Southwest Nova Scotia -- November 19, 2014 – It’s Global Entrepreneurship Week, a worldwide series of events celebrating innovators, job creators, and business startups. What better way to participate than by registering for Mashup Weekend, Southwest Nova’s biggest ever business creation weekend?

Mashup Weekend is for anyone interested in doing something to bring new ideas to life, regardless of age, background, and experience. It’s really quite simple: Teams of enthusiastic and committed people spend two days together identifying real-world problems and coming up with inspired solutions.

Having resettled in Nova Scotia in May, Charlotte and Isak Rydlund wasted no time in starting their company, PACTA, and placing it among the hottest new startups in Atlantic Canada.

The partners in life and business got the idea in July for an online product that helped manufacturers manage their contracts. They joined the entry-level phase of the Launch36 accelerator in September and last week were chosen as one of the seven companies (selected from a pool of 18) to pitch at the accelerator’s Demo Day in Fredericton.

They’re not slowing down, as they soon hope to beta-test the

Two co-founders of Fredericton-based Ara Labs Security Solutions are the first successful Atlantic Canadian applicants to the Startup Visa Program, the federal government announced last week.

They were also the first successful applicants in the country under the program using the sponsorship of a venture capital fund, New Brunswick Innovation Foundation.

Citizenship and Immigration Minister Chris Alexander visited Fredericton last week to announce the award for Ehsan Mokhtari and Hadi Shiravi Khozani. The two natives of Iran helped to found the company when they were doing their PhDs

The Launch36 Demo Day on Thursday night celebrated more than just pitches by seven of the 20 companies that passed through the Atlantic Canadian accelerator this autumn.

It celebrated the fact that PropelICT, which operates the accelerator, vastly out-performed the lofty goal it set for itself three years ago. And it laid out ambitious plans for the coming few years.

In the fall of 2011, the technology development organization that had developed in New Brunswick set out to launch 36 new companies across Atlantic Canada in 36 months. At the celebration at the Delta Fredericton last

Getting a business off the ground can be stressful, a fact that hit Mark Hobbs when he was invited to interview for the prestigious Google for Entrepreneurs tenancy program.

Unfortunately, the Halifax-based entrepreneur had less than 48 hours’ notice about the interview and no choice but to put the costs of the trip to the Google Canada headquarters in Waterloo, Ontario on his personal credit

Xiplinx Technologies Ltd., the Saint John company that helps manufacturing plant managers monitor data from around their factories, has landed about $700,000 in debt and grants from provincial and federal governments.

The company announced this week that it would receive a $500,000 loan from the provincial government and a combination of grants and loans from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency totalling $214,250. The money will help the company to expand its team – now at five full-time employees and two contract workers – in such areas as sales and account management.

Xiplinx’s

Pursu.it, the Halifax-based crowdfunding site for elite athletes, has issued the following press release:

Former Olympian Launches Crowdfunding Platform Pursu.it USA to Support US Athletes

November 10, 2014 – Washington, DC: On Thursday, November 13, Pursu.it USA, a nonprofit crowdfunding platform, will launch to support aspiring US athletes to raise the money necessary to fulfil their athletic dreams. Modelled after the successful Canadian version, Pursu.it USA gives fans and supporters the opportunity to directly support American athletes on their journey to success. Athletes make

To understand why Resson Aerospace landed $3 million in its first funding round, it’s important not to focus too closely on the word “Aerospace” in its name.

Many companies involved in data-based agricultural analytics are focused on using drones to gather data from fields. But Fredericton-based Resson is developing an integrated system, complete with machine learning, that helps farmers and

DemoCamp Halifax took place at Dalhousie University last night, revealing a more polished and professional look than in any of the three preceding years.

MC-ed by Katelyn Bourgoin of Swapskis and organized by Rachael Craig of Brilliant Labs, the event allowed seven startups to demonstrate their products. They weren’t allowed power points, only a demo of what their product does.

The startups that pitched were:

Salubrian Health – This Halifax-based health informatics company is focused on improving the quality of global healthcare. Salubrian Health implements web-based technologies that

SimplyCast, the Dartmouth-based multi-channel marketing startup, has issued the following press release:

SimplyCast Secures $500,000 from the Government of Canada for Global Expansion Strategy

SimplyCast is expanding its customer base around the world with a $500,000 investment from Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, November 10, 2014 - SimplyCast.com, a global leader in multi-channel marketing Platform-as-a-Service solutions, is excited to announce the next stage of its global expansion thanks to a $500,000 investment from the Government of Canada, through