Atlantic Canadian startups are on track to raise more than $800 million in equity capital this year, buoyed by eight- and nine-figure deals from a new breed of super-elite companies.

When Dartmouth-based advanced-materials-maker Metamaterial started trading on the Nasdaq Monday thanks to a reverse acquisition, it raised $198.1 million and became Atlantic Canada’s first publicly traded unicorn.

Atlantic Canada has minted its first publicly traded unicorn: Dartmouth’s Metamaterial Inc.

The company began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange Monday thanks to a reverse acquisition of Texas-based Torchlight Energy Resources. By the close, Meta boasted a market capitalization (the total value of its shares) of about US$2.2 billion, or more than C$2.7 billion.

The deal is part of a trend of

Two Dartmouth-based oceantech startups, Marecomms and Sedna Technologies, have been accepted into the MassChallenge accelerator, one of the top startup programs in the U.S.

Participation in the prestigious program would benefit any startup, but it is especially significant in the development of Marecomms, whose solution aims to improve communications with autonomous underwater vehicles, or AUVs.

Nova Scotia venture capital Crown corporation Innovacorp has announced nine participants for the inaugural cohort of its revamped Accelerate program.

The program will replace both the old, longer program of the same name and the shorter Sprint accelerator. It will be completely virtual and focus on oceantech, medtech, agtech and cleantech. The program is meant for companies that have established

Vertical farm operator GoodLeaf Farms announced last week it expects to break ground on a new indoor vertical farm in the Montreal area by autumn – its first expansion since building its Guelph, Ont. plant in 2019.

Founded by Halifax entrepreneur Gregg Curwin in 2011, GoodLeaf grows micro greens indoors year-round using data science, LED lighting and advanced watering and fertilizing techniques

Our Jobs of the Week column today features a pair of openings: Fredericton-based Passiv is looking for a Marketing Associate, while Dalhousie University in Halifax needs a Manager for its Mentorship Skills Project.

Passiv has developed software that helps passive investors – who use low-fee investment vehicles like ETFs – rebalance their portfolios. The company has been growing strongly and

Atlantic Canadian startups have raised more than $1 billion in growth capital in the last 30 months, according to research released today by Entrevestor.

Today we're publishing the 2020 Atlantic Canadian Startup Data Report, which shows that East Coast startups rebounded with vigor from the initial shock of the pandemic. Though the creation of new companies slowed down, employment and revenue

St. John’s-based Metricsflow, which says it has created a privacy-friendly online tracking service, has inked a deal with GoAhead Ventures, a US$112 million Silicon Valley venture capital firm.

The GoAhead investment is part of Metricsflow’s latest funding round. CEO Isaac Adejuwon said he could not share a dollar value for the investment because the company is not “priced” yet. But last year,

BoomersPlus, a Halifax company that matches seasoned professionals with part-time jobs where their experience is needed, is testing a new initiative to help startups find industry mentors.

The Virtual Startup Mentor Pilot program will see a roster of retired and semi-retired people with experience in corporate leadership roles spend twelve weeks giving operational, financial and marketing advice

Sydney’s Verschuren Centre and Bioenterprise, Canada’s food and agri-tech organization, have signed a memorandum of understanding to work together in support of sustainable innovation in agriculture and the bioeconomy.

 In a statement, Bioenterprise said the partnership means greater connection to opportunities and resources in Canada’s bioeconomy and the possibility of more collaborations with