus.

The company’s shares on the Canadian Stock Exchange surged $3.84 or 123 percent, closing at $6.97 on Friday. The shares opened 2020 at 11 cents, and have produced a 6200 percent return so far

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Let’s Begin to Build a Respectful Society

I am very proud to be at the University of New Brunswick and call Atlantic Canada home. The whole conversation around racism is a very hard conversation to have with my kids and students because you simply have to look around and it is obvious that this a very serious issue. 

I was a minority growing up in Zambia and then a minority in the U.K. for my education and finally a minority in Canada,

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3D Planeta Revamps Strategy, Raising Funds

In the wake of a comprehensive retooling of its business development strategy, Fredericton geo-mapping startup 3D Planeta is in the process of raising a seven-figure funding round.

CEO Norm Couturier said in an interview that the reworked sales and marketing strategy was in response to COVID-19 rendering the company’s previous, travel-heavy approach unworkable.

After several months spent

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Businesses Must Be Welcoming

Imagine a house. All your life, you're told you don't belong in that house, and the doors are locked. In order to enter the house, you have to look, act, and talk like the people who live there.

Imagine one day they open up the doors and windows and ask each other, “Why is no one coming in?” Imagine you walk in, and the people inside don’t think you deserve to be there. Imagine you speak, but no

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Technow Named BioAlliance Chair

​Oliver Technow, CEO of Charlottetown-based BioVectra, was named the new chair of the PEI BioAlliance’s board of directors on Monday.

Technow has been a member of the board of the life sciences industry association since 2017. BioVectra, which manufactures ingredients for prescription drugs, was sold last year to U.S. Private Equity firm H.I.G. Capital for about C$330 million.

The BioAlliance

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AVSS Lands Funding from Japan VC

New Brunswick drone parachute manufacturer Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions announced Monday that it had inked an investment deal with Japanese specialty venture capital firm Drone Fund.

The agreement, which took less than three months to negotiate and finalize, is part of an ongoing fundraising round that will include both equity and debt financing.

Aerial Vehicle Safety Solutions, or AVSS,

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Women’s Fund Fights Racism

The Atlantic Women’s Venture Fund will serve as the East Coast representative for the newly formed Coalition of Innovation Leaders Against Racism, a national group that announced its formation Monday.

The coalition’s mandate is to advance the interests of non-white entrepreneurs by attempting to influence policy at large institutions. Its nationally distributed membership includes executives

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What Awaits #Startupeast in the 2nd Half?

It seems ironic that the term “2020” is a synonym for perfect vision. As we reach the halfway point of the year 2020, I couldn’t imagine a foggier view of things.

As the Atlantic Canadian startup community looks to the second half of the year, there are so many reasons to be pessimistic – almost as many as there are to be optimistic.

Will this column clarify things? Fat chance.  In 2020, if

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Data Shows Blacks, First Nations Under-Represented in Startups

When Ross Simmonds wrote an opinion piece for Entrevestor this month, he called for data on inclusivity in the Atlantic Canada startup community – a demand we’re now trying to meet.

An examination of the Entrevestor Databank indicates that Black and Indigenous communities from Atlantic Canada are under-represented in the region’s startup sector. I say “indicates” because we haven’t canvassed

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