BioNova, the life sciences association in Nova Scotia, has released the names of 12 semi-finalists in this year’s BioInnovation Challenge, which for the first time will include companies from New Brunswick.

For the third year running, the Challenge will be the pitching competition at the BioPort Atlantic Conference, which will take place at the Westin Nova Scotian in Halifax on October 9 and 10. BioNova for the first time has teamed up with its sister-organization in New Brunswick, BioAtlantech, so four companies from New Brunswick will be in this year’s pitching event. The winner will

The Next 36, an academic/mentoring program for undergraduate entrepreneurs, will hold its introductory event in Moncton from 3 to 6 pm on Sept. 20 at the Dieppe Arts and Culture Centre near Moncton.

The Toronto-based program announced Tuesday that Dan Martell, the CEO of Clarity, will be the keynote speaker at the Campus Tour event, which is being held in conjunction with Tech South East.

The Next 36 is an annual, nine-month program that mentors undergraduate university students who have shown a flair for entrepreneurship. It includes three months of summer programs in Toronto. It is

Fourteen months after graduating from the Launch36 accelerator program, ConquerPro of Moncton has installed its product with six paying corporate clients and is in talks with more.

The company, whose product was formerly known as GoLead, has developed software that monitors employees’ satisfaction and productivity in real time. It can help employers identify and engage with dissatisfied employees so they become more productive on the job and happier overall.

The company is now doing private tests with six clients, and has generated more than $100,000 in revenue in just a few months.  By

An economy divided evenly between private and public sectors, with a strong presence of the military and academic institutions may have a familiar ring to it. And it’s no surprise that such a jurisdiction has nurtured economic growth by encouraging energetic entrepreneurs and innovators – especially those coming out of academic institutions.

In this particular case, the location is not Atlantic Canada but the historic city of Kingston, Ont., which is capitalizing on its strengths to develop a unique startup community.  It’s not the roaring showcase that is Kitchener-Waterloo on the other

Please don’t question my math if I say we’re about to start the second half of the year.

Technically, there’s only one-third of 2013 left, but we’re through the slow summer period and the final four months are so busy that it might as well be half a year.

I’m off next week so I want to take an opportunity to take a look at what’s on the calendar for the autumn, and highlight a few things to watch for.

There are a few events that have very quickly become fixtures on the calendar, and they all happen as the leaves are turning. Invest Atlantic will take place Sept. 25, and its PitchCamp

Entrevestor won't be publishing next week as we need a break to recharge our batteries. We will return as usual on Tuesday September 3 and hope everyone has a great Labour Day weekend.

Pitch Perfect, a Halifax-based startup that improves the process of making proposals, has released a range of new features in preparation for its full launch in the autumn.

The company is being spun out of the consultancy Headspace Design and has been gaining strong feedback through its beta testing — that is, controlled tests by end-users not affiliated with the company.

 “The thing we were pleasantly surprised by is that we tend to get a new trial user or two each day for the product; surprising because we have not done any marketing for it,” said design director Kyle Racki in an

When John Hamblin envisioned his retirement years ago, he didn’t foresee it including a turn as CEO of a tech startup that was building monitoring technology for the world’s trucking companies.

But Hamblin, who retired in the spring from Clarke IT Solutions Inc., last month took the helm at Fredericton-based Geode Technology, working remotely from his base in Halifax. As the leader of the young company that is now closing its first round of equity funding, Hamblin hopes to establish a structure that will help the company gain some traction with corporate clients by next summer.

 “What

Something interesting is happening: local government are discovering startups.

There are signs in a few places that municipal governments are working with startups on new projects that could increase governmental efficiency and provide a leg up to the young companies.

The city of Fredericton is on a roll right now. The city’s not-for-profit internet provider, e-Novations recently slashed its fees so businesses and startups in the city pay about 75 percent less than companies in other Atlantic Canadian cities.

The city is also working on another initiative with HotSpot Parking, a local

The fourth annual Invest Atlantic conference will focus on talent, strategic investment and startup communities, and include a new feature, PitchCamp, which will give startups from around the region an opportunity to deliver 60-second presentations.

Invest Atlantic began in 2010, before Radian6 had announced its groundbreaking exit and no one had even thought of the Atlantic Canadian startup community. Over the years, the program has evolved as the startup community became more of a presence in the region.

The 2013 conference, to be held at the Halifax World Trade and Convention Centre