Cube Automation and Sunny Corner Enterprises of northern New Brunswick have formed a joint venture with seed funding from the Frank McKenna Technology Fund to develop remote monitoring and automation applications for the mining industry.

Sunny Corner, based in Miramichi, and Cube Automation of Tracadie will develop technology that will allow mining companies to monitor their machinery in remote locations, often operating in extreme climates. The device will monitor such aspects of drilling as  torque, power and performance, and relay the information by satellite to a centralized office.

NewfoundOcean, a four-day training and mentoring program for entrepreneurs involved in ocean technologies, will be held in St. John’s from March 18 to 22, said MentorCamp CEO Permjot Valia, who is helping to organize the event.

The event will kick off with a bootcamp, which will be open to a range of Newfoundland companies. It will close with a one-day program based on the MentorCamp format, which Valia devised by holding sessions in the past two years in Halifax with entrepreneurs drawn largely from Atlantic Canada – entrepreneurs spend a day meeting a range of international mentors, so

Shannon MacDonald is on a crusade to improve productivity in the Maritimes, and she sees one shining example of progress  -- the region’s startups.

The Managing Partner (Atlantic) of the professional-services company Deloitte, MacDonald has worked on the firm’s analysis of productivity in Canada, a study that includes some stark data for the country in general and Atlantic Canada in particular.

 “Canadian productivity is starting to fall significantly behind our competitors,” MacDonald said recently during a lecture she gave for Dalhousie University business students. “This isn’t good,

The founders of Spring Loaded Technology just can’t wait for the day when some sports authority bans their product.

The three Dalhousie University students – Chris Cowper-Smith, Bob Garrish and Shea Kewin – are developing a new type of knee brace, which not only stabilizes the joint but also strengthens it, allowing the user to receive more power from his or her quadriceps. The product, which they hope to license to an established device manufacturer, would grant greater mobility to people who have difficulty moving because of age, disability or obesity.

But it could also improve

IntroHive Inc., a Fredericton- and Washington, D.C.-based startup that helps large companies to mine the contacts of their staff, has raised $1.8 million from GrowthWorks Atlantic Venture Fund,  the New Brunswick Innovation Foundation and a range of angels.

The company was founded by Jody Glidden and Stewart Walchli, who previously launched New Brunswick’s Chalk Media, which they sold to BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion for $30 million in 2009. They came together earlier this year to found IntroHive, with seed funding from Fortify Ventures of Washington, D.C., and CIT Gap Funds of

Atlantic Canadian startups are finishing the year with a flourish of fundraising, pushing the total amount of equity capital placed in young innovative companies in 2012 up over $50 million, spread across more than 45 companies. 

That $50 million figure isn’t the total for the whole year, as I’ve heard that a few other announcements are in the works before we’re all singing Auld Lang Syne. It’s simply the amount that entrepreneurs have reported to Entrevestor this year.

I try to track the investments into these young tech, biotech, cleantech and whatever-tech companies, and compiling

SimplyCast, the Dartmouth-based multi-channel marketing company, today will unveil its new Canadian data centre in Toronto, which will allow it offer enhanced communications services to large Canadian organizations, including governments.

The data centre will give SimplyCast clients the option of storing their company and client data completely in Canada, which is becoming increasingly necessary for Canadian organizations due to Canada’s relatively  strict privacy laws . Many government agencies and universities are required to keep data within Canada's borders.

“This is a huge deal for

Equals6, the Halifax-based social network linking students and potential employers, has formed a partnership with a Nevada-based network for student interns as part of its strategy to target growth in the United States.

The Halifax company said in a statement it had struck a partnership with YouTern, an online community that helps students seek internships and meet mentors, especially in the Silicon Valley area. By working together, Equals6 and YouTern can share content, reach more students and offer each other’s products to their clientele.

 “At Equals6, we are constantly looking for

Precipice Capital of Dartmouth said Wednesday it has hired Philip Bassil, a former managing director of BSM Global Partners Inc., who will be joining the firm as Managing Director, Power & Utilities.

“I was fortunate enough to have had the experience of collaborating with Phil on a previous project which gave me a first-hand look at his dedication to his clients and his craft,” said Precipice President Chris Dobbin in a statement. “His skill set is well-suited for our firm as we continue to build Atlantic Canada’s leading independent bank and corporate finance firm.”

Dobbin established

Our startup community has a problem: too many young companies are looking for too much money. Strategic investment is becoming part of the solution.

There are literally dozens of companies in the region that have raised a few hundred thousand in seed funding and now need $2 million or more (sometimes a lot more) in follow-on funding to finance the rollout of their main product. My estimate is that there will be demand for more than $100 million over the next two years.

Most of these companies are hoping to tap investment from venture capital funds, but the region’s startups are on track