Halifax-based SalesRight has raised $250,000 in a pre-seed round led by Concrete Ventures, the first investment made by the new Atlantic Canadian venture capital fund.

Concrete Ventures, which has more than $17 million to invest, offers investments from $100,000 to $750,000 to pre-seed companies in Atlantic Canada. The fund is helmed by Patrick Hankinson and received a commitment of $15 million

St. John’s-based CoLab Software has become the first Atlantic Canadian company to be accepted into Y Combinator, one of the world’s most prestigious tech accelerators.

CoLab, whose Gradient platform helps engineers and designers collaborate, started at the Silicon Valley accelerator last month. The company is now planning to double the size of its 14-member team by the end of the year to meet

The Atlantic Venture Forum is coming back to Halifax this June and has announced 14 keynote speakers so far.

The seventh annual forum features networking opportunities, an Atlantic Canadian technology showcase, and information sessions.

The AVF speakers this year include:

• Adam Nanjee -- Nanjee is the Canadian Managing Director for Microsoft for Startups, on the board of The Canadian

Nextleaf Solutions, co-founded by Saint Mary’s University alum Paul Pedersen in 2015, will raise $4 million through the sale of new shares on the Canadian Securities Exchange this week. This brings the total funds raised by the Vancouver-based company up to $15 million.

Of the $4 million, about $800,000 is coming from employees and other insiders. The source of the remaining $3.2 million hasn’t

The Creative Destruction Lab has opened applications for its 2019-20 cohort, at its Atlantic Canadian pod and other locations across Canada and in New York and Oxford, England.

The applications can be found here and are open until Aug. 12.

Started at the University of Toronto, the Creative Destruction Lab is a seed-stage program for scalable startups whose technology is based on science.

The

Dartmouth-based LeeWay Marine has borrowed $290,600 from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency to speed up the refit of its newest research ship, the LeeWay Striker.

ACOA issued a statement Friday saying the company, which specializes in assisting with hydrographic and geophysical surveys, borrowed the money through the  Regional Economic Growth through Innovation program. LeeWay will use the

Propel, the Atlantic Canadian ITC accelerator, has named veteran entrepreneurs Derek Latham and Gordon McArthur to its stable of entrepreneurs-in-residence.

The company released a press release last week saying Latham and McArthur have joined Charlotte Murray and Richard Jones as EIRs. The EIRs help develop and deliver programming for Propel’s Incite accelerator, as well as working directly with

The University of New Brunswick’s TME group has revealed the seven companies in its Summer Institute, an accelerator that emphasizes the human aspects of entrepreneurship, such as marketing and design.

Officially called the J. Herbert Smith Centre for Technology Management & Entrepreneurship, TME oversees entrepreneurship programs at the Fredericton university. It also operates two accelerators:

One constant factor in the Atlantic Canadian startup story in the past decade has been a strong underlying economy in key export markets – but that could change soon.

Robust economic growth, especially in the U.S., has provided primed markets for these innovation companies. But recessions inevitably come – it’s a matter of when, not if. Here are a few thoughts on what the looming downturn will

Applications for Innovacorp’s Sprint competition for Nova Scotia technology startups opened Wednesday and will remain open until May 15.

Winners will receive up to $25,000 each in non-dilutive, non-repayable funding and business guidance from experienced industry professionals. A total of $100,000 is up for grabs, and funding is based on meeting short-term milestones, laid out by Innovacorp for