Would-be entrepreneurs should build their businesses around problems worth solving, a large audience was advised Tuesday night as they gathered in the Halifax Central Library to learn from the experiences of eight successful local entrepreneurs.

The event, titled An Insider’s Look at Homegrown Startup Success, was hosted by John Hamblin, President of Startup Halifax.

The audience of about 300

As it plots its expansion in downtown Halifax, Volta Labs has received $2 million in funding from the federal government and the province of Nova Scotia.

The two governments announced Tuesday that the federal government’s Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency will grant $1.5 million over three years to the Halifax startup house, while the provincial government will contribute $500,000 through

Gerry Pond, the dean of the tech movement in Atlantic Canada, will receive the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Atlantic Lifetime Achievement award next month.

EY said in a statement Tuesday Pond would receive the award in recognition of his enduring contribution to Canadian business, philanthropic endeavours and outstanding leadership.

“It’s because of people like Pond that we created the EY

Sentrant Solutions, the Fredericton cybersecurity company that combats fraudulent online advertising, has quietly exited, with the media-rating giant Nielsen Holdings buying key assets and hiring its personnel.

Sentrant has never announced the transaction, and two Sentrant co-founders did not respond to emails last week. But a spokesperson for Nielsen confirmed that the deal has taken place.

Venn Innovation, the Moncton-based tech support organization, has announced a series of workshops to be held across the region to help startups learn more about competitive intelligence.

The organization said last week the workshops this fall will be conducted by renowned competitive intelligence expert Jonathan Calof.

Venn Innovation said in a statement it is launching the educational series

Nova Scotian startups will soon have the opportunity to access about $1.7 million in non-dilutive financing through new programs unveiled by Innovacorp in the last few weeks.

The Nova Scotia innovation agency and early stage venture capital fund has made several announcements in the past few weeks. It’s worth stepping back and taking a look at what they mean for startups in the province.

Until

Dash Hudson’s opening for a Sales Development Representative in Halifax is the focus of this edition of Job of the Week.

Halifax-based Dash Hudson has created a “visual intelligence platform” that helps its corporate clients to create and distribute photos and video, then analyze their impact. The system is an integrated solution to predict, measure, and enhance engagement across all visual

Anne​ ​Whelan of St. John’s and the University of New Brunswick walked away as the big winners at the regional Startup Canada Awards celebration in Fredericton on Thursday night.

Whelan,​ ​President​ ​and​ ​CEO of ​Seafair​ ​Capital​ ​Inc., was named Entrepreneur of the Year for Atlantic Canada. Seafair is a diversified investment firm that has backed nine companies that together employ more

Two Atlantic Canadian companies – Fredericton-based SomaDetect and Jaza Energy, which based in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick – have been named to the prestigious CIX Top 20 by the Canadian Innovation Exchange.

Jaza is a solar energy startup that operates in Sub-Saharan Africa. By building solar charging stations in off-grid communities, Jaza powers households by selling their customers

As Somru BioScience puts the finishing touches on its new 5,000-square-foot headquarters in Charlottetown, its leaders are already talking about doubling its size next year and eventually building a 20,000-square foot facility.

The reason for the aggressive expansion plans is the company, which has developed a series of tools for the early detection of diseases, recently formed a joint venture