Looking back on the first half of 2014 in the Atlantic Canadian startup world, there’s not a single event, company or story that stands out as a singular highlight.

So in writing a wrap-up of the first half, I think the dominant feature would really be a state of mind that didn’t exist six months ago. It’s a new-found maturity.

There were lots of candidates to be highlights of the first half. The Big Data Congress in Saint John and Atlantic Venture Forum in Halifax were both successfully held for the second time. St. John’s held its first Innovation Week. There were exits by UserEvents of Fredericton and Compilr and Newpace, both of Halifax. PropelICT of New Brunswick and the P.E.I. BioAlliance both received federal funding under the Canada Accelerator and Incubator Program that will change the scope of their work.

All of those are great, but there’s a bigger story in this sector. People were pleasantly surprised when Entrevestor reported in March the startup community now directly employs about 3,000 Atlantic Canadians, and is indirectly responsible for about 15,000 jobs in the region.

Yes, that was a shameless plug, but the findings of our survey were reported in the National Post and several regional media outlets. And they set a baseline from which to assess future employment growth. They also showed that young innovative companies are becoming a force in the economy.

That message was borne out two months later when 26 companies pitched to investors from the region and across the continent at the Atlantic Venture Forum. As we reported recently, 22 of these companies revealed their revenue for the past two years, and in total they booked $4 million in 2013. For this year, they’re expecting revenue of $13.8 million — an increase of almost 250 per cent. Eight of the companies are expecting revenue of $1 million or more.

Here’s the thing about the Atlantic Venture Forum pitchers: they weren’t out of the ordinary. Yes, there were some great startups that were pitching, but I believe the organizers could have chosen another 26 companies with no decline in quality.

There are a handful of Atlantic Canadian startups that are shooting ahead of the pack and there’s a lot of buzz about Smart Skin Technologies of Fredericton, Blue Light Analytics of Halifax and Halifax Biomedical of Mabou, among others. Marching behind them is a regiment of companies that are growing at an impressive pace.

If I were asked to name one thing to watch for in the next six months, I think the answer would be the biotech sector. The digital segment so far has captured most of the attention in the startup world, but I think life sciences could be about to correct that. Two biotech companies — Neurodyn of Charlottetown and DeCell Technologies of Halifax — captured the top award for pitching at the venture forum. The segment as a whole could produce a lot of news in the last half of the year.

Of course, all of this means the bar is being raised across the startup community. Weaker companies are being left behind, and support organizations have to let them die. Financial and human resources need to be concentrated on the best companies. Is that a harsh reality?

Nope. It’s just part of being in a more mature ecosystem.