A year ago, I listed 10 things in Atlantic Canada’s startup community that we should be keeping an eye on in 2012. These weren’t guaranteed to be big stories. But they could be big stories. Here’s what I was watching and my assessment of how they turned out:
- That mountain of money in New Brunswick. The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation, the New Brunswick Investment Management Corp. and a range of individuals made gazillions from the sale of Radian6 and Q1 Labs. They reinvested in New Brunswick companies as expected— companies like Breviro Caviar, RtTech Software, IntroHive and UserEvents benefited. But so did other companies around the region. Members of East Valley Ventures invested in such Nova Scotia companies as LeadSift and NovaWise. One thing we’re seeing more of is a regionalization of seed funding.
- The regional VC Fund. A year ago I wrote, “I’m not convinced it will start up on time on Feb. 1.” Prescient. It’s taking longer than expected, but Patrick Keefe should prove a good manager and it’s great that Prince Edward Island, Business Development Bank and Technology Venture Fund have joined.
- Unique Solutions. The Dartmouth company has been quietly opening in some of the biggest malls in the U.S. and adding brands. If I had a list of things to watch in 2013, I’d add Unique to it again.
- Launch36. I said a “few interesting companies will emerge from the program.” I think I got it right. Companies like Xiplinx, Jumpstart720, CyberPsyc and LeadSift are well on their way. What I missed was the force this would become for the development of startups outside of New Brunswick.
- Equity tax credits. We’re still waiting for a regional ETC. If anything happens on this file in 2013, it’s now looking like it will be the federal government rather than any of the provinces that make it happen.
- Lymbix. The Moncton company was hot property late in 2011, raising a strong round of funding from GrowthWorks Atlantic. Then it seemed to cool down. The company realized there was limited demand for its software that analysed sentiment in social media postings. However, its latest product Measure.ly, which measures social media penetration so companies know where to spend their money in new media campaigns, is taking off.
- Investment in Newfoundland and Labrador. The big news is that the Newfoundland and Labrador Angel Network is active again, funding about four companies this year. Look for more to come.
- Universities. They’ve been active. What I missed was the impact of the Pond-Deshpande Centre in New Brunswick and the Starting Lean course at Dalhousie. It was also interested that the first venture capital firm from outside the region to invest here this year was York Bridge Capital’s backing of a Dalhousie startup, Scotia Motor Works.
- The NACO Summit. The National Angel Capital Organization’s annual meeting was one of the highlights of autumn. It turned out to be complimented by Atlantic Innovation Week in September.
- Silicon Valley. The California tech Mecca did indeed affect the community. Salsforce.com bought GoInstant for $70-million-plus, and a group of U.S. investors led the $1.8 million funding round by Dan Martell’s Clarity.
What did I miss? More than anything, I think I underestimated the excitement and unity the innovation segment would create this year. There’s a building of a regional community, and it is being noticed outside the region with a fervor we could never have expected. There are great ideas being brought to market by great entrepreneurs. This will carry on to 2013.
