AVF Names Presenting Companies

The organizers of Atlantic Venture Forum have named 24 companies to present at the two-day event next month, representing all the main segments of the startup community.

The second annual AVF, presented by Critical Path Group, will take place at the Westin Nova Scotian in Halifax on June 17-18. One of the great features of the event is that local companies get to pitch to the entire forum, which includes local and international investors.  

There will be two more presenting companies than last year, and one person familiar with the deliberations said the organizers had a tough time

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Community Mourns David McNamara

Many in the region’s business world are saddened by the death of David McNamara, former vice president of incubation at Innovacorp in Halifax, who has died at the age of 63 after just two months of retirement.

Business leaders have been quick to praise McNamara’s long service to the province, both at Innovacorp and in many senior positions in community, economic and business development.

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Catalfamo Reflects on Radian6 Deal

Joe Catalfamo had heard the story of Radian6 before, but he certainly didn’t seem to mind hearing it again.

The managing partner of the Toronto venture capital fund Summerhill Venture Partners sat happily at the back of the hall during a panel discussion at Canada’s Venture Capital & Private Equity Association's annual meeting in Ottawa last week.

On the stage, Radian6 CEO Marcel LeBrun told the story of how angel investor Gerry Pond got him together with fellow entrepreneurs Chris Newton and Chris Ramsey. Together, they decided to launch a company that would help corporations monitor

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Detailing the Startup Jobs Boom

As her business grows, Gillian McCrae is rewarding more than just merchants and their customers.

She’s also rewarding a lot of workers.

McCrae is the Founder and CEO of GetGifted, a year-and-a-half-old Charlottetown startup that allows local merchants to give customers vouchers for gifts that can only be redeemed in person. The idea is to draw people to the outlets where they’ll spend money. As it grows, it needs more employees.

“Right now, we are at five employees based out of P.E.I.,” said McCrae. “I’m working on three employees in Halifax. In 2014, we’re probably going to be up to

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Press Release: CATA Awards

Atlantic Canadian Expertise Recognized in Awards: Leadership & Innovation

Atlantic Canadians were featured in the 2014 Award Winners at the most prestigious event of the high-tech industry.

The 29th Annual Gala of Canada’s largest high-tech association  -  the Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance  --  featured a keynote address from CATA National Spokesperson & Chair of Mitel and Wesley Clover, Sir Terence Matthews who reported on the status of Canada's innovation nation, and next steps for boosting our competitive performance.

The Wilfrid Laurier University Public Sector Leadership

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Press Release: Cloud-A’s “Seeded”

Cloud-A Launches “Seeded”: Cloud Support for Startups 

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada – May 23, 2014 -- Cloud-A, Canada’s high performance Cloud, announced it is launching “Seeded” – a program to support the development of internet based, seed stage startups.

Interested startups need to sign up for the program and once verified will receive six months of unlimited access to their Cloud platform, giving startups room to grow without worrying about limits; the ability to schedule one-on-one time with members of the Cloud-A team to chat through technical, or business related challenges and

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James Seeks Funds for Enablers.ca

Three years ago, Roswell James was suffering from shingles, which so weakened his eyes he could only use them for brief periods each day. In that precious time, he went online to research his condition, but found there was no one site that contained all the information he needed. So, when he recovered, he set about creating his own site -- Enablers.ca, the disability site -- a one-stop shop for

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Mirametrix Wins BDC Innovation Award

Mirametrix, a Montreal company that makes it easier for people to use computers, has won the first BDC Innovation Award, edging out three other competitors including an Atlantic Canadian company.

Launched in 2011, Mirametrix has developed software that allows people to operate computers or devices with their natural acts. It tracks the user’s eye as he or she reads a screen and integrates the eye-tracking with other actions, such as speaking or gesturing.

“We bring to market a novel way to interact with laptops, tablets and other devices, creating a world of new opportunities in

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Internet of Things Creates New Models

The profound growth of the Internet of Things is creating new business models in which Big Business is becoming more open and collaborative and creating opportunities for startups, the CVCA Conference in Ottawa heard Wednesday.

A panel of the Internet of Things – in which machines communicate with one another and adjust automatically based on the data they send one another – revealed that this segment offers huge potential. Panelists also said the Internet of Things will be so big and so vast that companies will have to change their models, attitudes and processes. And that’s where the

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Scene Sharp Revamps Sales Model

Scene Sharp Technologies Inc., a Fredericton software company that improves the quality of colour digital photography, is ramping up its sales effort through a series of deals with international distributors.

Scene Sharp is the company set up to commercialize the research of Yun Zhang, the Canada Research Chair in advanced geomatics image processing at the University of New Brunswick. Zhang has created software that greatly enhances the precision of digital photography, so it improves the colour of satellite photos, the resolution of high-speed shots and a camera’s sensitivity to light.

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