Dispersa Raises $3M of Equity and Debt

Laval, Que.-based Dispersa, which has its research and development operations in Sydney, has raised $3 million of funding split evenly between equity and debt, with the round led by economic development agency Invest Nova Scotia.

Dispersa makes biodegradable surfactants, which are ingredients used in consumer products likes soaps, shampoos and cosmetics to break down oils. Unlike most

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Sumarah Retires from Digital NS

Wayne Sumarah, CEO of industry group Digital Nova Scotia, will retire at the end of May after three years on the job.

Sumarah, a marking executive who previously worked in the telecommunications sector, presided over a 50 percent increase in the organization’s membership, along with 136 percent revenue growth and a more than doubling of staff.

“Wayne’s strategic, kind and people-focused

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Supercluster Unveils $52M of Refreshed Projects

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster, the federal organization that organizes joint funding partnerships with the private sector, has announced a raft of 16 ongoing projects that are worth a total of $52 million.

The combined funding package represents one of the highest dollar values ever associated with a single Supercluster announcement, although the individual projects are discrete undertakings. The

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Volta Pitch Competition for Women April 26

Halifax startup hub Volta will host a Women Taking over the World with Tech, or WTWT, pitch competition next Wednesday, April 26 at 4:00 pm AST.

The competition, which is a virtual event, will see women founders deliver three-minute pitches and receive feedback from a panel of of industry experts. The judging will be based on the quality of both the pitch and the underlying business, and the

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Invest NS Announces Greenshoots Cohort

Provincial economic development agency Invest Nova Scotia has announced the five companies in its winter 2023 GreenShoots cohort, which are receiving a combined $170,000 in grants.

The funding and mentorship program offers agtech, biotech and cleantech companies funding and mentorship to develop their ideas. Cleantech made a particularly strong showing this time, with all but one of the biotech

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SeasonedPros Sees Rising Demand

As high-growth companies grapple with a highly competitive and expensive talent market for senior leadership, Kevin MacIntyre, CEO of Halifax-based SeasonedPros, is seeing demand for his business swell.

SeasonedPros, which was founded in 2011 and adopted its current name in 2021, matches businesspeople with 15 to 20 years of experience with employers for fractional employment roles. Those

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The Changing Market for Talent

When Halifax-based QuickFacts posted a job ad promising software developers a four-day work week, the insurance software startup received more than twice as many applicants as it typically had from previous ads — more than 350 people.

The company’s introduction of a shortened work week for employees was part of a wider bid by co-founders Christy Silvestri and Jeff Barsalou to grapple with a

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Ocean Supercluster to Host Conference

Canada’s Ocean Supercluster will host a one-day conference in Ottawa May 15, dubbed Ambition 2035, with the aim of workshopping strategies to grow the national blue economy to $220 billion over the next 12 years.

The conference will include a roster of speakers including Supercluster CEO Kendra MacDonald, executives from corporations like ExxonMobil and Swedish defence contractor Saab

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