Performance Genomics Inc., a Truro-based biotech company that aims to improve the fertility of livestock, has received a $250,000 equity investment from Innovacorp, capping off a year in which it has raised more than $500,000 from a variety of sources.

One of the veterans of the region’s life sciences industry, PGI identifies genes that control reproductive performance in mammals and is developing genomics tests to predict how long livestock will stay fertile. If farmers can identify which cows stay fertile the longest, they can employ selective breeding to ensure their cattle produce

Robert Niven looked around the packed room at the Innovacorp Enterprise Centre on Friday and said it once again: “I love this event.”

The CEO of Halifax-based CarbonCure Technologies has good reason to love Innovacorp’s I-3 competition, whose launch we were attending.  His was a true startup (then known as CarbonSense Solutions) when he entered the competition in 2009, yet the company placed second in the Halifax area, behind the eventual provincial winner, Tether. Since then, CarbonCure has grown steadily, finding national and international markets for its sustainable method of making

Peter McMath is carrying on a proud New Brunswick musical tradition, though it’s only indirectly related to playing an instrument or singing a song.

McMath is president of Timbre Cases, a Fredericton startup that is dedicated to making the best guitar cases available. A lifelong music fanatic, he wants to emulate the success of local companies Sabian Cymbals and Los Cabos Drumsticks, which have excelled in the global market for music equipment.

 “What we set out to do was design and make molded instrument cases out of plastic,” said McMath in a recent interview at a table along the

Charlottetown-based drug discovery company Neurodyn Inc. said Wednesday it has bought an Alzheimer’s prescription drug candidate from a German company, hoping to fast-track the product to market.

The company said in a press release it bought all the assets related to the drug Memogain from Galantos Pharma GmbH, based in Mainz, Germany. Memogain has completed an extensive preclinical development program, which means it will begin Phase 1 clinical trials late this year.

Though Neurodyn did not disclose the terms of the deal, executive director Robert Cervelli said in an interview it paid

Moncton-based Foursum has launched its new iPhone app that allows golfers to analyze and improve their game and network with other golfers.

The company was founded in 2012 by tech veterans (a golf fanatics) Matt Eldridge and Adam MacDonald and golf pro Louis Melanson as a means to use your smartphone to improve your golf score and enhance your enjoyment of the game.  The app can be downloaded free from foursum.com.

“We’re not only debunking the lingering myth that mobile phones don’t belong on the golf course; we’re helping to grow one of the most popular games in the world,” said

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