Tapajyoti Das and his colleagues at LeadSift exemplify the spirit of the Launch36 technology accelerator – maybe more than we realize right now.

The main reason I say this is that LeadSift is a fascinating company, with algorithm-based technology that scans the tweets of people in a geographic location and automatically finds those who are intent on buying a specific item or service. LeadSift will help businesses generate leads and increase their sales. It’s one of 10 dynamic startups that just graduated from the New Brunswick accelerator at the Launch36 Demo Day last week.

But there’s another reason that Das and his cofounders – Hatem Nassrat, Sreejata Chatterjee and Daniel Allen – typify the vision of Launch36. They live in Halifax, and once a week for the past five months they have schlepped across the Cobequid Pass to learn from mentors at Launch36 meetings in New Brunswick.

The fact is that mentorship of young companies is enjoying a vogue now in Atlantic Canada that it never has before. It’s led by the private sector, often with the enthusiastic support of government. It relies on the generosity of established business people. And it is pan-regional, or almost pan-regional. Newfoundland and Labrador is benefitting less than the other provinces, only because of the cost and time to travel to the northeastern province from the Maritimes.

But consider this: Launch36 was created by PropelICT, the body established to promote technology in New Brunswick. With its first cohort graduated, it is now preparing for the second, to start in September.  So far it has received applications from six startups, and FIVE are based in Nova Scotia.  That’s right: more than 80 percent of the applications so far are from outside New Brunswick. No one knows yet how the next cohort will shape up, but the Propel directors aren’t surprised that their movement is likely to expand beyond the Tantramar Marshes and the Northumberland Strait.

“From the start [of Launch36], the vision has been regional,” said David Baxter, chair of PropelICT, at a jocular reception following Demo Day.

He added: “Regionalizing ICT entrepreneurship is about community involvement and building. It needs to be led by the private sector and supported through R&D, academia and public partnerships.”

The regionalization of tech mentorship is just beginning to take off.

Already last week, MentorCamp held intense sessions with entrepreneurs in Moncton and Charlottetown. The brainchild of investor Permjot Valia, MentorCamp is a single-day extravaganza that brings groups of entrepreneurs together with experts for intense mentoring sessions. The first was held in Halifax last year, and the brightest startups in the region will be invited to the MentorCamp Finals  in Halifax on September 24.  (Disclosure: I have been contracted by MentorCamp to help promote it.)

The Charlottetown event on Wednesday, sponsored by Innovation PEI, was a bit of a landmark because several of the mentors had never met their compatriots on the Island. Patrick Hankinson, CEO of the Halifax software company Compilr, summed up the reaction with a single tweet: “PEI has some kick ass tech talent.”

The mentorship bandwagon will gain steam in September with Innovation Week in Halifax, which will feature DemoCamp, MentorCamp, Invest Atlantic and BioPort. And separately, there will be the return of two accelerators.

Dale Ritchie, the President of McKenzie College, told me this week that he has the funding in place for five pre-seed companies to enter the McKenzie Accelerator in September. The idea is that the companies leaving the McKenzie program would be ready to apply for Launch36.

And of course Launch36 will have its second cohort, possibly in a form that requires more people to log some serious miles on their car in the autumn.