Spark Nova Scotia has announced this year’s winners. The contest for rural and coastal high-potential, knowledge-based businesses is run in three regions — Cape Breton, North, and Southwest — and offers winners up to $50,000. Each geographical region functions independently, with its own applicant pool and local judges.

It was a tight competition, with a record number of applicants from across the province. . 

Here are the results:

NS Southwest

$50k First place: Ethan Doucette of Valley Finder -- has developed a tool that increases the accuracy and efficiency of installing sheet metal roofing. 

$40k Second place: Allen Whittaker and Kristen LeBlanc of Rink Fries  -- has created a mobile-first food ordering platform for rinks, arenas, and pop-up food spots. .

NS North

$50k First place: Athar Omidi of NetMethane -- the company's Integrated Methane Management Platform is a digital solution for landfill methane management.

$40k Second place: Isaac Hierlihy and Morgan MacKinnon of Athlete Aid – has created a real-time injury management platform enabling athletes, coaches, and therapists to log, verify, and track injuries, assign rehab plans, and access analytics. 

Cape Breon

1st $50k – Porrima Technologies -- transforms abundant grass waste into high-performance, transparent, compostable laboratory consumables, including tubes, syringes, and containers.

2nd $25k - ComplianceGuard AI -- is an AI agent that monitors Canadian federal and provincial regulations, executes compliance checks (GST/HST, payroll, PIPEDA), generates audit‑ready reports, and alerts SMEs to risks in real time. 

3rd $15k - AceLign Golf -- is a credit card-sized golf tool aimed at helping new and experienced golfers with two of the biggest issues at tee-off: precision and alignment.