Last weekend, a team of movers descended upon Volta Labs in Halifax to start moving the tech hub into its new 60,000 square foot home in the Maritime Centre. Its resident companies are now settled into their new offices, while construction continues on the other wings.

"This is an exciting time for Volta," said Jesse Rodgers, CEO of Volta. "Our new space, which is the largest innovation hub outside the Toronto-Waterloo corridor, allows Volta to be the growth catalyst for Halifax’s technology community."

The new Volta offices take over the ground, mezzanine and second floors of the 19-storey office building, tripling in size from its old space. This huge expansion is the result of more than $4 million in funding from the Canadian and provincial governments and the rise of the Atlantic startup region.

“Volta’s growth is a result of the growth in the Halifax entrepreneur ecosystem that continues to build momentum, making this province a great place to build a globally competitive company,” said Rodgers.  “We are looking forward to providing more resources to innovators across Nova Scotia and Atlantic Canada,”

The funding will also support operational costs related to the expansion over the next three years.

The lobby, located right on the Barrington street level, will serve as a reception and an open co-working space that will encourage residents and new founders to collaborate. The mezzanine level hosts the cohort companies as well as smaller-stage residents. Manifold and Swept, two of Volta’s bigger companies, take over most of the second floor.

“You would literally be moving up,” said Sahil Ahuja, Volta’s Events Coordinator. “Founders can bounce their ideas off people in the lobby level, then join the cohorts on the floor above that, and then if they grow even more, there is space in our larger offices on the second floor.”

“We should all get fitbits,” said Krista White, the Programs Director at Volta, during a tour of the new facility.

More than 50 early-stage companies have worked out of Volta Labs since its inception in 2013, and more than two-thirds of them are still in business.

The grand opening of the new facility will be in September. Said White: “We need to make sure all the artwork is on the wall first.”