Halifax-based Optiml hit a significant milestone last month as the 100,000th financial plan was created using its platform, which automates retirement and estate planning.

Since it launched in September 2024, Optiml has attracted more than 2,000 customers, providing them with do-it-yourself financial planning software designed to offer more control and transparency over retirement and estate

The Ocean Startup Project has opened applications for the 2026 Ocean Idea Challenge, a national early-stage three-month program that helps Canadians turn ideas into opportunities.

Selected teams can receive up to $8,000 and hands-on support to test assumptions through customer conversations.

“If you’ve got an ocean idea with potential, we’ll help you pressure-test it, sharpen it, and take your

Now we’re into the new year, we’re ramping up our efforts to get startup CEOs to fill in our short, confidential survey.

We understand how busy everyone is so we hate to keep asking. But we also hear from a lot of founders that they appreciate our data report and promise to fill in the survey  . . . soon.

So we’re sure there are lots of founders who mean to get to it, but haven’t quite found

Halifax will see postsecondary entrepreneurs compete in the Enactus Atlantic Canada Regional Exposition this week. 

Competitors will include future social entrepreneurs from educational institutions from across the Atlantic provinces. Local business leaders will judge their presentations and help select the teams that will receive funding to further their projects and earn a spot to represent

Florian Villaumé, CEO of industry association techNL for the last four years, has announced he is stepping down a year earlier than originally planned. The association is now seeking a new leader.

In a statement, techNL said that Villaumé has made a significant and lasting impact on the group and the broader ecosystem.

"My commitment has always been to leave techNL in a significantly stronger

The J. Herbert Smith Centre at UNB Fredericton is seeking applicants for the RBC student pitching contest.

The finalists for the contest will have three minutes to pitch their idea to a panel of judges while vying for cash prizes.

The RBC Student Pitch Competition is an ideal setting to receive candid feedback, network with the business community, and brush up on presenting your business case

St. John’s-based innovation hub Genesis is introducing Build48, a startup event where participants will take a problem to a launched product over two days.

Build48 is a hands-on experience focused entirely on execution, the group said in a press release. Participants will include students, early-stage founders, and professionals who want to see whether what they are working on shows the early

The Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency (ACOA) has announced funding of more than $4 million for nine Nova Scotia defence companies under the Regional Defence Investment Initiative.

The funds will assist with developing and manufacturing critical equipment and technologies, while creating 24 new jobs. 

With more than 200 firms in the defence industry, Atlantic Canada delivers

Atlantic Canadian startups raised $348 million in venture capital in 2025, according to the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, or CVCA, driven by a strong fourth-quarter performance in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia.

It was the strongest annual Atlantic Canadian tally announced in this decade by the country’s private capital association, and a marked improvement

ABK Biomedical late last year raised US$35 million (C$47.9 million) in a Series D financing round to support clinical trials, manufacturing expansion and development of a product to be used in treating liver cancer.

The Halifax-based medical device company said the oversubscribed round was led by J.P. Morgan Life Sciences Private Capital, investing in the company for the first time. Existing