Eyeread Accepted into Google for Entrepreneurs

Halifax-based Eyeread, whose online product helps to teach children to read, has been accepted into the Google for Entrepreneurs program at Communitech in Kitchener.

“A six-month incubator with senior Google team members in Waterloo will allow us to get expert feedback on the Eyeread technology over the summer and fall,” said Co-Founder Julia Rivard Dexter in a post Tuesday.

A spinout from the Halifax web development company Norex, Eyeread uses the camera facing the reader on a laptop or other device to track the eye as the child reads. By tracking the eye, the software can detect where the child is having trouble in reading a passage. Educators can then use the information to customize a personalized learning routine for the child.

Rivard Dexter said the team has been busy playing the Eyeread games with thousands of students in the Tri-County area of Nova Scotia through a partnership with the Nova Scotia Department of Education. The goal is to collect data from game play and match it to the teacher evaluations to measure efficacy.

Over the summer, Eyeread will have seven teachers on staff to help to develop the best teacher dashboards possible and offer final feedback on the company’s games.

Atlantic Lottery Partners with Volta Labs

Atlantic Lottery is partnering with Halifax-based Volta Labs to create an innovation outpost to help create innovative solutions for Atlantic Lottery. The outpost is designed to be lean and focused on enhancing Atlantic Lottery’s current portfolio of products, prototyping new products and creating marketing solutions to engage a shifting player base.

“Ensuring responsible, sustainable revenues in today’s marketplace requires new and strategic thinking,” Jennifer LaPlante, Director Research and Insight at Atlantic Lottery, said in a statement. “We are operating in a mature industry. It demands we continually modernize our products and ensure we offer them in ways players are demanding.”

The innovation outpost will include dedicated space inside Volta and will work alongside the tech startups that call Volta home. Atlantic Lottery will have 24/7 access to the entire facility, and will be surrounded by the creative genius of the high-potential startup founders and employees, engaging them for peer mentorship.

“We’re excited to welcome Atlantic Lottery to Volta,” said Melody Pardoe, COO of Volta. “This is a regional win. This collaboration will make it easy for Atlantic Lottery to be efficient, move quickly and engage with the community.”

Brightspark, NACO To Hold Seminars

Brightspark Ventures and the National Angel Capital Organization are holding a series of seminars called "Emerging Trends in Angel Investing" across the Maritimes this month.

“One of the key aspects holding back companies in Atlantic Canada back is access to capital and [the need for] angel investors to be better informed,” said a statement from the organizers.

Brightspark Ventures is a national funding group that draws funding from wealthy individuals and manages investments like a VC. NACO is the umbrella group for angel networks across Canada.

The one-hour sessions, which will feature a range of speakers, will be held as follows: May 17, Halifax 5:30-6:30 p.m.; May 18, Charlottetown 7:30-8:30 a.m.; May 18, Moncton 6-7 p.m.; May 19, Fredericton 5:30-6:30 p.m.

Details and registration are available here.

AVF Announces Free Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs

The Atlantic Venture Forum has announced that it will hold its first AVF Entrepreneur Bootcamp on June 21, the day before the two-day AVF begins.

The bootcamp, which will be held 11:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Innovacorp Enterprise Centre in Halifax, will feature:

The Investor Game, with Raymond Luk of Hockeystick.co, in which entrepreneurs walk a mile in an investor's shoes;
Obtaining Outside Capital, with Jane Kearns of MaRS and Marcus Daniels of HIGHLINE, who will discuss how Atlantic Entrepreneurs get attention from national and international venture Investors;
Reporting Like a Boss, a panel session on transparency led by Colin Deacon of Deacon & Company Strategy;
And, Building Connections Between Atlantic Canada's Tech Innovators and the Rest of the World, with BDC Capital's Nicole Leblanc.

The event is free to 50 registrants and available on a first come, first serve basis. You can register here.